Can anyone explain what is meant by the Poor Rate. Birmingham rate books I am looking at for early 1900s mention the Poor Rate for the rating district. The gross rate is about £12 10s for properties in the street in Aston I am looking at. I understand that the Poor Rate has its origins in the Poor Law, a sometimes controversial mechanism to provide poverty relief. I am confused however on how this relates to rates paid by the occupier. Was my ancestor the beneficiary of poor relief as an occupier or is this gross rate the Poor Rate paid by the property owner to the authorities under Poor Law arrangements?
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Poor Rate
- Thread starter Mr Zippy
- Start date
The poor rate used to be a proportion of the local rates devoted to that purpose. We still get separate amounts listed for police and fire services, but at that time the local area was also responsible for supporting those less well off. when this was taken over by the state then it became an unlisted part of the countries total budget, and not a concern of the local authority, though, on present trends some aspects of it seem to be being pushed back onto the shoulders of the local community.
