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registered interest false more like this
date less than 2019-06-13more like thismore than 2019-06-13
answering body
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government more like this
answering dept id 7 more like this
answering dept short name Housing, Communities and Local Government more like this
answering dept sort name Housing, Communities and Local Government more like this
hansard heading Local Government Finance: Rural Areas more like this
house id 1 more like this
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
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. more like this
tabling member constituency Stroud more like this
tabling member printed
Dr David Drew more like this
uin 264312 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2019-06-18more like thismore than 2019-06-18
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) more like this
answering member printed Rishi Sunak more like this
question first answered
less than 2019-06-18T13:36:33.17Zmore like thismore than 2019-06-18T13:36:33.17Z
answering member
4483
label Biography information for Rishi Sunak more like this
tabling member
252
label Biography information for Dr David Drew more like this