Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the effect of the Government's proposal to allow local government to retain 100 per cent of the business rates they raise locally on Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire local authority budgets.

By the end of the Parliament, local government will retain 100% of taxes raised locally, giving councils control of additional £12.5 billion of business rates to spend on local services. In order to ensure that the reforms are fiscally neutral, these new powers will come with additional responsibilities, as well as phasing out some grants from Whitehall. This move towards self-sufficiency and away from dependence on central government is something councils have long campaigned for. In addition, the Government is undertaking a Fair Funding Review of councils’ relative needs and resources. The Review will set the funding baselines local authorities will receive under the 100% Business Rates Retention system.

Last week, we introduced the Local Government Finance Bill that will establish the framework for the reformed system. All relevant documents can be found here: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2016-17/localgovernmentfinance.html. We will continue to work closely with local government during the passage of the legislation, to shape the detail of the reforms.