Non-Domestic Rating (Designated Area) Regulations 2021 Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Lord Bhatia
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Non-Domestic Rating (Designated Area) Regulations 2021
Lord Bhatia Excerpts(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Bhatia (Non-Afl) [V]
My Lords, this SI has been prepared by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. These regulations form part of the scheme for local retention of non-domestic rates. Their purpose is to designate an area in relation to which a proportion of the non-domestic rating income raised is to be retained in its entirety by the local authority in whose area the designated area falls and shared by that authority with its combined authority.
The department has reached this view because it considers that the primary purpose of the instrument relates to local government finance, which is within the devolved legislative competence of each of the three devolved legislatures. The territorial extent of this instrument is England and Wales. These regulations form part of the scheme to allow local retention of the non-domestic rate scheme which was introduced on 1 April 2013 to give local government a direct share of the local non-domestic rating income and thereby an incentive to promote local growth. This replaced the previous scheme whereby non-domestic rates were collected by local authorities, paid to central government and redistributed back to local government via the local government finance report.
As part of their policy to deliver growth, the Government have previously identified a number of geographical areas designed to help create jobs and businesses in areas of economic opportunity. They will do this by giving businesses the right conditions for growth, creating public and private partnerships and encouraging competition to attract foreign inward investment. In these areas, the Government have allowed local authorities to retain 100% of the growth in non-domestic rates. This provides a powerful incentive for growth.
Can the Minister say whether there is a monitoring process in place to ensure that local authorities use these funds for business growth and not for other purposes?