Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria were used in allocating the transition grant to local authorities, in the light of the NAO report, <i>Transition grant and rural services delivery grant</i>, published in February, which found that the level of need or demand for local services was not considered when the Department for Communities and Local Government designed the grant.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
My department has published an explanatory note (attached) on the method of allocation of the Transition Grant for 2016/17. A copy has been placed in the library of both Houses.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial effect of the Budget announcement of changes to business rates relief on (1) local government across England, (2) councils in South Yorkshire, and (3) Sheffield City Council.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
These tax cuts provide significant support to local businesses. The Small Business Rate Relief measure announced at the Budget will mean 600,000 of the smallest businesses will not have to pay business rates.
Local authorities will be compensated in full for their loss of income as a result of these changes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the status of the Sheffield City Region Devolution Deal, in the light of the Leader of Sheffield City Council refusing to accept the current Deal; what the areas of disagreement are; and what their position is on each of those areas.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Sheffield City Region devolution deal is a ground-breaking agreement that will see a major transfer of powers and responsibilities, including over transport. Local councils are in the process of ratifying devolution agreements and are working with the Government to ensure the timely implementation of all commitments.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the recent communiqué from Anglican Primates about homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government has made no representations to the Most Rev. and rt hon Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Anglican Community, regarding the recent communique from the Anglican Primates, issued on 15 January.
The Government does not normally make comments in response to statements issued by the Church of England.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they calculated the amount of funding required for the 100 "sink estates" that they have identified for regeneration projects, and how they plan to distribute the total amount between those selected estates.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Funding has been agreed through the Spending Review which considered requirements for ongoing commitments and scope for supporting new proposals for estate regeneration. We are clear that government funding will be one element of support for estate regeneration going forward and that other investment from the public and private sectors will be needed. We are looking to engage with as many estates as possible to encourage new ideas, innovation and partnerships in regenerating estates.
My noble Friend, the rt. hon. Lord Heseltine, is leading an Advisory Panel on estate regeneration which will establish an Estates Regeneration Strategy, explore what schemes can come forward and identify barriers that the Government can help remove which hold back estate regeneration.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the process of its devolution deal, Sheffield City Region asked for, or was offered, the same powers as Manchester, either for its governance arrangements or for the devolution of powers and monies.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Devolution is bottom-up and led by local areas; proposals are developed by local partners and constitute part of a formal negotiation with the Government. During negotiations, a number of options were discussed with Sheffield City Region, including the Greater Manchester model. The final agreement has been published on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 10 December (HL4243), whether the specific power of the Mayor to veto a vote by not voting for a motion, as set out in paragraph 4 of the Sheffield City Region Devolution Agreement, remains negotiable.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
All deals are agreed in principle, and we are therefore open to extending or amending existing devolution deals. However, it is vital that any alternative arrangement offered by Sheffield City Region would ensure that the Mayor will retain the same or stronger powers as the currently agreed arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Sheffield City Region Devolution Agreement that has been signed by the leaders and the mayor of four councils in South Yorkshire is final, and whether before signing the signatories were informed that the powers of the mayor for the Sheffield City Region set out in paragraph 4 could be further negotiated.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
All deals are agreed in principle, and are subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill and relevant secondary legislation. There is a clear understanding – stipulated in the deal document – that discussions will be on-going and that further powers may be devolved in the future, as has been the case with Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of whether the social care budget will meet future demand in the period between 2015 and 2020, in the light of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
No such assessment has been made. It is for local authorities to allocate funding to individual services from their overall budget. In recognition of increasing demand for social services, the Spending Review announced an ambitious plan to integrate health and social care across the country by 2020, and a £3.5 billion package to support local authorities with responsibility for adult social care to meet the needs of their local population. This includes giving councils the additional freedom to introduce a social care precept onto council tax bills, which local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber with responsibility for Adult Social Care services can choose to take up from 2016-17.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of the net financial impact of moving to grant reduction and 100 per cent business rate retention as outlined in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; which local authorities will see (1) a net increase, and (2) a net decrease; and what the increase and decrease will be in each case.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that, as part of the new system, there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.
Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities but, before the start of the financial year, local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber estimated that their total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £1.9 billion.