§ Mr. Patrick ThompsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the arrangements for reimbursing local authorities for costs incurred in connection with the community charge reduction scheme.
§ Mr. Key[pursuant to his answer, 18 March 1991, Official Report, c. 37]: The improvements to the community charge reduction scheme which we were able to make following the Budget will clearly impact on local authorities' preparation and administration costs. We are therefore proposing to make more grant available to ensure that authorities are reimbursed in full for all reasonable costs associated with operating the scheme. We also propose to simplify the arrangements for distributing the grant in order to ensure that local authorities receive payment as quickly as possible.
Local authorities will no longer be required to submit initial claims in respect of preparation costs or administration costs. Instead authorities will receive an initial payment of their preparation costs based on last year's claims. Any adjustments necessary at the end of the financial year will be made on receipt of audited claims. In addition, general administration costs for the life of the scheme will be wrapped up in a one-off payment of a flat rate per charge-payer. The amounts which previously had to be claimed for applications for extra relief or revised bills will be reflected in a higher rate.
On the basis of these proposals the cost of the community charge reduction scheme preparation and administration costs grant is expected to rise from £10 million to about £15 million.