HC Deb 25 April 2002 vol 384 cc392-4W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the levels of Band D council tax were in each local authority in(a) London, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Scotland, in (i) 1993–94, (ii) 1997–98, and (iii) will be in 2002–03. [52065]

Mr. Byers

Tables giving the equivalent figures for the financial years 1993–94, 1997–98 and 2002–03 are available in "Regional Trends 29", Table 15.2; Department of the Environment Information Bulletin on "Council Taxes in England in 1997–98" (Bulletin 164, 20 March 1997); and the DTLR News Release on "Council Taxes in England—2002/03" (2002–0124, 21 March 2002) respectively. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.

The tables provide information on the Band D council tax in each local authority area. The figures are based on two adults and include amounts funded by council tax benefit and transitional relief.

In practice, only a minority of properties in each local authority area are in Band D, with the percentage in Bands A to C varying widely between authorities, from 10.7 per cent. to 96.8 per cent. The average Band D council tax does not therefore allow a comparison to be made of the average amounts of council tax payable by people in different areas.

Regeneration spending in Islington
£
Type 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 1
Community Empowerment Fund 150,261 150,261
Community Chest Fund 137,956 206,934
Community Learning Chest 55,182
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 3,136,000 4,703,000
Single Regeneration Budget 410,000 11,203,000 13,519,000
New Deal for Communities 10,000 575,660 483,000
1 Allocations

Notes:

1. Grants under Community Empowerment Fund, Community Chest Fund, Community Learning Chest and Neighbourhood Renewal Fund only commenced in 2001.

2. The London Development Agency is unable to provide a breakdown of SRB expenditure by London borough in 1997–98, 1998–99 and 2002–03.

3. The allocation for new deal for communities for 2002–03 is not yet decided.

Jeremy Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list, by project, the total investment in housing capital improvements in Islington(a) for each of the past five years and (b) expected for 2002–03. [52272]

Ms Keeble

Since May 1997, the London borough of Islington has been allocated the following amounts of funding for specific housing capital improvement projects:

£
Capital Challenge (Marquess Estate)
1997–98 1,500,000
1998–99 4,500,000
1999–2000 3,500,000

In contrast, the average council tax per dwelling reflects the wide variation between authorities in the distribution of properties across bands. It is therefore a helpful measure to use when comparing the amounts payable in different areas.

Information on Wales and Scotland is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive respectively.