Council Tax: Discounts

Mr. Stewart Jackson
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the average annual change in council tax revenue collected by local authorities exercising their powers to reduce council tax discounts on (a) second and (b) empty homes in the last three years.

Ms Rosie Winterton
Details of the average annual change in council tax revenue to be collected by those local authorities that have exercised their powers to reduce council tax discounts on (a) second and (b) empty homes in the last three years are shown in the table.

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|       |Second homes|Empty homes|
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|2006-07|5.4         |5.4        |
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|2007-08|5.2         |5.1        |
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|2008-09|5.0         |4.8        |
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