A review of alternatives for local government finance

Members of the present Government, including Mrs Thatcher, have in the past expressed their determination to scrap the present system of local rates. This determination appeared to be strengthened earlier in the year by the political storm that blew up over the rates revaluation in Scotland. Revaluation in Scotland had already been delayed two years beyond the normal statutory 5-year period and the delay only served to make an even larger jump in rateable values inevitable. The storm was the greater because the last revaluation in England and Wales was in 1973. This economic perspective reviews the present rating system and considers the alternatives which have been proposed by Government.