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1314834

registered interest
date	14/05/2021
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Business Rates
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to simplify and homogenise across local authorities the process of applying for business rates relief under the Government’s new £1.5 billion of funding for businesses affected by the covid-19 outside outside the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	1296
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>The Department will ensure that local authorities have the guidance they need to deliver the additional £1.5 billion business rates support package once primary legislation is passed, in line with the announcement on 25 March. As with other business rates reliefs, officials will work closely with local government on the development of the relief scheme and guidance for local authorities will be published in due course.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 24/05/2021 16:41:19 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1314835

registered interest
date	14/05/2021
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Additional Restrictions Grant
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with businesses which have applied for the Additional Restrictions Grant; and if he will apply lessons learnt from the process to the new £1.5 billion business rates relief fund for businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak outside the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	1297
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2021 answer text <p>The Department will work closely with local government throughout the development of the £1.5 billion relief scheme and will ensure that experiences from the delivery of other support measures are taken on board. This includes experiences of administering the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) which – as of 28 March 2021 – has delivered £816 million in support to over 400,000 businesses. The Government will continue to support local authorities in making further ARG payments throughout 2021/22.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 24/05/2021 16:41:44 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1240852

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government: Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of commercial property investments made by local authorities in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	99595
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>Local authorities borrow and invest under the Prudential Framework (the Framework) which is designed to ensure that the capital plans of local authorities are affordable, prudent and sustainable, while giving councils the freedom to set their own capital strategies. Government is responsible for ensuring the Framework remains effective in driving sound decision making, and collects appropriate data to monitor trends and identify risks, including from commercial investment activity. Government does not routinely undertake any assessment of the effectiveness of local decisions to borrow and invest; local authorities remain accountable to their electorate for managing their own investment strategies and meeting their best value duty. However, councils have to appropriately comply with the Framework’s statutory guidance, including the requirement to report performance against a set of metrics designed to demonstrate the objectives of the Framework are being met, and to publish an investment strategy.</p><p>Government is aware of recent trends where some local authorities are taking on high levels of debt to invest for commercial income, rather than for providing the functions of a council. We are clear that borrowing to invest for yield is not in keeping with the intent of the Framework and exposes councils and taxpayers to undue financial risk. We have already tightened our statutory guidance on investments to improve decision making, and we are now carefully considering the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee’s report on local authority investment in commercial property (July 2020) and what further interventions are needed.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall grouped question UIN 99596 question first answered 14/10/2020 13:21:12 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1240853

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government: Property
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the borrowing undertaken by local authorities to fund investments in commercial property.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	99596
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>Local authorities borrow and invest under the Prudential Framework (the Framework) which is designed to ensure that the capital plans of local authorities are affordable, prudent and sustainable, while giving councils the freedom to set their own capital strategies. Government is responsible for ensuring the Framework remains effective in driving sound decision making, and collects appropriate data to monitor trends and identify risks, including from commercial investment activity. Government does not routinely undertake any assessment of the effectiveness of local decisions to borrow and invest; local authorities remain accountable to their electorate for managing their own investment strategies and meeting their best value duty. However, councils have to appropriately comply with the Framework’s statutory guidance, including the requirement to report performance against a set of metrics designed to demonstrate the objectives of the Framework are being met, and to publish an investment strategy.</p><p>Government is aware of recent trends where some local authorities are taking on high levels of debt to invest for commercial income, rather than for providing the functions of a council. We are clear that borrowing to invest for yield is not in keeping with the intent of the Framework and exposes councils and taxpayers to undue financial risk. We have already tightened our statutory guidance on investments to improve decision making, and we are now carefully considering the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee’s report on local authority investment in commercial property (July 2020) and what further interventions are needed.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall grouped question UIN 99595 question first answered 14/10/2020 13:21:12 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1240855

registered interest
date	06/10/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Local Government Finance: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the covid-19 outbreak on local authorities' finances.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	99597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>Councils across the country are supporting communities, protecting the most vulnerable and helping the NHS in our efforts to combat Covid-19. In order to meet these additional cost pressures, the Government has continued to support local authorities by delivering an unprecedented package of measures. So far, we have provided over £4.8 billion in funding for spending pressures, including £3.7 billion of un-ringfenced grants and £1.1 billion to help stop the spread of the virus in care homes. This underlines Government’s commitment to ensuring adult social care has the resources it needs to keep residents and staff safe. In addition, the Prime Minister has announced a further £1 billion of funding for local authorities, details of which will be announced shortly. <br> <br> In total, over £28 billion has already been committed to local areas to support councils, businesses and communities across government. This comprehensive package of support includes direct financial support and cashflow measures for councils, bus and tram services, support for the homeless and both grants and rates reliefs for businesses. <br> <br> We will continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on local government.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 14/10/2020 13:20:19 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman