Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Beamish and Lord Pickles

Tuesday 16th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

I cannot imagine any circumstances in which permitted development rights would allow beds in sheds. I politely remind the hon. Lady that this Government took decisive action on beds in sheds after years of neglect from Labour.

[Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)]

I am really enjoying the Secretary of State’s performance this afternoon. I must say that the thought of consensus and the right hon. Gentleman does not spring to mind on many occasions. Will he put us, and particularly his Back Benchers, out of our misery and suggest what the great consensual position might be next week?

[Mr Pickles]

The solutions are available and my Back Benchers have come up with a number of ideas. It would be wholly wrong of me not to place on record my gratitude to the hon. Gentleman for his sterling work in exposing the waste under the previous Labour Government through a series of questions. We on this side are very grateful for all he has done and I certainly intend to put him up for a campaigning award.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Lord Beamish and Lord Pickles

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

My hon. Friend and I have had many discussions on that issue, and as I said when replying to another colleague earlier, to a degree some of the inequalities and possible bias towards Labour authorities had to stay within the system because I wanted to deliver stability. I can promise, however, that as we move further away from the old settlement, the more efficiency we will see. Given its entrepreneurial feelings, I have little doubt that Croydon will benefit greatly from the system.

[Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)]

I sometimes wonder what colour the sky is in the right hon. Gentleman’s world. When comparing Newcastle with Wokingham he cleverly uses statistics for spending per head. Does he agree, however, that Newcastle and other similar councils have larger demands on their services? Unemployment figures for central Newcastle are 1,280 compared with 175 in Wokingham. Even if the council were to implement each of the Secretary of State’s 50 recommendations, including No. 37 about not funding sock puppets, it would not be able to match the funding gap presented to it.

[Mr Pickles]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for thoroughly reading that document, although I trust he did not start from the back and work his way forward. The hon. Gentleman represents Durham—[Interruption.] Well, I would be superhuman if I remembered every single figure in my head. Per household, his council receives £2,228, and the reduction in its spending power is less than the national average. The hon. Gentleman should be thanking me rather than talking about sock puppets.

Housing and Planning

Debate between Lord Beamish and Lord Pickles

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for what I think was a partial welcome for these measures. The previous planning Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), had occasion to compare the right hon. Gentleman, whom we all love greatly, to Lady Bracknell. Today, he acceded to Lady Bracknell sucking a wasp.

Given the party the right hon. Gentleman represents, he should remember that under the previous Labour Government the number of social housing units fell by just under 500,000. He wonders why the housing position was so difficult: it was the stewardship of his party that caused the problem.

Let me deal with the various questions that he asked. We will publish the figures on NewBuy very shortly, but I am sure that he will be pleased that it has been welcomed by the sector. That gives people the opportunity to get quality houses that are newly built. On affordable housing, he seems to have missed the point of the statement. We are talking about building additional social houses and will be building up to 15,000. We should celebrate that. The problem with Labour—I say this with lots of respect—is that it seems to think that because a plan has been passed it happens. If social housing is uneconomic and developers build nothing, it does not matter if the ratio for social housing is set at 50%, because 50% of nothing is still nothing. There needs to be a dose of realism.

There seems to be a misunderstanding among Labour Members about section 106. It can be enormously helpful to builders and gives social housing in certain parts of the country where there is high demand a ready and available customer. In some parts of the country, however, there have been unrealistic views about what is possible and that is holding back development. That is why earlier this year I wrote to local councils and asked them carefully to consider the process of renegotiation. I am very pleased that, as the right hon. Gentleman said, about 40% responded. I commend them for that and they should be regarded as heroes and as part of the process. However, there still remain a significant number of authorities that have refused to accept the economic realities and that regard this as a badge of honour—

[Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)]

Name them.

[Mr Pickles]

I will happily name and shame them in due course.

The question of the green belt is very straightforward. I think people forget what the green belt is about. It is there to act as a buffer between the major conurbations. A certain degree of tricksyism occurred under the previous Government, whereby they said that the green belt was growing but essentially pinched the green belt from high-pressure areas where it was needed and redesignated it in places where it was not. We want to make it absolutely clear that the green belt is immensely important, both to London as a green lung and to the wider countryside as part of ensuring that our communities are sustainable. Within the green belt, however, is a lot of land that was previously developed: unused quarry sites and scrap yards, for example. It seems to me to be common sense that we should be able to use this opportunity to swap land—to take a greenfield site that is not in the green belt and to put it in, and to use the former developed land to get development going.

The right hon. Gentleman asked about permitted development rights and I fully recognise that he is a millionaire and an aristocrat, who is probably unused to being able to measure land other than in acres, but speaking as a working class lad who is proud to own a detached house and whose garden is smaller than the right hon. Gentleman’s croquet lawn, I must say that we will clearly retain the rights to ensure that the curtilage of houses is respected. Nobody will be able to build beyond halfway up their garden as a maximum and we will not be building enormously into the sky. All those things are related and we will not be building a big extension on Dove cottage in Grasmere.

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[Mr Pickles]

My hon. Friend should also remember the new homes bonus, which is available for getting houses back. The place where I lived a quarter of a century ago in Bradford has benefited enormously as a result of getting homes that were previously not occupied back into use. He makes a very reasonable point about the amount of brownfield land that can be developed, and this is a way we can get building going.

[Mr Kevan Jones]

For small builders in my constituency, such as Simon Smith, who builds conservatories and extensions, planning is not the problem; the problem is the fact that there is no demand in the economy and even those who are in work are shying away from adding extra developments to their houses. He has had to lay three people off as a result. With regard to extensions and the liberalisation of building on gardens, who will arbitrate in disputes between neighbours? Also, in the last Parliament the Conservative party argued strongly against building on gardens. Is that policy now dead?

[Mr Pickles]

Clearly the change does not allow the old system of garden grabbing. We will be consulting, so Mr Simon Smith will be able to make a contribution—[Interruption.] Indeed, I think the hon. Gentleman can go back to Mr Smith and say, “I’ve been down to the Commons and I think you might make a bob or two out of this.” I think he should go out with him at the weekend to leaflet places and get some business going for him. With regard to arbitration between neighbours, we are expecting people to operate in a neighbourly fashion, and there are the safeguards on curtilage and for ensuring that no more than half the garden is built on. [Interruption.] If the hon. Gentleman feels so strongly about this, he should consider making representations during our consultation period. He shakes his head, but he is denying the aspirations of ordinary people. He kindly demonstrates that the Labour party is never on the side of those who aspire.

Local Government Finance Bill

Debate between Lord Beamish and Lord Pickles

Tuesday 10th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

It is a relief to be called after all that waiting, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The coalition agreement committed the Government to supporting sustainable growth and enterprise, balanced across the country. It also pledged the radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government. This Bill delivers on those promises. It aims to introduce much-needed reforms to make England’s local government finance system more effective at supporting local jobs, local firms and local enterprises. This is not just about redistributing a pot of cash differently; it is about providing the best possible chances to foster more growth, generate more cash and make a bigger pot.

The case for change is widely recognised. The OECD has called the English local government finance system one of the most centralised in the world. The Labour Government knew that, but failed to deliver on reform. There were Green Papers, White Papers, the “Balance of Funding” report, the Lyons inquiry and, if that was not enough, the Labour party manifesto at the last general election boldly pledged another commission on local government finance. What little reform was introduced, such as the so-called local authority business growth incentive scheme, was timid, inconsistent and ineffective. The only thing Labour managed to do was to double council tax and halve local services, such as bin collections—pay more and get less.

Where others have failed to deliver, however, the coalition is ready to act. Nowhere is the need for change more apparent than in relation to business rates. Currently, councils collect rates for local businesses, but they are no more than the agents for central Government. No sooner is the cash in than Whitehall whisks it away. Whitehall feeds the figures into a very complex formula. Each council waits with bated breath to see how much it will get back. The 160-page local government finance report requires a detailed knowledge of multiple regression to fathom it out.

The system creates a perverse regime of incentives. Councils that work hardest to boost local businesses do not see their efforts reflected in the state of their finances. In fact, local economies that become more successful can effectively see their central Government grant cut. The regime actively encouraged councils to talk down their area, to mask their success and to amplify their deprivation; it breeds a begging-bowl mentality and a race to the bottom. Surely, now more than ever, we should welcome growth and reward incentives.

There is some criticism that Labour failed to deliver on its election pledges. Well, we are here to help. In the Localism Act 2011, we introduced a general power of competence, implementing a pledge in the 1983 Labour party manifesto. However, we have now moved on to the 1997 Labour party manifesto, and we are moving towards the localisation of business rates. The Government believe that councils should have every possible incentive to encourage local business, support local jobs and create the conditions for the local economy to thrive.

The Bill paves the way to repatriating business rates. We want to give councils a greater proportion of the rates they raise locally. Every council that grows its business rate base can be sure that it will see an increase in its income, compared to the status quo. Putting in place the right incentives gives every council every possible reason to go for growth, which creates the potential to raise more cash overall to invest in local services and local community priorities. Of course, we have heard a few grumbles already.

[Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)]

I spent nearly 12 years in local government, and I accept that it is an important catalyst for encouraging local economic development, but it is not the only one. There is a huge disadvantage in all this for my constituents, compared, for example, with constituents in south-east England. Surely, in any consideration of local government finance, the disparities between the economies of such areas should be taken into account.

[Mr Pickles]

Frankly, I am amazed by that contribution, because Durham will be one of the big beneficiaries of the scheme. Had this system been in place, Durham would undoubtedly have more money in its coffers. I strongly urge the hon. Gentleman, for whom I have enormous respect and affection, to talk up Durham, because it will do very well under this scheme.

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[Mr Pickles]

I am happy to confirm that fact to my hon. Friend, because he raises an important point about local businesses needing a degree of certainty. Of course, the Secretary of State—the person holding my position—will set the multiplier and the sum.

There is something strange about all the objections, some of which we have heard already, in that they betray a lack of faith in the people whom we represent. No one area has a monopoly on the formula for growth. Economic success is not a southern phenomenon.

[Mr Kevan Jones]

Yes, it is.

[Mr Pickles]

I do not know whether colleagues were listening but I heard an Opposition Member say that economic success was a southern phenomenon. If that is what Opposition Members think, they should seriously consider whether they are doing their electorate a service.

If our reforms had been in place over the past five years—since the last revaluation cycle—places such as Liverpool, Doncaster, Durham and north and south Tyneside would have benefited, because their growth in business rates outstripped the national average.

Most of all, however, the grumblers have missed the key point. This is not simply about redistributing the proceeds of growth. If these reforms lead to every council working as hard as possible to help business to thrive, there is the potential to increase overall growth.

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[Mr Jones]

It is, exactly. Let us look at what this Government and this Secretary of State have done on local government. I take my hat off to him, because he is rewarding his friends and his councils in the Tory heartlands. The idea is that we can somehow just write off great cities such as Liverpool and Newcastle, or other north-east cities, as if it does not matter. Do the Government actually care? No, I do not think they do.

The Secretary of State said in response to my intervention that Durham would gain under the new proposal. I would like to see the figures showing how Durham will gain, because the county council has seen from its own figures—he is using 2011-12 as the baseline—that it will lose out. This is being rushed, and it will become clear, over time, that it is not the radical approach to local government reorganisation that some people suggest. It is in fact a way of ensuring that prosperous Conservative seats will benefit from the measures at the expense of some of the poorest communities in Britain.

I want to turn now to the scandalous situation relating to the localisation of council tax benefit. This measure comes with a 10% reduction from day one, and it will disproportionately affect constituencies such as mine, and more deprived areas with larger numbers of people in receipt of that benefit. Listening to the Secretary of State talking earlier, it sounded as though he thought that those people were the feckless poor. I must remind him that a lot of low-paid workers, who are working blooming hard every day of the week to keep a roof over their heads, rely on council tax benefit. Over a period of time, those people will get the impression that these decisions are nothing to do with the Secretary of State, and that it is the local council that decides how to divide the money up. This measure will have a disproportionate effect on those areas with a large number of people in receipt of council tax relief.

[Mr Pickles]

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman suggested only inadvertently that I was talking about the feckless poor and the like. May I respectfully remind him that I was quoting the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions? It is with them that he should take up this matter, not me. Do not put words into my mouth; those were their words.

[Mr Jones]

I was not putting words into the right hon. Gentleman’s mouth, but I have to say that he is continuing the mistaken idea that every person in receipt of council tax relief is unemployed and useless. They are not; they are hard-working, low-paid families—[Interruption.]