§ Mr. MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if women's refuges are exempted from collective community charge; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ChopeAny building may be designated for the purposes of the collective community charge if, in the opinion of the registration officer, it is used wholly or mainly as the sole or main residence of individuals most of whom stay for shot periods, and it would, accordingly, be difficult to register them individually. Whether a women's refuge could be designated, therefore, would depend on whether the majority of residents were considered to have changed their sole or main residence on moving into the refuge, or whether, in most cases, they had a sole or main residence elsewhere, from which they were only temporarily absent while in the refuge. It is for individual registration officers to take decisions on designation in the light of the facts of each case.