Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of devolving business rate retention powers to local authorities.
The introduction of business rates retention gives all local authorities a strong incentive to pursue local growth policies, by allowing them to keep a share of the additional business rate income generated by that growth. 94% of authorities expect to see additional business rates income in 2015-16 worth an extra £544 million.