To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will explain the calculations behind the statement in "Paying for Local Government, Questions and Answers", published in December 1987, that businesses in the north and the midlands stand to be better off by £700 million every year as a result of the introduction of the national non-domestic rate and revaluation; and if he will provide comparable figures for each standard region in England.

The figure is based on exemplifications of the effect if a uniform national non-domestic rate had been in force in 1987–88. That would have produced a gain to the north and midlands of £490 million. The best forecasts available of the likely effects of a concurrent non-domestic revaluation suggest a further reduction in business rates in the north and midlands in excess of £200 million. Estimates of the effect of the revaluation in 1990 disaggregated for different areas and classes of property are not yet available.