My Lords, I thank both noble Lords for their questions. As I said in an earlier debate, when we look at our local markets and high streets, it is important that we focus on these areas in a localised way. It is important to put on record that a business improvement district is a defined area in which a levy is charged on all business rate
payers in addition to the business rate bill. The levy is used to develop projects from which those businesses in the local area will benefit.
The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, raised the PWC report. In my opening statement, I cited the improvements that we have seen in the high streets. We are giving local communities power to save shops through the community right to bid, and neighbourhood plans are also allowing local businesses to set out changes to local planning. I take on board the concerns that he raised about local high streets and the concerns about closures that have happened in certain areas. It is important that local authorities also take greater responsibility.
I remember from my own experience in local authority when I was the cabinet member responsible that we ensured, for example, a simple solution on parking, which is now used extensively across London and other areas—20 minutes’ free parking to bolster the local shop network. That perhaps also alludes to a point that the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, raised about transport and supporting transport infrastructure. We need to ease the burden on shops and local businesses by helping them to facilitate foot flow and shopper flow into those shops. In many areas, local authorities do a very good job in ensuring that they can ease parking restrictions, for example.
The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, always asks very technical questions when I am in Committee or on the Floor of the House. I am minded of the fact that he researches these issues quite thoroughly. On the impact of state aid and the two questions that he asked, I seek his indulgence and will write to him specifically on those issues.
The noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, raised the risk of fragmentation of services. I do not share that concern about BIDs because we are seeking to widen the scope of organisations that can deliver services more effectively. As I said in my opening remarks, when local authorities are looking to procure services, accountability remains with them. They are the democratically elected bodies that electors will hold to account. The idea is not to break up or fragment services but to widen their scope and to identify the bodies that can deliver services most effectively. Certainly there has been a demand to see how local businesses working in an area can take greater responsibility for local services.
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The noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, asked about the type of services that can be delivered by a BID. We expect BIDs to challenge to run services such as cleaning services or environmental measures. There is no limit on what projects and services can be provided through a business improvement district. It will be down to the local authority to judge whether the bid put in by the BID, among other players, can deliver the most efficient and cost-effective service locally.
On the question of how many organisations have successfully used the right to challenge, the information gathering we have done to date indicates that there have been about 50 instances of community groups using the right to challenge. A survey we carried out in July 2014 of voluntary and community sector groups
that had used our advice service found that 43 organizations out of the 105 respondents intended to put in an expression of interest in the months ahead. Of the expressions of interest that we are currently aware of, seven have triggered procurement exercises or have led to work being awarded through service-level agreements.