Parliament has today (7 February 2018) approved the funding settlement for English local authorities that will see a real terms increase in available resources over the next 2 years and give them access to over £200 billion from 2015 to 2020 to deliver the high-quality services their local communities need.

Ahead of today’s Parliamentary debate Communities Secretary announced extra funding to help local authorities meet the needs of vulnerable people and support services in rural areas.

A further £150 million will be available to those councils providing adult social care. In addition, £16 million will be made available to councils providing services in rural areas, taking the total rural services grant to £81 million – the highest it has ever been.

This follows consultation with local government on the funding plans announced in December that included giving councils additional financial freedoms to deliver services for their most vulnerable residents while protecting Council Tax payers from excessive increases in their bills. The threshold at which councils must hold a referendum before raising Council Tax has been set in line with inflation at 3%.

Ten additional business retention rates pilots – for areas of varying sizes and location – were also confirmed. These areas will keep 100% of growth in business rates, which will stay in communities and be spent on local priorities.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid said:

Parliament has today approved a settlement that strikes a balance between relieving growing pressure on local government whilst ensuring that hard-pressed taxpayers do not face excessive bills.

We have listened to representations made and delivered on these requests: a real terms increase in resources over the next 2 years, more freedom and fairness, and greater certainty to plan and secure value for money.

Government has also launched a review of local authorities’ needs and resources to enable a new funding system to be devised. Ministers are encouraging local authorities to respond to the consultation ahead of the deadline on 12 March 2018.

Further information

The settlement for local government sees a real terms increase in resources to local government over the next 2 years (£44.3 billion in 2017 to 2018 to £45.6 billion in 2019 to 2020)

In December the threshold at which local authorities must hold a referendum in order to raise Council Tax was confirmed in line with inflation (3%).This change, combined with the additional flexibility on the Adult Social Care precept confirmed last year, gives local authorities support in relieving pressure on local services – including adults and children’s social care.

Following feedback from the sector as part of the consultation, the government has today also announced some additional measures:

• £150 million Adult Social Care Support Grant in 2018 to 2019
• a further £16 million for Rural Services Delivery Grant in 2018 to 2019 to allow for funding commensurate with 2016 to 2017 levels

In December, 10 additional business retention rates pilots – for areas of varying sizes and location – were confirmed. It is expected that combined these will raise over £150 million in 2018 to 2019, which will stay in communities and be spent on local priorities.

The Communities Secretary also published a consultation on need and resources in December that aims to implement a new system based on its findings in 2020 to 2021.

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Minister Burt said:

The UK strongly condemns the Israeli government’s decision to establish a second new settlement deep in the West Bank in less than a year. These plans could involve the retroactive ‘legalisation’ of the outpost of Havat Gilad.

Settlements are illegal under international law and undermine the physical viability of the two-state solution. We call on both parties to refrain from actions which make peace more difficult.

Further information

• Follow Minister Burt on Twitter @AlistairBurtUK

• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook

• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

Donald Kohn will serve another three-year term on the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), and Martin Taylor a further 12-15 months, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond announced today (7 February 2018).

Mr Kohn has previously served as the former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Mr Taylor is Vice-Chairman of the Board of RTL Group and former chairman of Syngenta AG. They bring with them a deep expertise on finance, macroeconomics and monetary policy.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond said:

Donald Kohn and Martin Taylor have made a wonderful contribution to the Financial Policy Committee during their terms. I’m pleased that Mr Kohn will continue to be on the Committee for a further three years, and that Mr Taylor has agreed to stay on for at least another year.

I am confident that they will continue their good work in helping the Committee to identify emerging risks, taking action, and enhancing the resilience of the UK financial system.

Last year the Chancellor was informed by Mr Taylor that he did not wish to serve a further full three-year term, having already served nearly five years on the Committee and prior to that having been a member of the Independent Commission on Banking. At the request of the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England, Mr Taylor has agreed to stay on the FPC for another 12-15 months. The Chancellor has therefore decided to reappoint Mr Taylor for a full term, but on the understanding that he will step down no later than June 2019.

Later this year, HM Treasury will launch a global search to identify two new external members to join the Committee in 2019. One member will replace Mr Taylor when he steps down, and the other will replace Richard Sharp whose second term expires on 31 March 2019. Mr Sharp is not eligible for a third term.

The Bank of England has also reappointed Alex Brazier, in his role as Executive Director, Financial Stability Strategy and Risk, for a further three-year term as a member of the Financial Policy Committee.

About the Financial Policy Committee

The FPC was established in 2013 and is a vital part of the government’s system of financial regulation.
The FPC is the UK’s macroprudential regulator: its objective is to protect and enhance the stability of the UK’s financial system by identifying, monitoring and addressing systemic risks.

The FPC works with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to address risks to the financial system as a whole, while the PRA and FCA have responsibility for microprudential and conduct regulation of individual firms, respectively.

Validating honey authenticity claims with regards to botanical source or geographical origin is a global issue. An EU Coordinated Control Plan on honey adulteration indicated that 38% of the 2,264 honey samples examined in the EU were non-compliant with authenticity criteria.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) convened a Technical Round Table on Honey Authentication on 25 January 2018 to help in the fight against food fraud.

The meeting was opened by the Director of the JRC, Elke Anklam and was chaired by Franz Ulberth (Head of Fraud Detection and Prevention at JRC). It was attended by approximately 45 delegates from EU member States and included policy officials, academic researchers, Official Control Laboratory scientists, industry scientists and the Chairman of the UK Honey Association. Selvarani Elahi, Michael Walker and John Warren, from the UK Government Chemist team, attended and contributed to the meeting.

The meeting identified many technical areas where further work and clarity would be beneficial for the authentication of honey. These will be covered in a forthcoming note from the JRC.