Local Government Reorganisation Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Baroness Eaton
Main Page: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Eaton's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Local Government Reorganisation
Baroness Eaton Excerpts(3 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Baroness Eaton (Con)
My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-president of the LGA. It is very encouraging to see how keen the Liberal Democrats are to scrutinise the Government. Given the inconsistent approach to last week’s reorganisation announcements, can the Minister please confirm whether officials advised Ministers that an expansion of the exceptional financial support package would be required to support some of the newly formed councils, which will come close to Section 114 territory upon formation?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
When we took these decisions, we were very aware that some of the councils involved were already receiving exceptional financial support. We continue to work with those councils through the EFS process in the usual way, but LGR will save money over time and make the sector more sustainable in the long term. Where there are issues around funding and finance, the Government are already tackling this with our fair funding formula, and we have supported some authorities with exceptional financial support. We will continue to keep that under review where it is needed, but it will exist whether the confusing two-tier system remains or we transition to unitary authorities.