Business Rates (North-East)

Debate between David Amess and Lord Stunell

Tuesday 25th October 2011 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Stunell]

The hon. Lady misunderstands what the Government have said. The baseline is fixed permanently in the system. The losses and gains come from changes in the business rate income that an authority might receive. I point out to Members who represent constituencies in the north-east that, over the five years from 2006, the total business rate income in England rose by 5% per year—not 5% overall, but per year—and by 5.1% in the north-east. In other words, the rise in business rates in the north-east during that five-year period was greater than that in England as a whole. Furthermore, a rise of 5% per year is significantly higher than RPI, CPI or, indeed, any rise in formula grant that any of those authorities gained. This is not a zero-sum reform. Beyond the CSR period, there is every prospect that the north-east will do well out of this system of having an increasing flow of business rates.

A number of points have been made about whether or not this is an incentivising system. If, during that five-year period, the north-east was able to secure an annual rise of 5.1% in its business rate income without any incentive, it seems to me that, even if the incentive effect turns out to be quite weak, it is likely to be better than that, than RPI and than the increase in formula grant, which the previous Government, in their munificence, decided was appropriate for north-east authorities. It is important that we nail some of the misunderstandings that have arisen.

My hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Ian Swales) made the point that the regional growth fund is active and effective. Fourteen companies in the north-east have had support, and that will provide more than 5,200 direct jobs and 8,300 indirect jobs.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has announced a £500 million growing places fund for infrastructure in England, for which local authorities in the north-east will be eligible. I am sure that the hon. Member for Tynemouth (Mr Campbell) will make sure that his local authority makes a suitable proposal to deal with the roundabout on the A19 that he mentioned.

The consultation is still—

[Mr David Amess (in the Chair)]

Order. It is time for the next debate.

Coastal Towns (Government Policy)

Debate between David Amess and Lord Stunell

Tuesday 20th July 2010 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Stunell]

My hon. Friend anticipates the next paragraph of my speech, which talks about the £1 billion regional growth fund. I do not know how we do that, but there must be some kind of electricity between us. The Government intend to ensure that local areas have the capacity to deliver on their priorities. We are taking away the walls or barriers between the different funding streams that local authorities receive so that they can set their own priorities. I was astonished to find that there were 115 different income streams launched from my Department to local authorities. We are trying to break down those walls, so that the money that arrives in the vaults at the town hall can be spent in the way that the elected representatives at the town hall believe is best.

A number of other points were made, but let me reassure all hon. Members that we intend to maintain the existing co-operation between Departments and I shall look hard to see what opportunities there are to strengthen it, and the Minister with responsibility for tourism will, I am sure, do the same. We will retain the concept of drawing together all the different public service funding streams in an area, and ensure that we get the maximum value out of them.

The hon. Member for Tynemouth (Mr Campbell) spoke about community asset transfer, and we are keen to ensure that such capacity is there for voluntary and community groups. I believe that the localism Bill will contain specific provisions that open the door to that.

I am looking at the time; I do not have very long and I have not answered all the questions. If hon. Members want to reinforce their points by writing to me or getting in touch with me, please do so and I will do my best to give informative answers.

If we are to ensure that coastal towns have the resilience that they will need in the tough economic times that lie ahead, they must diversify their economies and widen their economic bases. That means attracting a range of employers offering jobs at different skill levels and in new sectors. We need to ensure that coastal towns become more attractive places for people of working age, so that not everybody thinks that people are only born in such towns or die there; we must show that there is something to do in between times. That is an important part of the economic thinking of coastal towns—

[Mr David Amess (in the Chair)]

Order. We now move to our next debate.