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23 Mar 2010 : Column 281W—continued
The Government have listened to the concerns of businesses with significant and unexpected backdated bills, including some businesses within ports. They have legislated to enable such bills to be repaid over an unprecedented eight years rather than in a single instalment, helping affected businesses to manage the impact on their cash flows during the downturn by reducing the amount they are required to pay now by 87.5 per cent. and assist authorities by being able to collect the money over the eight years.
As at 8 October 2009, local authorities have reported that ratepayers occupying 221 properties within ports had fully discharged their backdated liability and ratepayers occupying a further 200 business properties within ports had been granted a schedule of payments.
Non-Domestic Rates: York
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much on average was paid in business rates in the City of York in 2009-10; and what estimate he has made of the likely average amount to be paid in 2010-11 taking account of transitional relief. [322381]
Barbara Follett
[holding answer 15 March 2010]: The figure derived from dividing the forecast net rate yield from the city of York's rating list in 2009-10 by the number of hereditaments on that local list as at
31 December 2008 is £14,600. Data are as reported to Communities and Local Government by the city of York on their 2009-10 National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) returns.
No estimates of the average bill in 2010-11 have been made, as these contain not only transitional relief but all other reliefs, some determined at the billing authorities' discretion. Therefore it is not possible to estimate the likely bill of a hereditament and any comparison with the average bill in 2009-10 will be flawed as it cannot take account of all of these reliefs.
However, for the purpose of modelling the 2010 Transitional Relief scheme, my Department has estimated a proxy for rates bills in 2010-11. The Notional Chargeable Amount (NCA) was calculated which for a given year is the product of the rateable value and that year's small business multiplier. The NCA is then compared to the previous year's reference value increased by the caps. The minimum of these two values was used as a proxy for the bill after transition. The figure derived from dividing the total of all proxy bills for 2010-11 in the city of York by the number of hereditaments on the draft 2010 rating list used for the Department's 2010 transitional relief modelling is £16,300.
The data used for this modelling are consistent with the consultation document titled The Transitional Arrangements for the Non-domestic Rating Revaluation 2010 in England. Details on the methodology and assumptions used can be found on page 49 of the consultation. The assumptions underlying this modelling include zero inflation, which does not reflect the latest information available, and adjustments for appeals. A copy of the consultation document is available at the following link:
The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government.
Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation. The Government have put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases, which in 2010-11 will ensure no business property sees its rates bill increase by more than 11 per cent. as a result of the revaluation, with maximum increases capped at just 3.5 per cent. for small properties. That is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many businesses in the City of York were liable to pay business rates in 2009-10; how many such businesses will face (a) an increase and (b) a reduction in (i) their rateable value as a result of the business rates revaluation, (ii) the rates they pay in cash terms in 2010-11 taking into account the rate poundage and transitional relief and (iii) the rates they pay in 2010-11 taking into account the rate poundage and transitional relief and discounting the national average increase in business rates between 2009-10 and 2010-11. [322382]
Barbara Follett [holding answer 15 March 2010]: The information is as follows:
| Table 1: Number and share of hereditaments in the city of York whose rateable value will increase or decrease as a result of the 2010 revaluation | ||
| Number of hereditaments( 1) | Proportion of all hereditaments (percentage) | |
| (1) Rounded to the nearest 100. | ||
The data used to produce the number and proportion of hereditaments in the city of York that will receive an increase or decrease in rateable value are consistent with the statistical release titled "Non-domestic Rateable Values: 2010 Local Ratings Lists-England and Wales" published on 18 December 2009.
A copy of this statistical release is available at the following link:
No estimates of the number and proportion of hereditaments in the city of York that will receive an increase or decrease in bill have been made, as these contain not only transitional relief but all other reliefs, some determined at the billing authorities' discretion. Therefore it is not possible to estimate the likely bill of a hereditament.
However, for the purpose of modelling the 2010 Transitional Relief scheme, my Department has estimated a proxy for rates bills in 2009-10 and 2010-11. The Notional Chargeable Amount (NCA) was calculated which for a given year is the product of the rateable value and that year's small business multiplier. The NCA is then compared to the previous year's reference value increased by the caps. The minimum of these two values was used as a proxy for the bill after transition. The result of these proxy calculations is shown in table 2 as follows:
| Table 2: Number and share of hereditaments in the city of York whose proxy bill, calculated by the Department before inflation and other reliefs but after transition, will increase or decrease as a result of the 2010 revaluation | ||
| Number of hereditaments( 1) | Proportion of all hereditaments (percentage) | |
| (1) Rounded to the nearest 100. | ||
The data used for this modelling are consistent with the consultation document titled "The Transitional Arrangements for the Non-domestic Rating Revaluation 2010 in England". Details on the methodology and assumptions used can be found on page 49 of the consultation. The assumptions underlying this modelling include zero inflation, which does not reflect the latest information available, and adjustments for appeals. A copy of the consultation document is available at the following link:
The national average change in proxy bills was a decrease of £20. After this average national change was discounted from each of the proxy bills produced by the model for hereditaments in the city of York the number of hereditaments seeing increases and decreases in their rates bill is shown in the following table:
| Table 3: Number and share of hereditaments in the city of York whose proxy bill, calculated by the Department before inflation and other reliefs but after transition, will increase or decrease as a result of the 2010 revaluation discounting the national average increase in business rates | ||
| Number of hereditaments( 1) | Proportion of all hereditaments (percentage) | |
| (1) Rounded to the nearest 100. | ||
When calculating the business rates multiplier in a revaluation year, we are required by law to discount the effect of any increases in rateable value. As a result, we have reduced the multiplier by 15 per cent. in 2010-11-taking it to its lowest level for 17 years. This is designed to ensure the Government do not collect an extra penny from revaluation. The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others.
Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation. The Government have put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases, which in 2010-11 will ensure no business property sees its rates bill increase by more than 11 per cent. a result of the revaluation, with maximum increases capped at just 3.5 per cent. for small properties. That is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.
Public Footpaths
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department has given to local authorities for parish path initiatives and partnerships to date. [323442]
Huw Irranca-Davies: I have been asked to reply.
The Parish Paths Partnership was launched by the Countryside Commission in 1992 and ran until 1998 as a demonstration project. Some local authorities continue to run and fund the scheme, which is aimed at improving and maintaining local public rights of way. There is no centrally held information as to which authorities continue to operate the Parish Paths Partnership scheme, and how much funding is allocated to the scheme by those authorities.
Public Sector
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Government departments are participating in the Total Place initiative. [323303]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Total Place programme is overseen by a ministerial group chaired by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and includes the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Department of Health, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Cabinet Office along with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Chair of the LGA.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for Total Place stage two; and how many Total Place stage two pilots he expects to take place. [323441]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government's report on Total Place will be published alongside Budget 2010. The report will set out the next steps Government will take on the Total Place programme.
Regional Planning and Development
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have had their core strategy found unsound by the Planning Inspectorate; and for what reasons in each case. [323029]
Mr. Ian Austin: Eight authorities have had their core strategy development plan documents found unsound. The authorities are Carrick district council (as was); Chichester district council; Lichfield city council; Ryedale district council; Stafford borough council; Restormel borough council (as was); Teignbridge district council and the Royal borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.
A paper has been placed in the Library of the House which sets out in summary the reasons why each core strategy has been found unsound.
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the responsible regional authority to draw up each new regional strategy. [323158]
Mr. Ian Austin: The provisions of the Local Democracy Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 to create regional strategies come into effect on 1 April 2010. The regulations, which also come into effect on that day, state that each Responsible Regional Authority will have to produce a project plan outlining how they will take forward the revision of their regional strategy, some project plans are already in place. All regions will aim to complete the revision of their regional strategies by 2013.
Social Rented Housing: Databases
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which company has been awarded the National Register of Social Housing database contract reference 2009/S 245-350819 by the Tenant Services Authority. [323046]
Mr. Ian Austin: The company awarded the contract (contract reference 2009/S 245-350819) for the National Register of Social Housing Database was RM Education plc.
Social Rented Housing: Tenants Rights
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on succession tenancy rights for adult sons and daughters of a social tenant. [323105]
Mr. Ian Austin: By virtue of sections 87 and 88 of the Housing Act 1985, an individual only has a right to succeed to a secure periodic local authority tenancy if the deceased tenant had not themselves succeeded to the tenancy and they are either the spouse/civil partner of the deceased tenant or they are a family member who has been residing in the property as their principal home for at least 12 months ending on the date that the tenant died.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published in November 2002 'Allocation of Accommodation-Code of Guidance for Local Housing Authorities' which gives guidance on when it may be appropriate to grant a new tenancy to those members of the household who have been living with the deceased tenant but who do not have the legal right to succeed. This states that:
"Where a tenant dies and another household member (who does not have succession rights to the tenancy) has:
(a) been living with the tenant for the year prior to the tenant's death; or
(b) been providing care for the tenant; or
(c) accepted responsibility for the tenant's dependants and needs to live with them in order to do so,
housing authorities should consider granting a tenancy to the remaining person or persons, either in the same home or in suitable alternative accommodation, provided the allocation has no adverse implications for the good use of the housing stock and has sufficient priority under the allocation scheme. In the case of (a) and (b), the accommodation in question must be the principal or only residence of the survivor at the time the tenant dies."
Standards Board for England: Public Relations
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2013W, on Standards Board for England: public relations, which external public relations (a) firms and (b) consultants were hired by the Standards Board for England in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11; and how much the Standards Board for England has spent on exhibitions at political party conferences to date. [323084]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The following external suppliers have provided the services that were referred to in my answer of 9 September to the hon. Member.
| (i) 2008 -09 | |
| Supplier | Service provided |
|
Brand review, publication design, web development consultancy | |
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