§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of each appeal against council tax evaluations(a) in England as a whole and (b) in each standard region.
§ Mr. BaldryThe estimated cost of processing a council tax appeal in the current financial year is £115. This estimate includes costs incurred by the Valuation Office Agency and valuation tribunals at all stages of the appeal process, although the great majority of appeals are settled without the need for a full tribunal hearing. The figure is derived by adding the unit cost for registering and handling cases by the VOA and the average unit cost of dealing with all categories of appeals, including those relating to non-domestic valuations and community charge liability, at valuation tribunals. Estimates of the costs are not made for individual regions.
§ Mr. HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the total cost of the valuation exercise in England including the appeals process, since the introduction of the council tax.
§ Mr. BaldryThe cost of the original valuation exercise was £69.69 million. Voted provision for all work undertaken by the Valuation Office Agency in respect of council tax in 1993–94, including work on appeals, is £34.166 million.
In addition, the running costs of valuation tribunals amount to £10.2 million in 1993–94. Their jurisdiction includes council tax and community charge liability appeals and non-domestic rating appeals as well as appeals against council tax valuations.