§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many rating appeals(a) in total and (b) by valuation office were lodged against the (i) 1990 and (ii) 1995 rating lists; and in each case how many (1) have been resolved and (2) are outstanding. [40423]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordI am placing in the Library a set of tables which set out, in total, by region and by each office of the Valuation Office agency in England, the number of valid proposals to alter the 1995 rating lists which were received by 31 August 1996, the number settled and the number outstanding.
I am also placing in the Library tables setting out, in total, by region and by each office, the number of proposals to alter the 1990 lists which are outstanding as at 31 August. The number of valid proposals received against the 1990 list in England up to 31 August was 1,402,948. Information on the number received by individual office and region is not available, as the structure and number of offices have now changed.
§ Mr. TippingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects all the appeals against(a) the 1990 rating list and (b) the 1995 rating list to have been resolved; and if he will make a statement. [40424]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordCurrent plans are that appeals against the 1990 rating lists outstanding at 1 April 1996 should be cleared by 31 December 1996; appeals made prior to 31 March 1996 by 31 December 1997; and to reduce progressively the time to clear appeals to a maximum of 12 months by 1 April 1988. The only exceptions will be cases where all reasonable efforts to settle matters by agreement have been exhausted and the cases are awaiting determination by valuation tribunals or by the Lands Tribunal.