ABSTRACT
The 1986 Green Paper Paying for Local Government ended (Cmnd 9714 p. 76) with three main conclusions, namely that domestic rates should be replaced by a poll tax called the ‘community charge ’, that non-domestic rates should be levied at a uniform poundage with the proceeds distributed to local authorities as a common amount per adult, and that the grant system should be radically simplified. This chapter has two main purposes. First, it investigates the proposed simplified system of grants and suggests that—in some respects at least — this system is not as satisfactory as the one it will replace. Secondly, it argues that from a local authority point of view, the proposed changes in the arrangements for non-domestic rates would effectively mean that the revenue from this source would be equivalent to grant receipts rather than tax receipts. This has important implications for local autonomy. However, before examining these two major themes, it is necessary to look briefly at both the present structure of grants to local authorities and the proposed new structure. Discussion is largely confined to England. The main conclusions can be applied to both Scotland and Wales and so only notable differences are highlighted.
