John Stevenson
Main Page: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable)
I do not know the answer to that question, but I am delighted to discover that the whole of Britain and the House of Commons now agrees with me.
John Stevenson (Carlisle) (Con)
T2. Central Government clearly has a major role to play in supporting and helping business, but we often underestimate the importance of local government’s ability to support, or indeed hinder, business. Does the Secretary of State believe that returning business rates to local government control will be good for business?
Vince Cable
Yes, I think it is a good idea in principle. Indeed, I announced it in a statement to the House last year. It could incentivise councils to attract businesses to their area. That is the reasoning behind it, but we have to be careful to ensure that there is an equalisation mechanism—some areas, of course, have a strong starting advantage—and to protect businesses from a very large increase in business rates, which could have the opposite effect.