Homelessness
Debate between Baroness Hanham and Baroness Quin
Baroness Quin
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are proposing any measures to ensure that homelessness does not increase.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)
My Lords, we are currently investing £470 million over four years to prevent and tackle homelessness. In the recent spending round for 2015-16, it was announced that the Department of Health will bring forward a new £40 million hostels investment programme. We are also encouraging housing supply through expanding the private rented sector, with £10 billion in loan guarantees, the £1 billion Build to Rent fund and a new three-year affordable homes programme of £3.3 billion from 2015-16, including £400 million for new-product, affordable rent-to-buy.
Baroness Quin
My Lords, homelessness has risen sharply over the past two years, and recent government measures do not help. For example, on the BBC’s “Look North” last night, it was reported that rent arrears had shot up in Sunderland, Newcastle and north Tyneside as a result of the bedroom tax, raising fears of further evictions and homelessness. Will the Government recognise that misleading national figures about overcrowding and underoccupancy fail to appreciate the huge mismatch between these two things across the country, and that the Government should now, on an area-by-area basis, work urgently with local authorities and housing associations to stop the acute crisis in housing and homelessness getting even worse?
Cities: Economic Development
Debate between Baroness Hanham and Baroness Quin
Baroness Quin
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have for economic development in city regions.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)
The Government want powerful, innovative cities that shape their economic destinies—engines of growth that will boost entire regions. We have already created 38 local enterprise partnerships, invested £2.4 billion in the regional growth fund and created enterprise zones in 24 cities and their wider local enterprise partnership areas. We are working with cities and their surrounding areas to agree bespoke city deals, supporting innovative local strategies to deliver growth.
Baroness Quin
My Lords, while I agree that cities can do much to drive our economy, there are other areas that do not fit well into city regions and that need economic development. I am thinking, for example, of parts of the former northern coal-field areas which, geographically, are not close to cities and which are not well linked with effective public transport, even though they include areas of high youth unemployment hotspots as identified in today’s ACEVO report. Given that, and given that regional development agencies which were able to address the needs of such areas have been abolished, will the Government give a firm commitment that areas on the fringe, or, indeed, outside city regions, will not be overlooked in their policies?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, as the noble Baroness knows, we are currently developing city regions which will be within the local enterprise partnerships and will cover most of that. We are aware, of course, of the problems that the noble Baroness identified. I am sure that there will be further discussion on that in due course.
Local Government Finance
Debate between Baroness Hanham and Baroness Quin
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, my noble friend was a much respected Secretary of State. I still remember the reasons why business rates were centralised. There is no intention of allowing local government to set the business rate; businesses will in effect see no change. The business rate itself will be set nationally, as it is; the discounts, the valuations and the rates that are paid will be the same, so in effect they will be unaffected. However, the area in which we hope and expect to see change is in encouraging local authorities to make sure that they are well in tune with their local businesses, that they try to see their businesses grow and that enterprise and employment follows from that. If business grows, local authorities will be able to benefit from that. I hope my noble friend will understand that the business rate will be as he put it—set nationally.
Baroness Quin
My Lords, given the responsibility of Governments to promote balanced economic growth across the country, will the Government give a commitment that the north-south divide, and indeed the gap between the less well-off and better-off areas, will not be allowed to widen as a result of these measures? Could I tempt the Minister to disagree with the Secretary of State in another place, who is reported as saying that at the moment there is no motivation for councils to support local firms or to create new jobs? Gateshead, the council that I have had the closest involvement with in recent years, has been a splendid public entrepreneur in working with private industry to do precisely that. There is therefore a great motivation simply to promote the economic well-being of the area that local councils represent.
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, with reference to the noble Baroness’s last question, of course there are local authorities that have been working assiduously to promote economic growth all over the country. Authorities both north and south have worked very hard. On the other hand, they are not really benefiting from that because they are getting nothing back from the business rate. The spending totals remain the same; the control totals stay the same. If they can encourage more enterprise, or more firms into their areas, they will get some of that growth back above the tariffs. That will be helpful because they will be able to reinvest that and to promote the economy better. There is an advantage, but I would certainly not underestimate the amount of work that local authorities have already done. I have seen quite a lot of it during my year as a Minister, so I am grateful for it.
Within the spending review, the control totals will remain the same, although, as I have explained, between the tariffs and the top-ups there will be a switch of resources from those that have more business rate to those that have less. I do not think anyone will be any worse or better off as a result for the time being.
Elected Mayors
Debate between Baroness Hanham and Baroness Quin
Baroness Quin
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they propose to carry out a consultation about the role and number of elected mayors.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)
My Lords, the Government have made a clear commitment to create directly elected mayors in the 12 largest cities, as set out in the coalition agreement. The Government believe that mayors are an effective model, but it will ultimately be for local people to decide what is best for their city.
Baroness Quin
I thank the Minister for her reply and congratulate her warmly on her appointment. Will she confirm again that the Government have no intention of imposing elected mayors on authorities, particularly given that many good local authorities and many areas of the country have shown little interest in the system? Does she agree that it would be inconsistent for the Government on the one hand to declare the merits of, and their belief in, localism, and on the other to adopt a “government knows best” attitude in this matter?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I can confirm that localism is one of the major planks of the Government’s policies, our intention being to put things down to as low a level as we can. With regard to the 12 cities that have already been named, we expect to engage with local government and other interested parties as the policy is considered. The policy on locally elected mayors will be subject to confirmatory referendums each time.