Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Lloyd Excerpts

Monday 30th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

10. What assessment he has made of the possible effects on local authorities in deprived areas of his planned localisation of national non-domestic rates.

[Tony Lloyd (Manchester Central) (Lab)]

12. What assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals for the localisation of business rates on regional inequality.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Robert Neill)]

Currently, local authorities see no financial benefit from delivering growth. Our proposals will create a strong incentive for all local authorities, wherever they are in the country, to promote growth, local enterprise and jobs. We will ensure that no council will lose out as a result of its business rates base at the outset of the scheme.

[Robert Neill]

The hon. Lady neglects to mention that, throughout the period of the Labour Government, the economic position of the north deteriorated by 2%, while that of Greater London improved by 15%. Moreover, her city of Hull grew in excess of the national average over the past business rate period, as did Manchester, Leeds, Durham and Stockton-on-Tees. All those places will gain under our proposals; they did not do so under the system that her Government operated.

[Tony Lloyd]

It is astonishing that the Minister has just completely failed to address my hon. Friend’s question. The poorer areas, which have already done badly under this Government in regard to their funding from central Government, are going to be even worse off unless they can guarantee to generate increased economic activity. Not every area can give that guarantee, however. Are these measures not simply going to make the poor poorer, and is that not morally unacceptable?

[Robert Neill]

I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman is not pleased that his Manchester constituency grew at about 6.9%, as opposed to a national average of 5%. He might also like to take on board the fact that a baseline will be set for all local authorities that takes into account their needs and resources at the beginning of the scheme, and that they will thereafter be protected by the top-ups and tariffs that flow from the baseline being uprated in line with the retail prices index.