Vol. 409 No. 6
32 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for the Environment the method whereby individual local authorities are remunerated by the Exchequer to meet the income needs of local authorities as a consequence of the abolition of domestic rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The rate support grant had its basis in the income from rates formerly applicable to dwellings and agricultural land and the amounts formerly paid in lieu of rates on Government property. That income varied from local authority to local authority, because of differences in valuation levels and in the rate poundages applied over the years. The provision for the rate support grant in my Department's Vote for 1991 is £168.75 million. This represents an increase of £6 million, or 3.7 per cent on the 1990 grant. This increase was allocated among local authorities so that each received the same percentage increase over the corresponding 1990 allocation.
