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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 7 March (HL6264), whether they will specify timelines for reviewing the formula that assesses a local authority’s needs against the costs that it incurs in addressing those needs, including when that review will start, when that consultation will be announced, how long the consultation period will be, when they expect that review to conclude, and when the outcomes of that review will be announced.

In October 2015 the Government announced that, by the end of this Parliament, local authorities will be able to keep 100 per cent of the business rates they raise locally. The Department for Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association will work with local authorities, businesses and other interested parties in the intervening period to develop proposals. There will be continued opportunity for the sector and the public to engage with the reforms.