Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of negative revenue support grant on (a) local authorities and (b) other bodies; and if he will make a statement.

The potential effect of ‘negative revenue support grant’ on local authorities in 2019-20 can be seen in the Tariff/Top-up adjustment column, in tables contained within the Publication “Key information for local authorities: final local government finance settlement 2016 to 2017”:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-information-for-local-authorities-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2016-to-2017

Concerns around the effect of negative Revenue Support Grant (RSG) have been raised by local authorities in previous consultations. The Government’s preferred option for addressing negative RSG is simply not to reflect negative RSG in local authorities’ business rates top-ups and tariffs, leaving the money with local authorities.

The 2019-20 Settlement technical consultation, published on 24 July, closed on 18 September, and we plan a statement to the House following analysis of consultation responses.