Local Government Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2017-01-23
Topic: Housing
David John Warburton (Conservative, Centre-right): I join other hon. Members in wishing the Minister for Housing and Planning a happy birthday The House has been very patient. I will not hold up our proceedings for long as I am sure the Minister wants to enjoy his birthday for a couple of hours. The House has also been very accommodating, as we are yet to hear a lot of the detail regarding the Bill. As Members on both sides of the House have said, particularly the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) and my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope), there is an awful lot that we still do not really know, but overall the Bill is immensely welcome. There will be a collective sigh of relief across Somerset and other rural areas about clause 7’s extension of rate relief to rural areas, which will go some way towards putting rural areas on a more equal footing with urban areas, although there is still so much to do in many other regards for us to achieve anything like an equal footing. Small businesses in my constituency have raised that inequality with me, as I am sure others have in constituencies across the country, so it is good that we are addressing it Business rates appeals have cost some £2.5 billion over the past five years and, like the Local Government Association, I am pleased that the Bill sets out how the Government will pay local authorities for the cost of appeals, which will clearly make a difference. The proviso to that, however, is that that mechanism must be in place before the 100% retention of business rates, because if it is not, surely the local authority would be liable for 100% of the cost of appeals. I do not fully understand that, but no doubt we will hear more about it—I look forward to hearing what the Minister says. The retention of the redistribution mechanism for topping up a local authority’s funding if it does not raise enough means that the Bill is extremely good news on business rates as a whole, not only for local authorities but for small businesses On the wider funding issues, altering the local government finance settlement so that it becomes multi-year instead of yearly will of course provide local authorities with the opportunity to plan ahead. That will give them certainty and clarity so that they can look ahead like any other business or organisation as we transition to the system in which they retain 100% of local business rates. Again, perhaps we will learn more about the details of the proposal In rural Somerset, telecoms infrastructure is an enormous issue. Many small businesses in hamlets and isolated areas are left behind by superfast broadband. It feels like the 10% of businesses that are yet to be connected are all in my constituency, so while the tax break incentive for infrastructure development is enormously welcome, existing infrastructure also needs improvement. We have creaking half-copper wires all over the place, so I look forward to the other elements of the £1 billion connectivity investment that was announced by the Chancellor in the autumn statement I have general concerns about the financial priority that is being given to areas that are planning to have a mayor. The devolution plan for Somerset is widely controversial. Under the existing plan, in which Somerset and Devon would come together, having a mayor would not seem to be the right way to proceed. I am not sure what that would mean for financial incentives, so there is work to be done Overall, however, the Bill is extremely welcome. It delivers on our commitment to devolve budgets and powers to local government, and it moves local government away from dependency and towards self-sufficiency. As Voltaire and Spider-Man’s uncle both said, "With great power comes great responsibility." It is clear that the responsibility that the Bill provides will strengthen both the position and the powers of local government.