§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 4 March 2000,Official Report, column 84W, regarding rent and council tax arrears in England and Wales, for what reason his Department does not provide information on council tax arrears by local authority in England. [50329]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe Department does not at present collect information from local authorities on the level of council tax arrears, and so individual figures are not available. National estimates of the level of council tax arrears are derived from the results of a voluntary survey that is carried out each year by the Institute of Public Finance. These estimates were given in my answer of 4 March.
The Department is giving active consideration to collecting this information for future years.