Blog

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their commitment to consult on 100 per cent retention of business rates by local authorities by the end of this Parliament, what additional resources would be available to each local authority with adult social care functions if they had been able to keep all the business rates collected in their area in 2014–15, and what proportion of their total expenditure that business rate retention amounted to.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government intends to move to 100 percent 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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount they plan to make available to local authorities to add to the Better Care Fund in each year from 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive, in the light of the commitment to make £1.5 billion available by 2019–20 set out in paragraph 2.124 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The annual breakdown of the £1.5 billion that will be made available to local authorities by 2019-20 to add to the Better Care Fund, as announced by the Chancellor in the 2015 Spending Review, has not yet been finalised. More detailed figures will be announced in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what additional income for spending on adult care will be available to each authority with adult social care functions if each of those authorities increases their precept by two per cent in each year from 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive, with no change to their baseline forecast spend for 2015–16.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

The Government announced on 17 December 2015, Official Report, Column 2238-2241, that Local Authorities with social care responsibilities will be able to increase their council tax by up to 2% above the core referendum principles of 2% (4% in total) which is expected to raise an extra £2billion by 2019/20. A breakdown of the £2billion, by how much individual local authorities could raise, has been made and can be viewed at the following link or in the attached document.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the allocations for the Department for Communities and Local Government DEL in Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 relates to adult social care in each year 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive; how those proportions compare with that for the baseline year of 2015–16; and what increases for adult social care are included in the locally financed expenditure for each year in that Table on the assumption of two per cent precept increase for adult social care in cash terms, at the 2015–16 baseline prices, and as a proportion of total local authority expenditure.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government is clear that decisions on how money should be spent in the local area are best made by local authorities. Local Government spending power is therefore not ringfenced. This allows local authorities the freedom to prioritise and make their own decisions on spending. Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review shows a cash terms increase in local authority spending. This includes a £1.5 billion grant especially for social care within Local Government DEL and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the increase likely to be raised through the social care precept within Locally Financed Expenditure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Warner on 2015-12-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the expenditure of each local authority with adult and children’s social care functions (1) in total, (2) on adult social care, and (3) on children’s social care, and what are (2) and (3) as a percentage of (1), in financial years 2010–11 to 2014–15 inclusive; and what are their forecasts for the same expenditure and percentages for 2015–16.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Data on the expenditure on adult and children’s social care functions (1) in total, (2) on adult social care, and (3) on children’s social care, in financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15 inclusive; and their forecasts for the same expenditure for 2015-16 by local authorities are published online in the Revenue Outturn Social Care and Public Health Services (RO3), and the Revenue Account (RA) budget forecast which are available at the following link:

http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing

The most recent revenue forms and guidance notes are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-government-finance-miscellaneous-forms#revenue-forms

“