Local Government Finance

Sarah Wollaston Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. I pay tribute to him for conducting a well-reasoned and forensic argument that has been persuasive, and I am grateful for the manner in which he has done that. He is right. It is a false assumption that because an area is rural, it is wealthy and prosperous. Some of the most challenging circumstances are in the most rural areas. That is why, after more than a decade, it is long overdue that we should look at the costs of delivering services in rural areas. We should look at the pressures that they face and set the retention of business rates accordingly, so that they can be recognised in a way that they have not been over recent years.

[Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the Secretary of State’s statement today and thank him for listening to the concerns of rural areas. He will know, however, that the demographic pressures in places such as Devon are severe, and that the precept, welcome as it is, will quite meet the cost of the rise in the national living wage. During his review, will he set out whether he will listen to other proposals to create a sustainable long-term settlement for social care, which has been described as unfinished business in the “Five Year Forward View”?

[Greg Clark]

I certainly will. I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s words. One knows that more people choose to retire to places such as Devon than to other parts of the country, and it is important that that is recognised in the funds that are available. As everyone knows, my hon. Friend chairs a very important Committee of this House, and one of the essential tasks of this Government over the years ahead will be to make sure that health and social care come together. They are two sides of the same coin. The same people are being looked after, whether by councils or by the NHS. One of the things I am determined to do is to make sure that we have a much better connection between the NHS and social care, and I would be grateful for her advice and that of her Committee in how we do that.