Andrew Gwynne
Main Page: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Greg Clark
My hon. Friend is right: he has a well-run council, and representations from him, our colleague and the council led me to make the changes that I have made. On the early retention of business rates, I am glad that he has given me the opportunity to say to all Members that, through the devolution deals, we are keen to get on with the devolution of business rates. I encourage all areas to introduce proposals on that. The Chancellor has made a commitment that that should be in place by 2019-20, but that is “by” rather than “in”, and I should have thought that West Berkshire and its neighbours were well placed to put together a good case for that.
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
I always had the Secretary of State down as a fairly bright chap, but this would be a fair settlement only if it were predicated on every area having an equal council tax base and equal levels of need. Representing as I do a cross-borough constituency—for the PPSs, that is Tameside and Stockport—I know that those two local authorities are very different in their ability to raise income. Tameside, for example, this year has a £16 million deficit in adult social care. The levy on council tax—the 2% precept—will raise £1.4 million only. How does the Secretary of State plan to fill that gap?
Greg Clark
I have given some advice to the hon. Gentleman’s neighbour, the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds), on this issue. If the hon. Gentleman would like me to arrange for him to meet Sean Anstee, the leader of Trafford council, I think he would find it a very constructive conversation. In a world of devolution, Trafford may be able to provide some advice and assistance to the hon. Gentleman’s borough council on running an efficient set of services.