Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November to Question 90729 on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, whether an assessor to conduct the assurance review of BCP Council's governance and finance arrangements has been appointed; and whether the final report of the review will be published before the May 2023 local elections.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
A reviewer of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's governance and finance arrangements will be appointed in due course. I will write to local MPs once the appointment has been made.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much (a) council tax (b) business rates remained uncollected in England at the end of (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020/21 and (iii) 2021/22.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Data on the amount of council tax and business rates arrears outstanding for these years can be found in Tables 7 and 8 of the 'Collection Rates and receipts of council tax and business rates' statistical release. The latest release can be found here.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2022 to Question 93437 on Council Tax: Christchurch constituency, if he will apologise for his Answer to the hon. Member for Christchurch on 21 November 2022, Official Report, column 18, that he feels more sorry for people outside the Christchurch constituency than he does for people within that constituency who are in council tax poverty and less sorry for people who are relatively older than those who are not.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Secretary of State has agreed to meet my Hon. Friend to discuss this topic at his convenience.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Answer to the hon. Member for Christchurch of 21 November 2022, Official Report, column 18, for what reason he feels more sorry for people outside the Christchurch constituency than he does for people within that constituency who are in council tax poverty; and for what reason he feels less sorry for people who are relatively older than those who are not.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Further to the answer given by the Secretary of State, local councils are responsible for setting their own council tax levels. The Government maintains referendum principles to protect all households from excessive council tax increases. The Government has announced our intention to set referendum principles for 2023-24 at 3%, with an additional 2% flexibility for councils with adult social care responsibilities. For those on low incomes, council tax support is available from their council, and the nationally set Pensioner scheme maintains support at the levels of the former Council Tax Benefit, including reductions of up to 100%.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will ensure that any local authority in England which offers for sale an asset in its ownership does so in an open and transparent way which enables external organisations to bid and best value to be obtained.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
Local authorities are responsible for their own financial management and remain responsible to their electorate for their decisions. This includes how they manage and dispose of their assets. However, they must comply with the best value duty, which is clear that a local authority should have regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness when exercising its functions
Where a local authority (and other public bodies) are disposing of land, they should generally dispose of surplus land at the best possible price reasonably obtainable. The Government recognises, however, that disposing of land at less than best consideration can sometimes create wider public benefits, such as supporting delivery of initiatives or facilitate regeneration projects that deliver new housing. Where land is disposed of at an undervalue, the approval of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government is required - either through a specific application or under a general consent
The Government expects authorities to demonstrate high standards of financial management and transparency, and authorities must appropriately comply with relevant rules and guidance. Practices followed by authorities should be subject to internal scrutiny, and external auditors annually review whether a council has proper processes in place for achieving value for money as part of their statutory engagement.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2022 to Question 72914, when the external assurance review of BCP Council's governance and finance arrangements will begin; who will conduct the review; whether local Members of Parliament will be able to give evidence; whether the hearings will be in public and whether the report will be published.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Department continues to make progress on the necessary arrangements for an assurance review of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council’s governance and finance arrangements and an assessor will be appointed in due course. I will write to local MPs once the appointment has been made and the review has started.
BCP’s external assurance review will be led by a sector expert and, whilst the review will not be conducted through public hearings, the assessor will speak with key officers and members, review relevant documentation and consider any representations from other sources (as they deem necessary) – I expect and will ask for the assessor to contact members of parliament as part of this process. The final report will be publicly available and published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will extend the deadline of 30 September 2022 for the submission of an application by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council for a capitalisation direction for financial year 2022-23; and if he will require an external assurance review of that Council's finances and governance arrangements.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The former Minister for Local Government wrote to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council on 02 September 2022, indicating Government's in-principle decision agreeing to provide the Council with up to £20 million of support in the financial year 2022/23 through the Exceptional Financial Support process.
As conditions of this in-principle support, the council are required to produce a full plan for addressing their 2023/24 budget gap and beyond and will be subject to an external assurance review of their governance and finance arrangements. My officials continue to discuss the latest position of the council with officers.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2022 to Question 22339 on Beach Huts: Property Transfer and with reference to his Department's statutory guidance entitled Guidance on flexible use of capital receipts, published on 11 March 2016, whether Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council has submitted details of its planned flexible use of capital receipts in the financial year 2022-2023 as of 29 June 2022.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government issued the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts direction on 4 April that allows local authorities to use the proceeds of asset sales to fund projects for transformation and efficiency. This extends the flexibility that has been in place since 2016. A new condition was introduced that requires local authorities to send specified details of their planned use of the flexibility to DLUHC, in advance of its use. This is to make sure there is transparency and allows government to effectively monitor the use of the flexibility. Local authorities must comply with all conditions of the direction in order to use the flexibility.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy that limited companies owned and controlled by local authorities in England be required to have at least two independent directors; and if he will make a statement on the transparency and accountability of such companies to local payers of council tax.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Local authorities are autonomous public bodies responsible to their electorate for the decisions they take. They have a duty to ensure good financial management and governance, including clear audits on how the local authority is allocating its funding. Concerns about how the council uses taxpayers' money or alleged impropriety in the handling of funds can be raised directly with the local authority's independent auditor. The Government considers the need to directly intercede with authorities only where it is appropriate and necessary to do so.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2022 to Question 16828 on Beach Huts: Property Transfer, if he will publish the (a) policy objectives and (b) intent and spirit underpinning the Government's extension of the freedoms provided; and what the process is for him to be notified of any indication that authorities are not using the direction as planned.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
From April 2022, the Government has extended the flexibility for authorities to use capital receipts to fund transformation projects that produce long-term savings or reduce the costs of service delivery until 2023-24
It is for local authorities to make sure that they apply the flexibility correctly and have regard to the Guidance on Flexible Use of Capital Receipts. The guidance is clear that the flexibility is to allow authorities to use the proceeds from the sale of assets to fund transformation and release savings. Authorities must appropriately comply with the rules and guidance, and adherence should be subject to internal scrutiny and review by auditors
The Government is now carefully considering whether amendments are needed to the direction and guidance to make sure the freedoms are used in the spirit and intent with which they are provided.