§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the effect on England of having different council tax bands in Scotland, England and Wales. [101367]
§ Mr. LeslieSince the inception of the council tax, the bands have been different in Scotland, England and Wales. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not made any assessment of the effect of this.
§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will bring forward legislation to make provision for differential regional council tax bands between London and the rest of the country. [101368]
§ Mr. LeslieThe existing powers in the Local Government Finance Act 1992 allows the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to create regionally different council tax bands. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has announced that work will commence on a council tax revaluation in April 2005 coming into effect on 1 April 2007 and the banding structure will be decided nearer to the revaluation. No decisions have yet been taken.
§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on the capping of police authority council tax precepts for 2003–04. [100732]
§ Mr. RaynsfordIndividual authorities, not central Government, set council tax levels. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be looking very carefully at the level of council tax this year on a case by case basis when all the figures from local government have been received. The Office of the Deputy Prime does not rule out using our reserve capping powers to protect local council taxpayers.