Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of updating the valuations upon which Council Tax bands are set.
Answered by Simon Hoare
As set out previously, the Government has no plans to conduct a revaluation of council tax bands.
The Government remains committed to improving the local government finance landscape in the next Parliament. The Government confirmed in the Policy Statement published ahead of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement that in response to calls for stability the Government is prioritising stability in this Parliament and will work with local government and the wider sector on the new challenges and opportunities they face in the next Parliament.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support the long-term viability of high streets.
Answered by Jacob Young
This Government is fully committed to supporting our high-street businesses and communities.
Thanks to my Hon friend’s hard work, provisions in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act for High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) give local authorities new powers to force landlords to rent out vacant units in high streets. HSRAs will be backed by £2 million funding announced as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, to help communities and local businesses take control of empty properties, covering the cost of refurbishing properties, the auction process and council fees.
The High Street Accelerator pilot programme will incentivise and empower local people to work together to develop ambitious plans to tackle vacancy and anti-social behaviour, and work on long-term regeneration plans to future proof their high streets.
The Government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns has identified 55 towns to develop the first wave of Town Partnerships, backed by £1.1 billion overall, to drive ambitious plans to regenerate local towns across the UK over the next decade.
Long-term investment also includes £2.35 billion of Town Deals and over £830 million of Future High Streets Funding across 170 high streets, town centres and local communities in England.
At the last autumn statement, the Chancellor announced a business rates support package worth £4.3 billion over the next five years, freezing the small business multiplier and extending the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure scheme.
I want to thank my Hon friend for her work, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on levelling up projects in Bishop Auckland and our Long-Term Plan for Towns in Spennymoor.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people sleeping rough have access to emergency accommodation.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
The Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25 is investing over £530 million in funding to local authorities across England from April 2022 to March 2025. This includes an additional investment of £34.6 million announced in September 2023, to increase funding of rough sleeping services in local areas with the greatest need. The Rough Sleeping Initiative supports local authorities to develop their services from emergency interventions for rough sleepers to a focus on prevention, more sustained off-the-street accommodation offers and tailored support for those who are most vulnerable.
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund is investing £13 million to small – medium sized community and faith groups to increase the provision of quality single-room accommodation within the night shelter sector. The multi-year grant funding provides capital and revenue funding to support the sector to transform towards single-room year-round accommodation as the norm, as well as increasing the availability and quality of support for service users.