HC Deb 08 March 1995 vol 256 cc189-91W
Mr. Robert Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will set out the amounts of the council tax which are currently owing to the Harrogate borough council and each of the other district councils in North Yorkshire.

(2) if he will set out the amounts of community charge which are currently owing to the Harrogate borough council and each of the other district councils in North Yorkshire.

Mr. Robert B. Jones

Information on uncollected community charge and council tax for each local authority

Table 1—Interest rates and control totals
Interest receipts element in the All Other Services block Interest receipts element in the Capital Financing block
Notional interest rate Per cent. National control total £million Notional interest rate Per cent. National control total £ million
1993–94 10.4 –525.8 9.9 –301.0
1994–95 5.9 –432.4 9.2 222.0
1995–96 5.4 –351.0 9.1 –237.0

The interest rate used for the interest receipts element in the all other services block is the average LIBOR short-term interest rate. The rate used for the capital

Table 2: Interest receipt SSA elements for County Councils
All other services block Capital Financing block
Local Authority 1993–94 £Million 1994–95£million 1995–96 £million 1993–94£million 1994–95£million 1995–96£million
Avon -7.410 -6.027 -4.446 -0.757 -0.840 -0.865
Bedfordshire -4.761 -3.881 -2.844 -0.470 -0.513 -0.525
Berkshire -6.176 -5.054 -3.786 -0.760 -0.828 -0.859
Buckinghamshire -5.419 -4.486 -3.248 -0.847 -0.920 -0.934

is not available centrally. However, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy regularly publish estimates for individual authorities: figures for 31 March 1994 are available in its "Revenue Collection Statistics 1993–94" publication and are as follows:

Community charge arrears (£000) Council tax arrears (£)
Craven 752 302
Hambleton 618 467
Harrogate 4,288 1,261
Richmondshire 1,234 254
Ryedale 671 413
Scarborough 2,144 2,811
Selby n/a n/a
York 2,783 866

The figures for Selby were not published by CIPFA.

Mr. Rendell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the assumed rate of interest for 1995–96 in respect of local authorities' assumed interest receipts; and what were the corresponding figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95;

(2) what is the control total for the interest receipts element of the standard spending assessments for 1995–96;

(3) what is the assumed amount of interest receipts for each county council for 1995– 96; and what were the corresponding figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95.

Mr. Robert B. Jones

[holding answer 6 March 1995]: Interest receipts appear in both the all other services and the capital financing SSA elements. The former element includes allowance for interest which local authorities might earn on cash balances, reserves and usable receipts; the latter an allowance for interest which could be earned on reserved receipts–the portion of a capital receipt which has to be set aside as provision for credit liabilities.

Table 1 shows the interest rates used for each SSA element for 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96, together with the national control totals. Table 2 shows the assumed amounts for each county council.

financing element is an average of short and long-term interest rates.

Table 2: Interest receipt SSA elements for County Councils
All other services block Capital Financing block
Local Authority 1993–94£million 1994–95£million 1995–96£million 1993–94£million 1994–95£million 1995–96£million
Cambridgeshire -5.084 -4.221 -3.165 -0.694 -0.772 -0.797
Cheshire -7.498 -6.160 -4.597 -0.947 -1.058 -1.128
Clevelire -5.272 -4.262 -3.125 -0.661 -0.730 -0.761
Cornwall -3.664 -3.040 -2.308 -0.586 -0.643 -0.658
Cumbria -3.945 -3.221 -2.365 -0.531 -0.595 -0.619
Derbyshire -7.040 -5.831 -4.340 -1.010 -1.116 -1.114
Devon -7.944 -6.526 -4.947 -0.986 -1.096 -1.132
Dorset -4.797 -3.943 -2.995 -0.612 -0.678 -0.689
Durham -4.844 -4.072 -2.995 -0.595 -0.667 -0.684
East Sussex -5.524 -4.529 -3.421 -0.768 -0.853 -0.910
Essex -12.594 -10.523 -7.729 -1.559 -1.697 -1.745
Gloucestershire -4.050 -3.289 -2.482 -0.563 0.627 -0.657
Hampshire -12.037 -9.909 -7.285 -1.529 -1.697 -1.795
Hereford and Worcester -5.040 -4.151 -3.105 -0.569 -0.621 -0.633
Herefordshire -7.978 -6.658 -5.164 -0.843 -0.915 -0.930
Kent -7.400 -5.998 -4.439 -0.985 -1.086 -1.106
Lancashire -12.842 -10.590 -7.852 -1.772 -2.010 -2.221
Leicestershire -11.543 -9.466 -7.017 -1.615 -1.765 -1.816
Lincolnshire -7.348 -5.942 -4.428 -0.969 -1.052 -1.068
Norfolk -4.723 -3.868 -2.868 -0.599 -0.671 -0.711
Northamptonshire -5.713 -4.724 -3.503 -0.669 -0.749 -0.781
Northumberland -4.792 -3.843 -2.875 -0.667 -0.720 -0.729
North Yorkshire -2.327 -1.958 -1.582 -0.319 -0.362 -0.389
Nottinghamshire -5.251 -4.336 -3.282 -0.690 -0.776 -0.915
Oxfordshire -8.342 -6.741 -4.986 -0.821 -0.909 -0.915
Shropshire -4.272 -3.557 -2.633 -0.421 -0.476 -0.503
Somerset -3.156 -2.590 -1.949 -0.499 -0.557 -0.581
Staffordshire -3.535 -2.907 -2.147 -0.486 -0.541 -0.558
Suffolk -7.997 -6.571 -4.867 -1.015 -1.105 -1.111
Surrey -4.852 -3.925 -2.794 -0.731 -0.812 -0.851
Warwickshire -7.143 -5.935 -4.524 -0.882 -1.018 -1.097
West Sussex -3.637 -2.977 -2.197 -0.361 -0.401 -0.413
Wiltshire -5.324 -4.480 -3.361 -0.596 -0.642 -0.651
Isle of Wight CC -4.319 -3.547 -2.613 -0.539 -0.583 -0.590
Isle of Wight Council -1.014 -0.843 -0.177 -0.200
-0.969 -0.882

The 1995–96 figures do not include interest receipts in respect of shire police authorities. However, the figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95 for all shire countries, except Northumberland, contain an element in respect of police services since the SSA elements for police-related expenditure formed part of the county council SSA in those years.

The figures for the Isle of Wight Council cover the whole Isle of Wight area.

The interest receipts element in the capital financing block assumes that all reserved receipts are set aside to repay debt, ie no part of such receipts is used to repay debt early.