Local Government Finance

Brandon Lewis Excerpts

Monday 18th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

The hon. Gentleman raises a very important point. Already the London councils are working on a pooling system for the receipts of the business rate, and are fairly well advanced in their planning. The advantage of having pooling across London is that any growth in Westminster—the hon. Gentleman is right to say that it will indeed be great—will be shared with the people of Enfield. I urge him to look at the part of the consultation paper that deals with pooling. He makes a very reasonable point and something clearly has to be done about it. I would expect other parts of the country also to pool so that rich authorities and poor authorities can both enjoy the benefits of growth.

[Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that one of the most exciting parts of his statement is the opportunity opened up for local authorities through their freedom so that areas like Great Yarmouth, working with the county council and local businesses, might finally be able to invest in infrastructure and see the development of projects like the third river crossing, which were never possible under the previous Government?

[Mr Pickles]

That is certainly true, given the ability to have tax increment financing schemes in the projected Bill. That would certainly help my hon. Friend’s constituency, which has not done particularly well out of the current grant system. I think that, with the help of the distribution, this has the potential to provide the good people of Great Yarmouth with an opportunity to develop the front and to look to that additional crossing.