Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will hold discussions with local authority leaders in Yorkshire on creating the post of Mayor of Yorkshire.
Answered by Lord Wharton of Yarm
The Summer Budget announced that the Government is working towards further devolution deals with Sheffield City Region and Leeds, West Yorkshire and Local Partners. It is for local partners, as part of these negotiations, to determine the area covered by the deals but I would be happy to meet with a representation to discuss further.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will undertake a feasibility study of reverting the boundaries of Yorkshire to those prior to the splitting of the region after the Local Government Act 1972.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Whilst the Government recognises the part historic counties can play in our traditions and local heritage across the country, we have no plans to undertake top down studies or reviews of local boundaries. We are ready to have conversations with any area about their proposals for the future governance of that area and the powers and budgets they would like to see devolved to it.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the housing completion rates in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire, (c) Leeds and (d) Leeds North West constituency was in the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Statistics on house building completions in England, West Yorkshire and in each local authority district, including Leeds, are published in the Department's live tables 253 (annual) and 253a (quarterly), which are available at the following link:
http://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-house-building
These figures exclude other sources of housing supply such as conversions.
These statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate how many new properties have been sold to foreign investors in (a) Leeds North West constituency, (b) Leeds and (c) the UK in the last year.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
This information is not available centrally.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of affordable homes that will be (a) started and (b) completed in (i) Leeds North West constituency and (ii) West Yorkshire in the next year.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department does not forecast affordable housing delivery by locality by year. This Government is committed to deliver 275,000 affordable homes in England across 2015-20.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to support business and trade in market towns.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Since 2010, we have helped create over 360 town teams, and given over £18 million to towns, funding successful initiatives such as ‘Love your Local Market’. We have increased business rate discounts for 300,000 businesses, strengthened the role of Business Improvement Districts, introduced new permitted development rights and are tackling aggressive parking enforcement.
The Government has provided advice and assistance to town centre partners, promoting trade and creating vibrant town centres. These include guidance on discretionary rate relief, Business Improvement Districts, digital high streets and guides that showcase successful local initiatives. We also developed the ‘Kick Start Your High Street’ action pack which contains practical guides and support for councils and local people.
The Great British High Street Awards, now in its second year, is currently open for entries. Winners across seven categories (London; City; Town centre; Market town; Coastal community; Local centre; Village) share a cash prize, but more importantly, receive mentoring and support such as free training to develop digital skills for local businesses. We have also included a Special Recognition category of awards this year, which will recognise towns who have become ‘Rising Stars’ in turning fortunes around, or in some cases even local people who have made an invaluable personal contribution to their local high streets.
The market town of Belper was the overall winner in the 2014 Competition.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to councils on providing residents with correction letters when incorrect information has been sent to them about a change in council policies.
Answered by Marcus Jones
Councils should follow the recommendations in the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity in the production of all taxpayer funded publicity, including letters to residents about council policies.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the powers available to local authorities to collect unpaid business rates.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
We keep the business rates system under review and maintain an ongoing dialogue with local authorities. Local authorities achieved a national average in-year collection rate for non-domestic rates in England of 97.9% in 2013-14.
The highest local authority collection rate is 99.8%, which illustrates the scope for other local authorities to increase their income by improving their collection rate.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount of unpaid business rates owed to local authorities in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) Leeds in each year from 2010 to 2014.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The table below shows, in £ millions, the amount of business rates not collected in-year by local authorities in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) Leeds in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14.
| Leeds | West Yorkshire | England | |
| 2009-10 | 7.3 | 18.6 | 432.1 |
| 2010-11 | 6.8 | 17.2 | 409.4 |
| 2011-12 | 8.7 | 22.0 | 466.5 |
| 2012-13 | 8.5 | 21.0 | 507.7 |
| 2013-14 | 11.1 | 22.3 | 478.0 |
West Yorkshire comprises of the metroploitan districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.
This information is derived from the final Quarterly Return of Council Taxes and Non-Domestic Rates (QRC4) returns submitted for all 326 billing authorities in England in April and May each year. This information is published in statistical releases available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics
The figures are calculated by subtracting the amount of business rates local authorities collected in the year up until 31 March of the year in question from the amount of business rates that were expected to be collected for the year. It includes prepayments made in advance of the year in question but does not include prepayments made within the year for future years nor does it include the payment of any arrears.
Collection of business rates continues once the financial year to which they relate has ended. This means the final amount not collected for the year may be different to the amount shown in the table
This shows there is significant scope for councils to generate revenue by improving their collection rates.
Asked by: Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support and advice is available to companies which require assistance in paying business rates.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
We announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 bills, bringing the total support of 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices to £1.4 billion. This help includes:
These measures are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including:
We have also given councils powers to grant their own discounts and we now fund 50% of any local discount granted. Authorities also have powers to grant hardship relief.