Jeff Smith
Main Page: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
10. What steps the Government plan to take to ensure that the devolution of business rates does not adversely affect deprived areas.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Sajid Javid)
By the end of this Parliament, local government will retain 100% of taxes raised locally. There will be redistribution between councils, so that areas do not lose out on funding where they collect less in taxes.
Jeff Smith
I agree with the Secretary of State that, as he said earlier, no council should lose out, so there will need to be some system of top-ups and tariffs. We also need to use the opportunity to incentivise areas to promote growth. How will the Government ensure that this does not become just an administrative exercise that leads to another complicated local government funding formula by another name?
Sajid Javid
The hon. Gentleman’s constituency has already seen a 44% fall in the claimant count since 2010, and this is another way to try to boost local growth by having control over local taxes. He makes the important point that we should make sure that no council loses out, and that is why there will be this redistribution, but at the same time there will be more ways to promote local growth.