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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what projections his Department has made of the effect on business rates receipts of plans for devolved city region authorities.

The Government has announced that, by the end of the Parliament, we will give all local councils, including city regions, new responsibilities in return for keeping 100% of locally raised business rates. We will also give city regions powers over setting local business rates, strengthening their link with their local business communities and allowing them to tailor local taxes to the needs of their local economies. We will be working out the details of the reform in the coming months in consultation with local government.