§ Q168. Mr. LathamTo ask the Prime Minister whether she will make a statement on the outcome of the fixing of community charge levels in England; and what information she has on how many county councils have been able to fix precepts in accordance with the Government's published target figures.
§ The Prime MinisterThe average community charge for England is estimated to be £363, an increase of 33 per cent. over this year's average domestic rate income per adult, and £85 more than the community charge for standard spending.
An increase of this size means increases in demands and precepts of more than 16 per cent. This cannot be justified on any terms. It is almost twice the level of inflation and £3 billion above the amount the Government believed it would be reasonable to spend to achieve a standard level of service.
The level of the charges in shire county areas are very largely determined by the precepts set by the counties. It is extremely disappointing that on average they have seen fit to increase these by more than 7 per cent. above their standard spending assessments (SSA) or by nearly £50 per adult. Labour-controlled county councils' precepts are on average £82 per adult above their SSAs.