Funding for Local Authorities

Baroness Primarolo Excerpts

Thursday 10th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Neil Parish]

rose—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. Before the hon. Gentleman answers that invited intervention, I remind him that one does not invite interventions, particularly when he is supposed to be speaking for only 15 minutes, but of course he could give way to his hon. Friends if they indicate that they want him to. Otherwise, I hope he will desist.

[Neil Parish]

I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. I thought somebody behind me had asked to intervene, hence I turned around. It was not purposely done, I assure you. In the future I will make sure that I do not invite interventions.

We are not asking for a change in the Government deficit reduction strategy. We support the Government in taking tough decisions to tackle the budget deficit inherited from the previous Administration. A quarter of all public expenditure is accounted for by the councils so this must be addressed. In response to my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham, whom I unfortunately invited to intervene, there is some discrepancy in the figures for central London and those for outer London boroughs. The problem with local government formulae is how we invent a system that is fair to all.

--- Later in debate ---

[Neil Parish]

rose—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. Before the hon. Gentleman answers that intervention, I remind him that the Backbench Business Committee’s recommendation was that the opening speech should last between 10 and 15 minutes. Even with the interventions, whether invited or given, he has now been speaking for 22 minutes. A large number of Members wish to speak in the debate, so if he would consider drawing his comments to a conclusion in the near future, I would be grateful.

[Neil Parish]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have probably been over-generous in allowing interventions, but I will now carry on and try to finish my speech—

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. A number of Members still wish to speak and the speeches so far have been rather long. I am not going to apply a time limit at this point, but I will ask Members to take no more than 10 minutes, including interventions. If they take longer, the time limit will be reduced considerably to get us to the winding-up speeches at a reasonable time for the Minister to answer what is a full debate. The clock is not going on at this point, but if Members cannot manage it by themselves by watching the clock, I am afraid there will be a time limit. Please do not take longer than 10 minutes, including interventions.