§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) which 10 local councils in England have the highest amounts of uncollected council tax; [16156]
(2) which local council in (a) the north-west of England and (b) England as a whole has the highest amount of uncollected council tax; [16163]
(3) which local council in (a) the north-west of England and (b) England as a whole has the lowest amount of uncollected council tax. [16167]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordEstimates of the levels of council tax arrears for individual authorities are published regularly by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The latest information relates to the position at 31 March 1995 and is available in the "Revenue Collection Statistics 1994–95" publication in the Library.
447WThe authorities with the highest amounts of uncollected council tax in England at 31 March 1995 are as follows:
Council tax arrears(£ million) Lambeth 40.2 Birmingham 25.9 Manchester 121.6 Liverpool 19.3 Bristol 18.5 Camden 12.4 Newham 12.1 Leeds 11.2 Southwark 10.8 Sheffield 9.9 1Highest in north-west of England. Wyre has the lowest amount of council tax arrears in the north-west of England, with a total of £0.6 million uncollected as at 31 March 1995. The Isles of Scilly has the lowest uncollected council tax in England, with a total of £6,000 uncollected as at 31 March 1995. CIPFA does not publish data for all authorities, so the figures above represent only those authorities which have supplied data.
§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) which local council has(a) the north-west of England and (b) England has the lowest council tax rates; [16164]
(2) which local council in (a) the north-west of England and (b) England as a whole has the highest council tax rates. [16165]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe information requested is a follows:
1996–97 council tax (band D, two adults) for area of billing authority Lowest £ Highest £ (a) North West Halton 647 Liverpool 1,006 (b) England Westminster 295 Liverpool 1,006