Nick Raynsford
Main Page: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)(12 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Greg Clark
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. One power that we are keen to see devolved to cities is a greater ability to invest in infrastructure, which can unlock growth and lead to financial prosperity. We have consulted on suggestions for tax increment financing and will propose our response shortly, but it is clear that cities want to be in the vanguard of using such powers.
Mr Nick Raynsford (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)
The Minister talked about the devolution of business rates, but he did not respond to the question that my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) asked him on Government plans to retain part of the revenue from them. If the Minister is serious about localism, will he tell the House whether the Government will consider options for devolving all business rate revenue to local government and not allowing a clawback by the Treasury?
Greg Clark
The right hon. Gentleman will know that the Government have consulted on precisely that. It is important that there is a strong connection between an authority’s business rate receipts—all authorities; not just cities—and its policy behaviour in respect of businesses. The direction in which we are headed is very clear, but the precise technical details will be made clear in days to come.