Amber Rudd
Main Page: Amber Rudd (Independent - Hastings and Rye)
Mr Pickles
I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s question, because it allows me to make it absolutely clear that there is absolutely no intention whatever for councils to receive anything less than they currently receive with regard to the amount of grant. Manchester receives £714 per head and Trafford receives £325 per head. That kind of bridging is not easy to do, but I want him to understand that the system we are proposing will fully meet the aspirations of places such as Manchester, which has a very dynamic economy. We want to ensure that we no longer take from areas where growth exists, as happens under the existing provisions.
Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)
Hastings recently fell to 19th from the bottom on the index of multiple deprivation. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that in the new assessment, with business rates as a right incentive for councils, areas of deprivation will still get the support they need from central Government while growth comes back?
Mr Pickles
The short answer is yes. My hon. Friend is a doughty defender of her constituents, but there is irony in the fact that the worse an authority can present itself, the more grant it gets. When I was council leader I often wanted to state what the good reasons for coming to the area were, and I think we have found a system under which councils will be able to do that. Hon. Members should not be under any illusions—the existing system is bust; it is broken. It simply does not deliver and we want a system that will deliver for the richest and the poorest.