NO HOUSEHOLD in England will face an increase above #3.50 a week when
the council tax replaces the community charge next year, most increases
will be less and many people will be better off than under the poll tax,
the Government indicated yesterday .
Introducing the Government's financial settlement for the first year
of the tax Mr Michael Howard, Environment Secretary, told the Commons
that English councils would be allowed to spend #41.1 billion, 3.1% more
than last year (about #1.2 billion). Government assistance would amount
to #33.5billion, up by 3.7% (also about #1.2 billion).
Scottish Secretary Ian Lang will make a similar statement next week.
Mr Howard said that, provided councils observed the Government's pay
target of from nil to 1.5% rises, there was no reason why jobs should be
lost or services cut.
He said a system of transitional relief would mean that no household
in the lowest value band of housing would pay more than #1.75 above
their last community charge bill.
Reliefs in the other eight bands would rise in 25p-a-week steps to a
maximum of #3.50 in the most expensive properties- in England homes
worth more than #320,000.
A notional council tax for houses in band C -- most English homes are
in bands A to C -- would be #439, Mr Howard said, but he emphasised that
this was not a prediction of a national average as it was up to each
council to set its own local tax. The figures for Scotland will be
different.
Mr Jack Straw, the Labour spokesman, predicted cuts in jobs and
services. His criticisms were echoed by other Labour MPs, but Tories
confined themselves to either praising the new tax or pleading
particular cases for their own
local authority.
The atmosphere was much less frenetic than in the days of the poll tax
and Mr Howard made the point that his meetings with leaders of Labour
local authorities convinced him that they mostly want the new tax to
succeed unlike the Labour Opposition in the Commons.
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