Speeches by McMahon.

“Nico can talk about the technical assessment that is done, because it is not just about whether we have a willingness to help. There is a full financial and technical assessment made of the local authority—obviously, CIPFA has a role in that assessment. The Treasury obviously has a keen interest in exceptional financia…”

“We do not quite choose the councils as much as they choose themselves. The EFS process was really about offering councils an early conversation. Rather than waiting and holding back until you find yourself in distress and after a 114, it is far better that you speak to the Department early so that we can work together …”

“From my perspective, “low cost” is not the way to frame it; I think “best value” is the way to frame it. If all we do is look at the underlying cost, we end up in a situation, like 10 years ago, where local authorities withdraw from the direct provision of residential care for children and go to the private sector beca…”

“And two have envoys.”

“It is less about the cost and more about what purpose it is trying to serve. If councils need direction and specialist support, we should provide that specialist support. If all we had before was to take over key parts of the council to achieve that, it was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut in some cases. The en…”

“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 why I made it a priority. For me, a lot of this work is not like retail, politically—most people, when they are speaking over breakfast, do not talk about local government audit—but everyone on this Committee knows how important it is as the foundation of good public services. If you do not know where the money…”

“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…”

“I am not sure I know most of the numbers on things like that off the top of my head, but I will go back and check that. We have taken a very pragmatic approach on commissioners. You will see that there have been a number of best value interventions and notices removed. Liverpool is one example, but we have also removed…”

“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 …”

“No, because that would be giving you the answer, which I am not allowed to do. We absolutely understand the pressures that councils are facing, and also that a cliff-edge approach does not work for central Government any more than it works for local government.”

“Well, on issues like this—”

“I will say for context that the settlement this year was £69 billion, and £5 billion of that was new money. There is new money going into the system, but that is not to say that the demand is not going up as well. It is going up, and in some places it is going up significantly. The response from Government cannot be th…”

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

“There are live conversations now about how we deal with that. I cannot go into detail about what the end will be, other than to say that we absolutely understand, first, the financial pressures that the DSG deficit is placing on local authorities, and that if that whole liability were to transfer to local government as…”

“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 …”

“I think we should be honest and say that even with the current ringfencing—there are more than 300 ringfences applying to more than £12 billion of money given to local government—many councils have been forced to make the decision to move money from the ringfence to prop up services in people areas like children’s and …”