HC Deb 26 June 2003 vol 407 cc894-5W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the level of council taxes in England in financial years(a) 2001–02 and (b) 2003–04. 1114866]

Mr. McNulty

Information on the number of council houses in England is collected as part of the annual Housing Investment Programme round.

  1. (a) The reported figure for England as at 1 April 2002 was as follows: 2,706,000.
  2. (b) The figure for the financial year 2003–04 will not be reported until July 2004.
Mr. Edward Davey

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what contingency plans he has for consultation and legislation on transitional relief schemes in the event of a revaluation of properties for council tax purposes. [114979]

Mr. Leslie

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister White Paper "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services", published in December 2001, said thatahead of revaluation we shall devise a transitional scheme in which those who gain from the revaluation will contribute to the costs of the losers".

The Local Government Bill contains provision for the establishment of such a transition scheme and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consult on proposals for a transitional relief scheme ahead of revaluation. It is still far too early to say what effect the proposed 2007 revaluation will have on council tax bills and therefore what kind of transition scheme there might be.

Mr. Edward Davey

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the cost to(a) his Department, (b) the Valuation Office Agency, (c) local government, (d) other departments and (e) other public bodies of the planned revaluation of properties for council tax purposes in 2005. [114980]

Mr. Leslie

In paragraph 367 of the explanatory notes to the Local Government Bill the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimates that the cost of the proposed revaluation of domestic properties is in the region of £200 million including the cost of handling appeals. This is very broad estimate because the cost will be affected by the methods used and decisions on this have not yet been taken.