To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many warrants for committal to prison owing to local tax arrears were issued in 1999.

Statistics on committal orders are published in The Institute of Public Finance Accountancy (CIPFA) Revenue Collection Statistics.

For 1999–2000, their estimated total number of orders obtained but postponed on payment terms was 22,119, based on grossed up actual figures provided by 253 of 376 local authorities.

For the 253 responding authorities, the actual number of people committed to prison was 117.