Local Government Finance

No, I am going to make some more progress. I am conscious of the time and the fact that other Members no doubt want to express their views and represent their constituents. The issue is not just about giving local people more authority to hold their local councils to account on council tax rises. We also need to put in place incentives, so that local authorities can benefit when they take good decisions on providing more homes for local people. Many local councils across England and Wales would say that they are concerned at the lack of house building that has taken place, but they have had to work within a framework of top-down targets that local communities have rejected.