§ Mr. GouldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each local authority in England(a) the change in business rate poundage between the last year of the old system and the first year of the national non-domestic rate and (b) the percentage change in the average business rate bill over the same period.
§ Mr. HeseltineIn the old system each authority set its own rate poundage. Under the new system there is one poundage set nationally. However, poundages must be considered in conjunction with the relevant rateable values of properties before any inferences can be drawn of the effect of the new system. The highest poundage under the old system was 400.2p in Sheffield; the lowest was 122.2p in Kensington and Chelsea; and the average for England was 258.3p. The national poundage for England under the new system for 1990–91 was 34.8p. This was set so as to produce a yield equal in real terms to that from business in 1989–90.
I am arranging for copies of a table showing the percentage change in average non-domestic rate bills in each local authority area between 1989–90 and 1990–91 to be placed in the Library of the House.