I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave to the hon. The latest year for which data are available is 1999-2000. For the purposes of this analysis, Council Tax is taken to be net of Council Tax discount and any deductions to the bill resulting from the receipt of Council Tax Benefit. The estimates are based on sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using grossing factors that control for region, Council Tax band, tenure and a number of demographic variables.
Estimates are subject to sampling error and to variability in non-response.
Estimates of the size of small changes between one year and another, as shown in the table, may be particularly vulnerable to estimating error. All percentages have been rounded to the nearest 0.1 per cent. The administration of Housing Benefit is the responsibility of local authorities, regardless of whether or not it is contracted out. From May, we will be collecting information on local authorities who contract out Housing Benefit work. The table also shows the number of written complaints we have received about the contracting-out of the administration of Housing Benefit in these boroughs, but not all specifically mention the contractor.