Give us our money back! says Council Leader (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Give us our money back! says Council Leader

July 26, 2006 11:56 AM

Leader of the Council Mark Harris (Lib Dem, Moortown) has called for the Government to hand back £54 million which it took from Leeds businesses last year. If Leeds was allowed to retain this money it would allow major infrastructure projects such as Supertram to be built.

Cllr Harris (Liberal Democrat, Moortown) said "It's an absolute scandal that these millions have been taken from the city. In every single year since the Labour Government came to power Leeds has paid out more than it has received from the national pool of business rates. Last year Leeds paid out £54 million more than it got back, money which would allow us to use our borrowing powers to raise £300 million for the city."

"That level of investment would be enough for us to start work on a first-class solution to Leeds' transport problems - such as Supertram. Not only that, we could overhaul the leisure centres right across the city to provide state of the art facilities for every community."

"It's not as if we're asking the Government for hand-outs, this is money that has been raised right here in Leeds because of the success of firms in this city which in turn was fuelled by the efforts of the people who live and work here. We just want to see the money that is brought into Leeds stay here, not be siphoned off to pay for projects elsewhere in the country."

"I think there is some hope that the Government will look again at this situation if we can continue to highlight the injustice of it. Sir Michael Lyons has been appointed by the Government to head up an inquiry into the way local government is funded. Leeds City Council has already made it clear to the inquiry that we should keep at least some of business rates we collect so that we can fund the major infrastructure projects we desperately need."

Notes:

1. Since 1997 Leeds has contributed £236 million more in total than it has received from the National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR) Pool:

Received from NNDR Pool Contribution to the NNDR Pool Net Received from or (Contribution to) NNDR pool

£m £m £m

1993/94 150.2 111.6 38.6

1994/95 141.0 107.3 33.7

1995/96 150.6 119.3 31.3

1996/97 168.6 141.0 27.6

1997/98 158.3 164.7 (6.4)

1998/99 165.5 180.6 (15.1)

1999/00 179.5 197.2 (17.7)

2000/01 202.5 216.4 (13.9)

2001/02 197.5 233.3 (35.8)

2002/03 215.7 230.6 (14.9)

2003/04 209.5 234.5 (25.0)

2004/05 200.2 236.8 (36.6)

2005/06 238.3 254.8 * (16.5)

2006/07 221.8 276.1 * (54.4)

* Provisional estimated figure

2. Extract from Leeds City Council's response to Lyons Inquiry consultation, 13th March 2006:

"We are keen to explore additional sources of income to fund public infrastructure including retention of a proportion of business rates…Currently Leeds is experiencing a funding gap to support physical infrastructure (including strategic, employment site development, investment in public transport, public realm and cultural infrastructure) required to improve the quality of the environment and underpin economic growth (generating confidence and levering in private sector investment). This requires new approaches to be developed based upon greater local freedoms and retained revenue."