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1131232

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Council Tax: Non-payment
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 plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to amend The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 to remove the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax.
tabling member constituency	Makerfield
tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
uin	263138
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government is currently engaging with a range of stakeholders to consider how to improve council tax collection. Following those discussions, we intend to publish updated guidance on good collection practices, before considering the scope of further reforms. The Government is clear that imprisonment should only ever be the last resort for non-payment of council tax. Before a magistrates’ court commits someone to prison for failure to pay their council tax, it must inquire as to the debtor’s means, and satisfy itself that failure to pay is due to “wilful refusal or culpable neglect”. This is to prevent persons who are genuinely unable to pay their council tax from being committed to prison.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/06/2019 13:38:21 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

1131231

registered interest
date	11/06/2019
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	Council Tax: Debt Collection
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 implications for his Department's policies of the Citizens Advice Costs of Collection report finding that council tax collection practices are adding nearly half a billion pounds a year to personal debt.
tabling member constituency	Makerfield
tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
uin	263137
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>I am aware of concerns of charities, debt advice bodies and local councils about council tax debt. That is why my Department is engaging with, and reviewing evidence compiled by these bodies with a view to making council tax debt collection fairer, more efficient and compassionate. Following these discussions we intend to publish updated guidance on good collection practices, before considering the scope for further reforms.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/06/2019 13:37:24 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

1132063

registered interest
date	13/06/2019
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: Rural Areas
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 plans he has to review the rural sparsity factor in the calculation of Government support for rural areas; and if he will ensure that changes can be incorporated within the delivery of the Rural Services Delivery Grant.
tabling member constituency	Stroud
tabling member printed	Dr David Drew
uin	264312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s aim is to increase local government’s retention of business rates from 50 per cent to 75 per cent. To ensure the increase in business rates retention is fiscally neutral, some existing grants (including the Rural Services Delivery Grant) will be devolved to local authorities so that these responsibilities are funded through retained business rates. We recognise that some redistribution of business rates between authorities will continue to be necessary to ensure that no council loses out if it is unable to collect enough business rates locally to meet its needs. We are therefore undertaking a review of local authorities’ relative needs and resources to determine the basis on which redistribution will take place in the new system.</p><p>The review of relative needs and resources will set fresh baseline funding levels for councils in England, and we are working closely with local government representatives and others to examine all of the available evidence for the costs faced by authorities, including how geographical features such as rurality and density affect the cost of delivering services across the country, and how to account for these in a robust manner. In December 2018 we published a consultation paper that set out a proposed ‘Area Cost Adjustment’ methodology to account for these factors. This included consideration of how levels of 'accessibility' and 'remoteness' - the impact of journey times on labour and procurement costs - might account for the additional costs associated with sparsity, isolation or market size. For example, local authorities with longer journey times from service points to households may have to pay their staff (e.g. on domiciliary care visits) for more hours in order to deliver an equivalent level of service.</p><p>In developing this innovative new approach, we have worked closely with both local government and other government departments, including the Department for Transport and DEFRA as champions for rural proofing. Our most recent consultation closed on 21 February and we are considering the many representations made in response, before taking further decisions on the shape of the review.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/06/2019 13:36:33 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	252 label Biography information for Dr David Drew

1132005

registered interest
date	13/06/2019
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: Audit
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 implications for his policies of the failure of EY to complete local authority audits within the required time limits.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield South East
tabling member printed	Mr Clive Betts
uin	264322
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>We are aware of this issue, affecting 19 local government bodies and, together with Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd, are monitoring the situation. It is not acceptable for a professional services firm like EY to be unable to meet its contractual obligations to the statutory timetable and we expect the situation to be resolved as quickly as possible.</p><p>The forthcoming review of the local audit regime will consider the implications of our audit policy, including the timeliness of audit completion.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 18/06/2019 13:27:52 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	394 label Biography information for Mr Clive Betts

1131040

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
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	Shropshire Council
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 the per capita funding is for Shropshire Council.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	262313
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The core Spending Power per dwelling for Shropshire is £1,685 in 2019-20.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 17/06/2019 15:27:09 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1131038

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
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	Telford and Wrekin Council
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 the per capita funding is for Telford and Wrekin Council.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	262311
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The core Spending Power per dwelling for Telford &amp; Wrekin is £1,729 in 2019-20.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 17/06/2019 15:26:52 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1131041

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
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	Shropshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a merger of Shropshire and Telford Councils.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	262314
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>If the two councils were to submit a proposal to merge we would assess this against the criteria which we announced to Parliament in a written statement on November 7, 2017 (HCWS232).</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 17/06/2019 15:26:36 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1131039

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
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	Shropshire Council
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 estimate his Department has made of the efficiencies accrued as a result of the merger of Shrewsbury, North Shropshire and South Shropshire Borough Councils with Shropshire Council.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	262312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department has made no such estimates following the establishment of the Shropshire Council but an in dependent review undertaken by EY, ‘<em>Independent Analysis of Governance Scenarios and Public Service Reform in County Areas’</em> published in 2016 estimates the savings to have been £20 million per year.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 17/06/2019 15:26:05 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1131037

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
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: Cost Effectiveness
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 his Department has made of the potential efficiency savings of merging local authorities.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	262310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>Our policy is to implement, subject to Parliamentary approval, any proposal made by councils to merge which we assess on the basis of information in the proposal as meeting our merger criteria, including giving greater value for many and yielding cost savings, which were announced to Parliament in a written statement on 7 November 2017 (HCWS232).</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 17/06/2019 14:52:13 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski

1131036

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
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: Shropshire
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 estimate his Department has made of the additional cost to the public purse of establishing two local authorities in Shropshire.
tabling member constituency	Shrewsbury and Atcham
tabling member printed	Daniel Kawczynski
uin	262309
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department has made no estimate of the cost of establishing two local authorities in Shropshire.</p> answering member constituency Richmond (Yorks) answering member printed Rishi Sunak question first answered 17/06/2019 14:51:29 answering member 4483 label Biography information for Rishi Sunak
tabling member	1566 label Biography information for Daniel Kawczynski