Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Internal Drainage Board Levies setting new funding baselines as part of the Local Authority Fair Funding Review.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We are continuing to make good progress with our fair funding review of relative needs and resources, in close collaboration with the Local Government Association. Our recent consultation was an important opportunity for local authorities to tell us about factors which drive expenditure and I know Internal Drainage Board Levies were raised by some. We received over 300 responses to the consultation and these will be carefully considered in the coming weeks. We are considering factors which affect council tax income as part of our assessment of the relative resources available to authorities to fund local services, including Internal Drainage Board Levies, and we will consult on this area in due course.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards removing barriers to the replacement of homes sold under Right to Buy.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government is keen to understand if more can be done to encourage faster delivery of Right to Buy replacements and has been engaging with local authorities to obtain their views, which will be fed into our assessment.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extension of the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap in local authority areas of high affordability pressure.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
We have announced a rise in the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap by a total of up to £1 billion in areas of high affordability pressure for local authorities who are ready to start building new homes. This will help to deliver the new generation of council house building that the Prime Minister announced recently.
We need to ensure that the housing market works for all parts of the community. So we need action on all fronts to build the homes that this country needs. High demand areas with affordability pressures are especially in need of affordable homes, so it is right that we focus this support on them.
We shall shortly set out the details of what constitutes high affordability and the criteria used in determining how this support is allocated.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they are making to establish equivalent rights and responsibilities for local government to be consulted on legislative changes as are currently exercised through the EU Committee of the Regions; and whether they expect that the necessary consultation mechanisms will be put in place before the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government is currently having constructive discussions with local government about how the consultative rights and responsibilities they currently have at European level through the mechanism of the Committee of the Regions might be replicated domestically, in a non-statutory way, for when the UK has left the EU. These discussions involve the Local Government Association, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). Any new consultative arrangements arising from these discussions will need to complement the wide range of domestic processes and procedures the Government already has for consulting local government.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many viability assessments in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, and (3) 2017, have led to affordable housing requirements attached to planning conditions being reduced on appeal.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Planning Inspectorate do not record information on the frequency of viability assessments used as evidence in planning appeals.
The Government's 'Planning for the right homes in the right places' consultation closed on 9 November, this included proposals to improve certainty and transparency in the assessment of viability, including the impact upon delivery of affordable housing. The government is considering the views expressed in the consultation to inform revisions to planning policy and guidance.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 27 October (HL1859), what plans they have to work with local government to address business rates avoidance.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
I welcome the opportunity to develop proposals to tackle business rates avoidance together with the Local Government Association and local government.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many businesses have been found to be avoiding business rates through fraudulent use of mandatory business rates reliefs in each of the past five financial years; and what is their estimate of the loss of income resulting from that avoidance.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Local authorities already have significant powers to tackle and prosecute fraud to protect the public purse which we encourage them to utilise. Under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 if a ratepayer provides false information in their application to apply for small business rate relief that individual is liable to a summary conviction, a fine or both. The Fraud Act 2006 also provides local authorities legal powers to prosecute fraud to protect the public purse.
The Government has been clear that it is committed to tackling avoidance in all forms of taxation. At the last count the Local Government Association (LGA) estimated that the losses due to business rates avoidance accounted for around £230 million.
The Government recognises the importance of tackling rates avoidance and the Secretary of State wrote to you in September stating that his officials would work with the LGA to develop workable proposals, towards the aim of cracking down on those that abuse the system and closing down loopholes.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many proposals to establish a combined authority have been (1) received, (2) approved, and (3) rejected, since 8 May 2015.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Since 8 May 2015, the Secretary of State has received 10 proposals to establish a combined authority. He has not rejected any proposal and has, with the approval of Parliament, established four new combined authorities - in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Tees Valley, the West Midlands, and the West of England. In the case of the other 6 proposals, these have either been withdrawn by the area or decisions on them, either by the Secretary of State or the area, remain outstanding.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that local authorities which have only one local newspaper in their area for the purposes of publishing statutory notices will be protected from uncompetitive practices, such as high increases in the cost of publishing those notices.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
It is for individual local authorities to negotiate advertising rates with local newspapers. My department has not made a specific assessment of the cost to councils of publishing and issuing statutory notices but findings of the pilot programmes, including about costs, are being carefully considered.
Asked by: Lord Porter of Spalding (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 9 February (HL5134), what assessment they have made of the cost of publishing and issuing statutory notices to councils and whether this will be included in their consideration of the findings of the pilot programmes.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
It is for individual local authorities to negotiate advertising rates with local newspapers. My department has not made a specific assessment of the cost to councils of publishing and issuing statutory notices but findings of the pilot programmes, including about costs, are being carefully considered.