Imprisonment should only ever be the last resort for non-payment of council tax. Before a magistrates\u2019 court commits someone to prison for failure to pay their council tax, it must inquire as to the debtor\u2019s means, and satisfy itself that failure to pay is due to \u201cwilful refusal or culpable neglect\u201d. This is to prevent persons who are genuinely unable to pay their council tax from being committed to prison. The Government does not have any plans to change the current arrangements.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4483", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rishi Sunak"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Richmond (Yorks)"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Rishi Sunak"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-19T16:24:15.72Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "7"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Council Tax: Non-payment"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring England in line with the rest of the UK by ending the use of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax debt.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/411", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Huddersfield"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Barry Sheerman"} ], "uin" : "189834"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1003848", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1003848/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
At the Budget the Government announced a one third discount off business rate bills for high streets and town centres worth almost £900 million. The discount will be available, subject to state aid, to retail properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000 such as shops, restaurants, cafes and drinking establishments. We will publish guidance shortly to help local authorities determine eligibility and implement the discount.<\/p>
Since 2016 the Government has announced a raft of measures to support business, including permanently doubling Small Business Rate Relief from 50 per cent to 100 per cent for eligible businesses, and raising the threshold for 100 per cent relief from £6,000 to £12,000. As a result, over 655,000 small businesses \u2013 occupiers of a third of all properties \u2013 pay no business rates at all. In addition, the Government brought forward to April 2018 the switch in the annual indexation of business rates from RPI to the main measure of inflation, currently CPI, which will be a saving for all ratepayers.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4483", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rishi Sunak"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Richmond (Yorks)"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Rishi Sunak"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-16T13:33:49.527Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "7"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Non-domestic Rates"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the business rates relief for properties announced in Budget 2018 will apply to premises in planning use class D2.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1491", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Kerry McCarthy"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bristol East"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Kerry McCarthy"} ], "uin" : "189620"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }