Speeches by McMahon.

“All the evidence says that the number of young people who need specialist educational support outside of mainstream provision is increasing all the time, and the cost of that provision is increasing, too. Where there is a coming-together is that I think most parents want their child to go to the local school, and for t…”

“That is slightly different from the tourism tax, in the way that it has been requested in other parts.”

“They are slightly different things. The business improvement district, which is done thorough a localised referendum, is a route that is available to areas today. There are live BIDs that have come through the system since we have been in Government.”

“We have moved on to more mayoral strategic authorities being created, not more tourism tax authorities. The point was more about capitalising on the investment in the new theme park—a strategic footprint that really draws in the economic impact of that.”

“That is certainly a fair case to make in terms of the economic impact that that investment will have, and it should be capitalised. With more co-ordination across that sub-region, that feels better. I should say, though, that there is no reason why local authorities in that area cannot do that now, with a foundation ag…”

“We probably ought to avoid trying to reinvent the wheel. There were more than adequate examples during the last Labour Government of what good, early, family-based and neighbourhood-based intervention can be. Perhaps the problem in politics is that it takes a long time to prove the concept, and a young person may have …”

“Maybe we do not start at the same point, but I think we finish at the same point, which is that there are arguments for a levy, and some of them are quite strong. The fact that there are voluntary schemes in place says that in some parts of the country—but not all—there is a coming together of local political leadershi…”

“Our view is the Treasury’s view, but we do reflect that there are particular mayors and cities making the case for an overnight visitor levy or tourism tax, and a number of voluntary schemes are already active around the country. However, it is a matter for mayors and local authorities to make the case, and for HMT to …”

“Some of the work is taking place now. At a more localised level, we are working with the Cabinet Office on the test, learn and grow pilots, which are about understanding where placed-based, hyper-local early intervention in public sector reform partnerships can deliver better outcomes at a reduced cost. That work is on…”

“Well, on issues like this—”

“Ultimately, any tax like that is a decision for the Treasury, not for our Department.”

“For all the baseline datasets, whether in our Department, the Department for Education or the Department of Health and Social Care, we want to use the most up-to-date, reliable and robust data possible. That is the intention; obviously, we will come forward with the needs and resource assessment in the round. To reassu…”

“Council tax in most areas is far in excess of what a local council spends on neighbourhood universal services anyway, just because of the amount of council tax that is now generated. In terms of the notional attachment or hypothecation of council tax to universal services, with central Government then funding targeted …”

“It is very difficult for central Government to make an absolute assessment of the cost of delivering services, given that councils’ delivery models are so different and their cost bases are so variable. That makes it difficult for Government to have a funding formula that can meet that, which is why we always take fund…”

“No, I take the LGA’s figures at face value. My point is that, coupled with the additional payment of over £500 million for NIC costs and the overall allocation of £5 billion, in the round there is enough money in the system to absorb that direct cost. I can ask Nico to talk about how we arrived at the calculation that …”

“Not in the way that you describe it, which is essentially the hypothecation of a local income tax model. It is not something that we are looking at.”

“I think it is a matter of fact that the localisation of the council tax support scheme for working-age households has led to a genuine postcode lottery. I usually avoid using that phrase, because it does not allow for local variations that are legitimate. But on this front, it is a matter of fact that you can be in a v…”

“With all indices of multiple deprivation, I suppose the only direct instruction politically is that we need to go down to the smallest possible unit to make sure that we pick up deprivation wherever it exists in the country. We do not want to have such a high level of assessment of deprivation that we pick up big clust…”

“In there is our starting point, with the work that we are doing on the funding formula, which is to accept—I have said this in this Committee—that it is a matter of fact that there are areas that have had to go to council tax in the absence of central Government funding, just to be able to keep up with demand. But even…”

“I will let Nico talk about how we arrived at the distribution of NICs if that is helpful to the Committee. In terms of the overall allocation, we do take—you would expect us to say this—the allocation for local government in the round. On that basis, there has been £5 billion of new money into the system. Most councils…”