§ Mr. O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will explain how parish councils receive income from the unified business rates; if he will publish the formula; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. KeyUnder the new system of local government finance, business rates are paid into the national non-domestic rates pool and redistributed on the basis of adult population. Together with revenue support grant, special grants and community charges, the amounts of business rates received from the pool are paid into charging authorities' collection funds, out of which are met precepts and the charging authorities' own demands for revenue. To the extent that the precept of a parish and the demand of the charging authority on its collection fund are together equal to or less than the charging authority's standard spending assessment (SSA) per head, that expenditure is met in part from redistributed business rates. Spending above SSA is met entirely from community charges.