§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his reply of 9 May, if he will make a statement on the anticipated effect upon the rate of inflation of the 30 per cent. by which 1989's domestic rate revenue would have had to be increased to meet the current anticipated local authority revenue from the community charge.
§ Mr. Ryder[holding answer 16 May 1990]: Local authorities' spending decisions have added 1 percentage point to the inflation rate in April. The effect would have been very similar had that spending been financed by domestic rates.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his reply of 9 May, if he will make a statement on the anticipated effect upon the rate of inflation of the £2.5 billion real terms increase in local authority revenues in the current financial year over 1989.
§ Mr. Ryder[holding answer 16 May 1990]: The average personal community charge in Great Britain is estimated 22W to be 34 per cent. higher than the analogous rates per head figure in 1989–90 for households covered by the RPI. This increase has added about 1 percentage point to the annual inflation rate.