Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding will be made available to small and medium size businesses when transitional arrangements for the Rural England Prosperity Fund end.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
After March 2026, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will end. Beyond this, the government is providing targeted, long-term local growth funding to support growth across the UK, completing the transition from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This includes:
For local government as a whole, the government's funding reforms will move funding to the places that need it, ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities.
DBT will lead on the broader SME strategy setting out the government's vision for SMEs and we will work across government to ensure effective support.
Funding related to the Rural England Prosperity Fund is a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding will be made available to small and medium size businesses when transitional arrangements for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund end.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
After March 2026, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will end. Beyond this, the government is providing targeted, long-term local growth funding to support growth across the UK, completing the transition from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This includes:
For local government as a whole, the government's funding reforms will move funding to the places that need it, ensuring that funding is targeted effectively at the places and services that need it most and allocated in a way that empowers local leaders to deliver against local priorities.
DBT will lead on the broader SME strategy setting out the government's vision for SMEs and we will work across government to ensure effective support.
Funding related to the Rural England Prosperity Fund is a matter for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the impact of the provision of council services in rural areas on the cost of those services in (a) North Dorset constituency and (b) other rural areas.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive almost a 6% increase in their Core Spending Power (CSP) next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.
For Dorset Council this represents an increase of 5.9% in CSP - making available a total of up to £451.1 million in 2025-26.
The government is currently inviting views on how best to consider the impact of rurality on the costs of service delivery, and demand, as part of our longer-term consultation on local authority funding reform. Within this, we propose continuing to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for relative cost differences between local authorities, including differences between rural and urban areas.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution in response to the hon. Member for North Dorset during the Oral Statement of 16 December 2024 on English Devolution, Official Report, column 53, when her Department will commence a review into fair funding for rural councils.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities.
We are committed to pursuing a comprehensive set of reforms for public services to fix the foundations of local government in partnership with the sector and on the principle of giving councils early certainty. As a core part of this plan, the government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We are inviting views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation (18 December – 12 February).
These reforms will build on the proposals set out in the previous government’s review of Relative Needs and Resources (also referred to as the ‘Fair Funding Review’), using the best available evidence to inform local authority funding allocations. We will move gradually towards an updated system and will invite views on possible transitional arrangements to determine how local authorities reach their new funding allocations.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the additional costs of providing council services in rural areas.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This government is committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural councils in England. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments. The government is keen to hear from councils about how best to consider the impact of rurality on the costs of service delivery, and demand, as part of our longer term consultations on local authority funding reform.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to continue the Community Ownership Fund with the same terms of reference.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This Government is committed to empowering communities with a strong new ‘right to buy’ beloved community assets, such as empty shops, pubs and community spaces.
We will confirm plans on the Community Ownership Fund in due course.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what process needs to be followed by local authority areas which would like to achieve unitary status.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria his Department will use to assess bids to establish a unitary authority; and whether unanimity of affected local authorities is required.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the minimum population size required is to form a unitary authority.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the maximum population size is in which a single unitary authority should operate.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Devolution White Paper to be published this Autumn will set out our transformative plans for economic recovery and renewal, and for levelling up opportunity, prosperity, and well-being across the country. These plans will include restructuring our local institutions to deliver these outcomes, establishing more mayors and more unitary councils the populations of which will depend on local circumstances but as a rule of thumb are expected to be substantially in excess of 300k-400k. Under current legislation it is open to the Secretary of State, subject to consultation and Parliamentary approval, to implement if he thinks fit any unitary proposal submitted by a council in response to an invitation which any council may request. In considering a unitary proposal the Secretary of State expects to have regard to the extent it is likely to support the delivery of the outcomes sought in the White Paper.