HC Deb 21 March 1990 vol 169 cc659-66W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table listing councils in rank order on the basis of the difference between the standard spending assessments and actual planned expenditure, and giving the actual figures for both on a per capita basis and the percentage difference between the two.

Mr. Chope

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Kingswood (Mr. Hayward) on Monday 19 March at column478.

Mr. David Porter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the classification of offshore workers' liability for community charge; and whether he has any information about local authorities using his guidance notes for seafarers to determine offshore workers' liability.

Mr. Chope

It is initially the responsibility of the community charges registration officer to decide whether a person is solely or mainly resident in his area, and therefore subject to a community charge. In determining this, a registration officer will need to consider factors such as the length of time the person is away from home, where most of his belongings are and, if appropriate, where his spouse lives and where his children attend school. In this respect offshore workers are no different from any other potential chargepayer. My Department's guidelines on the treatment of seafarers were not framed with offshore workers in mind, but there is nothing to stop any authorities applying them to this group if they thought it appropriate.

Mr. David Porter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his criteria for assessing the spending obligations by statute and regulation of Suffolk county council in 1990–91; and how he expects these to change in 1991–92.

Mr. Chope

The standard spending assessment for Suffolk county council for 1990–91 has been calculated using the methodology set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England). We have not yet reached any views on spending for 1991–92.

Mr. Robert Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the amounts from the unified business rate which will accrue to(a) the Harrogate borough council, (b) York city council and(c) Scarborough borough council.

Mr. Chope

The amounts of redistributed business rates which will be paid to the three authorities are:

£
(a) Harrogate borough council 31,309,939
(b) York city council 23,068,264
(c) Scarborough borough council 23,754,778

This money is paid in support of parish, district and county council services in an area and is £293 per adult.

Mr. Robert Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the amounts paid in the individual community charges to the North Yorkshire county council from:(a) Harrogate borough council, (b) York city council and (c) Scarborough borough council.

Mr. Chope

I intend to place a summary of the information returned from local authorities in the Library of the House after information has been received from all authorities.

Mr. Mills

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to assess the workings of the community charge system.

Mr. Chope

My Department has kept the development of the community charge system under close scrutiny through a series of monitoring exercises. These have kept us up to date on the progress made by charging authorities. We will continue to monitor the system as billing and collection of the community charge commences.

Mr. Summerson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what would be the percentage increase over 1989–90 in rates equivalent to the community charge in the London borough of Waltham Forest for the financial year 1990–91.

Mr. Chope

It is our intention when community charges are finally set to say what the increase would have been in domestic rates had that taken the place of the community charge.

Mr. Butterfill

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will calculate what the equivalent rate poundage for the Bournemouth and Poole borough councils would be under their proposed community charge rates of £320 and £325, respectively, under the old rating system; what proportion of the new charge relates to(a) county and (b) borough expenditure; and, in each case, what proportion of the increase is attributable to (i) reduction in Government grant support and (ii) increased expenditure by the county of borough authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Chope

It is our intention, when community charges are finally set, to say what the increase would have been in domestic rates had that taken the place of the community charge.

The remainder of the information requested is not available, as the community charge is not split between counties and districts. Local authorities providing services in an area precept or make a demand on the collection fund, administered in non-metropolitan areas by the district council. These precepts and demands, which cover the whole of each authority's requirement for revenue, are met in full from the collection fund. Revenue support grant, business rate income and community charge income raised locally are paid into the fund in order to defray these precepts and demands. With these simple arrangements there is no need to allocate revenue support grant, business rates or community charges between tiers of local government.

The comparison between the revenue which each authority is raising and the Government's assessment of the cost to it of providing a standard level of service will be clear from the community charge bill. Where there is higher spending than the standard, it will be clear to the chargepayer whether it is county or the district which is responsible for that extra spending.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to collect information on those local authorities which will have to issue two poll tax bills in order to take into account rebates given to those who have applied for rebates after 15 February.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

I have been asked to reply.

No. The information required about local authorities' administration of community charge benefit was agreed with the local authority associations well in advance so that authorities would have sufficient time to prepare.

Mr. Lewis

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the rebate of community charge applicable in the case of a wage earner receiving £60 per week with a community charge levied at £344.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

I have been asked to reply.

The community charge benefit payable on a charge of £344, for a single person earning £60 a week, with capital of less than £3,000, would be £2.53 per week.

92. Mr. Nicholas Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to review the method of setting revenue support grant available for local authorities in 1991–92.

110. Mr. Meale

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to review the method of setting revenue support grant available for local authorities in 1991–92.

Mr. Chope

My officials have recently started discussions on the 1991–92 revenue support grant with officials of the local authority associations. The methodology for standard spending assessments will need to be adjusted to take account of local authority responsibilities for community care from April 1991. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Environment, has said that he will consider any fresh evidence on SSAs before coming to his decisions for 1991–92.

112. Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on rate-capping Basildon.

Mr. Chope

The Department has received a number of representations calling for Basildon to be charge capped. I am also aware of the petition presented to the House by my hon. Friend on 1 March.

109. Mr. Loyden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from local authorities about the setting of a poll tax rate.

Mr. Chope

The Secretary of State has received a number of representations from local authorities about the setting of community charges.

106. Mr. Andrew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on levels of revenue support grant to Oxfordshire.

Mr. Chope

The levels of revenue support grant before the safety net adjustment to be distributed to receiving authorities in Oxfordshire in 1990–91 are as follows:

£ million
Cherwell 11.538
Oxford 15.231
South Oxfordshire 12.062
Vale of White Horse 9.854
West Oxfordshire 8.912

These amounts of grant provide a reasonable level of support to local authorities in the Oxfordshire area.

100. Mr. Wallace

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received about the rebate system for the community charge.

Mr. Chope

I have received a number of such representations. In general, community charge rebates are more generous than the rate rebates they replace.

94. Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people in England are eligible to pay the full community charge.

Mr. Chope

This information is not available.

90. Mr. Knapman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the cost of collecting the community charge; and what would be the cost of collecting a tax on capital values adjusted according to income.

Mr. Chope

The estimate for the annual cost of collecting the community charge in England is approximately £400 million; it is estimated that collecting the local tax based on incomes might cost up to twice that amount.

87. Mr. Tracey

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what amount of total external support from Government, in the form of revenue support grant, business rate income, special grants and safety net will be paid in 1990–91 to (i) Wandsworth, (ii) Lambeth and (iii) Tower Hamlets.

Mr. Chope

The amounts of external support, that is the sum of revenue support grant adjusted for the safety net, business rate income and special grant in 1990–91 are as follows.

External support
£ million £ per adult
(i) Wandsworth 213.5 1,034
(ii) Lambeth 234.2 1,358
(iii) Tower Hamlets 194.4 1,723

80. Mr. Henderson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his best estimates of the average poll tax level for England in 1990–91.

80. Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average community charge level so far declared in England.

Mr. Skinner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his best estimates of the average poll tax level for England in 1990–91.

Mr. Chope

I refer the hon. Members to the answer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to the hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. Clay) earlier today.

76. Mr. Nellist

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received against the introduction of the poll tax; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Chope

I continue to receive representations expressing a wide range of views on the community charge.

61. Mr. Alex Carlile

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from war service pensioners regarding the community charge.

Mr. Chope

We continue to receive representations on all aspects of the community charge. I am not aware of any representations from this group in particular.

62. Mr. Stott

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to use different rules for different types of local authority for the purposes of poll tax capping.

65. Mr. Turner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the rules he intends to use for poll tax capping.

105. Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to use different rules for different types of local authority for the purposes of poll tax capping.

111. Ms. Short

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the rules he intends to use for poll tax capping.

Mr. Chope

I cannot speculate on the details of any charge-capping scheme we might operate for 1990–91.

58. Mr. Gow

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the way in which the community charge is being implemented in England.

Mr. Chope

The information available to the Department suggests that good progress has been made by local authorities in implementing the community charge. Initial registration was successfully completed in December and some authorities have already issued their first bills in advance of 1 April.

55. Mr. Carrington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many recent representations he has received in favour of introducing a system of capital value rates in place of the community charge.

83. Mr. John Greenway

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received to replace the community charge with a system of raising local government finance based on property values.

Mr. David Hunt

I am not aware of any representations in favour of capital value rates or roof tax, something which does not surprise me.

51. Mr. Ray Powell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have been able to levy a poll tax below the Government's estimate for their area.

68. Mr. Bidwell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have been able to levy a poll tax below the Government's estimate for their area.

103. Mr. Bill Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have been able to levy a poll tax below the Government's estimate for their area.

50. Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have been able to set their spending at or below the Goverment's standard spending assesement for their area; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have been able to set their spending at or below the Government's standard spending assessment for their area; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Boyes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities have been able to set their spending at or below the Government's standard spending assessment level for their area.

Mr. Cryer

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total number of councils which have levied a poll tax greater than the Government recommended level; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Chope

I intend to place a summary of the information returned in the Library of the House when information has been received from all authorities.

44. Mr. Hardy

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the proportion of local government spending in 1989–90 and 1990–91 which will be devoted to meeting statutory requirements.

Mr. Chope

All local authority spending has to be in pursuance of statutory powers. Some spending is a consequence of duties, while some reflects the exercise of discretionary powers. Even where an authority is discharging a duty, there is often a considerable discretion as to the standard of service provided and the efficiency with which it is carried out. It is, therefore, not possible to estimate what proportion of spending will be devoted to meeting statutory requirements.

45. Mr. Roger King

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what would have been the increase in domestic rates in the city of Birmingham for 1990–91 for a single householder presently paying £500 in rates, based upon a 1990–91 community charge figure of £406 per adult.

Mr. Chope

It is our intention, when community charges are finally set, to say what the increase would have been in domestic rates had they taken the place of the community charge.

35. Mr. Nicholas Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the safety net charge paid by the community charge payers in the borough of Macclesfield; and what is the safety net receipt received by the community charge payers in the London borough of Wandsworth.

Mr. Chope

Adjustments to revenue support grant to give effect to the safety net are set out in the Revenue Support Grant Transition Report (England), made on 21 December 1989 and approved by the House on 18 January. The borough of Macclesfield's charge payers collectively contribute £5,951,306 to the safety net. The London borough of Wandsworth's charge payers collectively receive £24,030,650 from the safety net.

The safety net offsets changes in revenue from the domestic sector which are the result of changes in the system of local government finance from 1 April. The safety net limits increases to £25 an adult in real terms compared with 1989–90 rate bills per adult. This limit on increases for some areas is financed in 1990–91 only by other areas contributing about half of their gains. The contributions are for one year only as the safety net will be financed by extra grant from 1991–92.

31. Mr. Jacques Arnold

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received in favour of replacing the community charge with a tax on home improvement.

Mr. Chope

I have not yet received any representations in favour of the roof tax.

28. Mr. Livsey

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further consideration he has given to capping local authorities' community charges; and if he will make a statement.

39. Mrs. Maureen Hicks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities he intends to community charge-cap.

Mr. Chope

I have nothing to add to what my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities said in response to my hon. Friend the Member for Bedfordshire, South-West (Mr. Madel) earlier.

29. Mr. Pike

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from Lancashire county council regarding its standard spending assessment.

Mr. Chope

The chief executive of Lancashire county council has written to the Department with details of a number of resolutions passed by the county council's finance sub-committee, one of which requests an increase in Lancashire's standard spending assessment for 1990–91.

26. Mr. Batiste

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is(a) the revenue raised by all local authorities in England under the community charge in the year 1990–91 and (b) the revenue raised in rates in the year 1989–90.

Mr. David Hunt

I estimate that local authorities are planning to raise £12.5 billion next year from community charges, and £9.8 billion this year from domestic rates.

23. Mr. Alton

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average overall difference between domestic rate bills for 1988–89 and the community charge so far declared for 1990–91 by English local authorities.

Mr. David Hunt

The average domestic rate bill for 1988–89 was £468. The average community charge for 1991 is estimated to be £363. These figures are not comparable.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he next plans to visit Nottingham to discuss local government finance.

Mr. David Hunt

I plan to visit Nottingham next Wednesday.