To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much (a) council tax or community charge and (b) non-domestic rate revenue was written off in England in each year since 1985. (229886)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 23 October 2008, Official Report, column 478W, about council tax write offs.

Details of the amount of non-domestic rates written off each year since 1996-97 can be found in table 2.3e of “Local Government Financial Statistics England No.13 2002” & table 2.3j of “Local Government Financial Statistics England No.18 2008” both of which are available on the Communities and Local Government website at

http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/stats/index.htm.

The amounts written off relate to council tax or non-domestic rates payable for both the current year and for previous years.

Some authorities net off against write-offs moneys collected that had previously been written off. This can result in a negative total figure for amounts written off in a particular year.