New local government minister Rishi Sunak has said Whitehall is 'very keen' that every council hosts a corporate peer challenge.

Mr Sunak's call at the District Councils' Network's national conference came after The MJ revealed last year that some of England's most prominent councils were among the third that have shunned the opportunity to have a peer review.
 

He said: 'I hope that those districts that haven't had an opportunity to have such a peer review will have one soon.' 

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Local Government Association, which runs corporate peer challenges, defended the rigour of the system that replaced the Audit Commission.

He said: 'I do think we're not shy to call out poor performance when we need to. Government is looking for a way to clarify in their mind that we're as good as we know we are.'

Elsewhere in his speech, former businessman Mr Sunak promised the sector he would be 'your champion in government,' adding: 'I genuinely mean it when I say I want to learn from you. We won't always agree and I won't always be able to reach for the cheque book.' 

Also appearing at the conference, shadow planning minister, Roberta Blackman-Woods, said her party was committed to business rates retention but it could not be the 'predominant form of funding' local government.  

She added Labour believed local authorities should be allowed to cover the cost of planning through fees and that her personal view was that districts should be able to raise a prevention precept because they had 'such an important role to play'.