Non-domestic Rates
Communities and Local Government

Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of revenue from business rates in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13 in each local authority area; and if he will compare such figures with those used in the calculation of the distributable amount for 2012-13.

Bob Neill (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Bromley and Chislehurst, Conservative)

Information on non-domestic rate income in England is provided by local authorities annually on the National Non-domestic Rates (NNDR) 1 form which is submitted to DCLG every February. These figures use national assumptions on the amount of revenue that authorities will be unable to collect and allowances to mitigate the historical differences between national non-domestic rates' budget estimates and outturn figures. The Department does not make separate estimates at local authority level.

Information from these returns, at local authority level, is published on the DCLG website at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/xls/1910477.xls

for 2011-12 and at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/xls/2150903.xls

for 2012-13.

Figures on the estimated total contribution to the non-domestic rates pool from the Distributable Amount calculations and from the local authority NNDRl returns are set out in the following table. The figures relate to the local list only: i.e. non-domestic rates collected by the 326 billing authorities in England. The Distributable Amount is not available at local authority level and Outturn data for 2011-12 are not yet available.

The contribution to the pool derived from the Distributable Amount calculation for 2011-12 is different from that published on the DCLG website as it has been adjusted to reflect the change in methodology used to produce the Distributable Amount for 2012-13.

In relation to the implications for the business rates system for 2013-14 onwards, I note that as outlined in my answer to the hon. Member of 10 October 2011, Hansard, column 18W, our proposals for local business rate retention will ensure a fair starting point, so that no local authority is worse off at the outset of the scheme as a result of their business rates base. We are also ensuring there is protection for councils across the country, including a safety net for places in need of additional support.