Council Tax (Hansard, 29 April 1991)

§ Mr. Trotter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the aggregate external finance will be for each local authority under the illustrative council tax and what is the AEF in payment for 1991–92.

§ Mr. Key
With the council tax, grant and business will be paid directly to each tier of local authority. It is therefore not possible to make direct comparisons with external finance in 1991–92 which is paid to the collection fund in each area.

§ Mr. Trotter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish for each local authority the average illustrative council tax bill per household; showing the average community charge bill per thousand in 1991–92.

§ Mr. Key
The Government issued on 23 April full information on the illustrative effect on household bills had the council tax been fully in place in 1991–92.

§ Mr. Pendry
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his statement to the House on 23 April,Official Report, column 901–3, what is his policy towards the removal or otherwise of the safety net from those local authorities which will attract more Government grant than at present as a result of the proposals outlined by him on that occasion.

§ Mr. Key
The illustrative figures published on 23 April assume that the present area protection grant will be distributed in the same way as the remainder of AEF.
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The Government propose that there will be transitional relief to ensure that no household will face an unreasonable increase in its bill from one year to another as a result of the introduction of the new system. There will therefore be no need for transitional arrangements applying to whole local authorities.

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the figures and calculations which result in Grimsby's local government tax bills in each column of his illustrative tables being among the 10 highest in the country.

§ Mr. Key
The illustrative figures are calculated on the basis of a distribution of grant and non-domestic rate income which allows local authorities in all areas to set a council tax of £400 for a band D property occupied by two or more people, if they provide a standard level of service. The corresponding figures are £267 for a band A property and £668 for a band G property.
All spending above the standard level falls upon the council tax. Humberside county council spends 4 per cent. above its standard spending assessment and Great Grimsby spends 32 per cent. above its SSA, leading to higher bills in the area than those for standard spending.

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the correlation in his illustrative bills table in the new council tax between the percentage over standard spending assessment and size of charge in each band.

§ Mr. Key
All revenue in excess of standard spending assessment will fall to be raised by the council tax for the local authority concerned. Within the area of an authority, the increase in bill for a band G property will be two and a half times that for a band A property. The size of increase required for a 1 per cent. increase in spending will depend on the SSA for the authority and the proportion of properties in each band.

§ Mr. Pendry
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his statement to the House on 23 April,Official Report, columns 901–903, if his review of local government will include the metropolitan districts.

§ Mr. Key
I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend to the House on 23 April at column 901, in which he said that the Government intend no significant changes in the structure of local government in London or the metropolitan areas. However, they are seeking views on how arrangements for some services, such as grants to the voluntary sector and the arts, might be improved in these areas.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the full cost of calculating the Government's council tax figures and the cost of publishing the documentation outlining the Government's proposed system of local government finance.

§ Mr. Key
No additional expense was incurred in calculating the illustrative council tax figures, as these were compiled from data held by the Department on existing computer systems.
The estimated cost of publishing the documents outlining the Government's finance proposals was some £20,000.