§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimate of the number of disabled people who live in band A homes under the council tax in each region.
§ Mr. Robin Squire[holding answer 25 March 1993]: This information is not available centrally.
§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to introduce a band A-minus under the council tax.
§ Mr. Robin Squire[holding answer 25 March 1993]: We have no such plans. The scheme of council tax reductions for people with disabilities will ensure that no one pays more council tax in respect of additional accommodation which he or she needs because of a disability. If a dwelling is allocated to band A, any additional accommodation cannot have resulted in an increase in council tax liability, and no reduction is therefore appropriate.
§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is his estimate for the value of the average disabled person's reduction under the council tax;
740W(2) what is his estimate of the number of people who qualify for the disabled person's reduction under the council tax.
§ Mr. Robin Squire[holding answer 25 March 1993]: We do not know how many dwellings will qualify for disabled persons' reductions, or the council tax bands and local authority areas in which they will fall. It is therefore not possible to make a precise estimate of the average value of such reductions. But on the assumption that such dwellings are distributed among bands and areas in the same way as other dwellings, the average reduction might be about £60, before discounts, transitional reductions and benefits are taken into account.
§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the current estimate of each authority's entitlement to transitional reduction grant in 1993–94, showing for each authority the necessary assumptions about numbers of single people in each council tax band and the present entitlements to community charge transitional relief.
§ Mr. Robin Squire[holding answer 25 March 1993]: Authorities have been invited to submit claims for council tax transitional reduction scheme grant for 1993–94. Details of discounts are not required by the Department, but will be examined by auditors when claims are certified. We have no estimates of the amount of each authority's grant entitlement. A list of the amounts of community charge reduction scheme grant for 1992–93 claimed by each authority has been placed in the Library of the House.