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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of the net financial impact of moving to grant reduction and 100 per cent business rate retention as outlined in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; which local authorities will see (1) a net increase, and (2) a net decrease; and what the increase and decrease will be in each case.

The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that, as part of the new system, there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.

Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities but, before the start of the financial year, local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber estimated that their total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £1.9 billion.