To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on non-domestic rates in 1990–91.
In my statement to the House on 26 July about the revenue support grant settlement for 1990–91, 1 announced that I intended to reduce the rate bill for Scottish business next year by £80 million below what it would otherwise have been. I have now decided to apply this sum to reduce the rate poundage for all local authorities by 6·25 per cent. This will mean that all non-domestic ratepayers throughout Scotland will benefit from this further move to reduce their burden. The table shows the rate poundage which I intend to prescribe for each local authority in an order which I shall lay before Parliament early in the new year. The table also indicates the extent of the reduction in poundage at an individual ratepayer level as a result of our policy.It is implicit in our policy that, over a period, the 40 per cent. derating which at present applies to manufacturing and freight industry in Scotland should be eliminated. But my intention is that the phasing out of industrial derating should be co-ordinated with the phasing in of a unified business rate north and south of the border. This will give manufacturing and freight industry the assurance that the effect of reducing the level of derating will in any particular year be neutral. For all other business sectors, the: reduction will be entirely beneficial. Having regard to my decision to reduce rate poundages by 6·25 per cent., I intend to set the level of industrial derating next year to 35 per cent., a decrease of 5 per cent. on the present level. The position will be reassessed each year until a unified business rate has been achieved and industrial derating has been eliminated entirely.
Column 1
| Column 2
| Column 3
| Column 4
| |
1990–91 Rate Poundage Pre-UBR Reduction
| 1990–91 Rate Poundage Pre-UBR Reduction
| Reduction to Ratepayer
| Region + District Reduction
| |
p
| p
| p
| p
| |
| Strathclyde | 49·1 | 46·0 | -3·1 | — |
| Tayside | 45·9 | 43·0 | -2·9 | — |
| Orkney | 41·9 | 39·3 | -2·6 | -2·6 |
| Shetland | 39·6 | 37·1 | -2·5 | -2·5 |
| Western Isles | 61·5 | 57·6 | -3·9 | -3·9 |
| Berwickshire | 8·0 | 7·5 | -0·5 | -2·9 |
| Ettrick and Lauderdale | 9·1 | 8·5 | -0·6 | -3·0 |
| Roxburgh | 10·1 | 9·4 | -0·7 | -3·1 |
| Tweeddale | 7·7 | 7·2 | -0·5 | 2·9 |
| Clackmannan | 15·9 | 14·9 | -1·0 | -3·8 |
| Falkirk | 13·0 | 12·2 | -0·8 | -3·6 |
| Stirling | 19·3 | 18·1 | -1·2 | -4·0 |
| Annandale and Eskdale | 9·7 | 9·1 | -0·6 | -3·2 |
| Nithsdale | 9·7 | 9·1 | -0·6 | -3·2 |
| Stewartry | 8·4 | 7·9 | -0·5 | -3·1 |
| Wigtown | 7·9 | 7·4 | -0·5 | -3·1 |
| Dunfermline | 10·8 | 10·1 | -0·7 | -3·8 |
| Kirkcaldy | 13·4 | 12·6 | -0·8 | -3·9 |
| North East Fife | 12·0 | 11·3 | -0·7 | -3·8 |
| Aberdeen City | 11·7 | 11·0 | -0 7 | -3·0 |
| Banff and Buchan | 10·5 | 9·8 | -0·7 | -3·0 |
| Gordon | 8·4 | 7·9 | -0·5 | -2·8 |
| Kincardine and Deeside | 6·9 | 6·5 | -0·4 | -2·7 |
| Moray | 8·8 | 8·2 | -0·6 | -2·9 |
| Badenoch and Strathspey | 6·7 | 6·3 | -0·4 | -3·2 |
| Caithness | 10·5 | 9·8 | -0·7 | -3·5 |
| Inverness | 8·0 | 7·5 | -0·5 | -3·3 |
| Lochaber | 12·1 | 11·4 | -0·7 | -3·5 |
| Nairn | 6·7 | 6·3 | -0·4 | -3·2 |
| Ross and Cromarty | 10·5 | 9·8 | -0·7 | -3·5 |
| Skye and Lochalsh | 10·1 | 9·4 | -0·7 | -3·5 |
| Sutherland | 7·5 | 7·1 | -0·4 | -3·2 |
| East Lothian | 14·3 | 13·4 | -0CC9 | -4·0 |
| Edinburgh City | 14·0 | 13·1 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Midlothian | 14·3 | 13·4 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| West Lothian | 12·6 | 11·8 | -0·8 | -3·9 |
| Argyll and Bute | 15·9 | 14·9 | -1·0 | -4·1 |
| Bearsden and Milngavie | 10·9 | 10·8 | -0·6 | -3·7 |
| Clydebank | 16·3 | 15·3 | -1·0 | -4·1 |
| Clydesdale | 14·1 | 13·2 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Cumbernauld and Kilsyth | 13·9 | 13·0 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Cumnock and Doon Valley | 14·3 | 13·4 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Cunninghame | 17·2 | 16·1 | -1·1 | -4·2 |
| Dumbarton | 15·9 | 14·9 | -1·0 | -4·1 |
| East Kilbride | 12·0 | 11·2 | -0·8 | -3·9 |
| Eastwood | 8·4 | 7·9 | -0·5 | -3 6 |
| Glasgow City | 22·3 | 20·9 | -1·4 | -4·5 |
| Hamilton | 15·1 | 14·2 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Inverclyde | 13·4 | 12·6 | -0·8 | -3·9 |
| Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 13·9 | 13·0 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Kyle and Carrick | 14·3 | 13·4 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Monklands | 15·1 | 14·2 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Motherwell | 13·7 | 12·9 | -0·8 | -3·9 |
| Renfrew | 15·1 | 14·2 | -0·9 | -4·0 |
| Strathkelvin | 13·4 | 12·6 | -0·8 | -3·9 |
| Angus | 11·3 | 10·6 | -0·7 | -3·6 |
| Dundee City | 18-1 | 16·9 | -1·7 | -4·1 |
| Perth and Kinross | 11·7 | 11·0 | -0·7 | -3·6 |
Notes:
1. Column 1 shows rate poundages which would have been required in 1990–91 were it not for the Government's Unified Business Rate policy.
2. Column 2 shows the actual rate poundages for 1990–91 which the Secretary of State intends to prescribe following the £80 million UBR reduction.
3. Column 3 shows the reduction in poundages at individual payer level.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his proposed community charge transitional relief scheme.
I have today sent to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities a paper describing the conclusions I have drawn after consultation with it. I intend to lay regulations in the new year which will provide for the introduction of the scheme.