Oral Answers to Questions

Andy Sawford Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Williams]

The Government will make the referendum criteria clear shortly, but council tax bills are a major part of every household’s budget—often far more significant than utility bills—and it is right that, rather than mandating local authorities or imposing caps as previous Governments did, this Government should give those in local government the discretion to raise council tax if they wish while expecting them to go to the people to get endorsement of that decision.

[Andy Sawford (Corby) (Lab/Co-op)]

Of the 30 areas in England with the highest black and minority ethnic populations, 29 face cuts above the national average and eight are dealing with cuts that are double that average. Will the Minister explain why BME communities are being hit so hard and will he agree to look at that?

[Stephen Williams]

I am the Minister responsible for race equality and I take the issues that the hon. Gentleman raises seriously. Perhaps we can have a separate discussion about it. Local authority settlements are not predicated on that basis, as a whole basket of factors goes into them. The Government are still putting substantial amounts of money into our integration budget to ensure that communities cohere, through measures such as specific funding for English language.