Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness Hanham

Monday 28th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

My Lords, perhaps the Minister could comment briefly on the proposal that local authorities should be able to retain the land itself in order to reduce the cost of houses that are built, in order in turn to bring them within the pocket range of either first-time buyers or existing council tenants. Even if she is unable to give a response today, will she at least agree to write to me about it?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I would be very happy to write to the noble Lord, but my feeling is that, if the local authority owns the land and thereby gives it without cost to the developer, by definition everything ought to be lower cost and it ought to be able to have some more control over it. I think this justifies a further look and I will come back to the noble Lord.

Fire Services: Funding

Debate between Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness Hanham

Thursday 18th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risks arising from proposals to reduce funding for fire services outside London.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)]

My Lords, single-purpose fire and rescue authorities outside London have had a change in their revenue spending power of minus 2.2% in 2011-12 and minus 0.5% in 2012-13. Many fire and rescue authorities are making sensible savings without impacting on the quality or breadth of the services offered to their communities. It is for each fire and rescue authority to determine the operational activities of its service through its integrated risk management plan, which is subject to consultation with the local community.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Has she had a chance to study the letter sent to her by Members from all parts of your Lordships’ House, and also the letter sent to her department yesterday by the six chief fire officers of the metropolitan areas, in which they stated that current proposals would lead to the loss of 2,500 front-line firefighters and 100 fire engines, and to the closure of 60 stations? In an area such as Merseyside, this would lead to a 33% cut, when it has already made cuts of up to £20 million and lost 500 firefighters in recent years. Given the terrible tragedies that can be wreaked by fire, and the inherent risks to public safety that may ensue, would it not be sensible, before this becomes an issue of antagonism, public debate and concern, for the Government to commission an independent risk assessment so that we can be clear about the implications of these proposals?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, as I indicated, once the Government have made decisions on funding, it is up to each fire authority to deal with the standard of service that it provides. It is worth noting, thankfully, that the number of fires has gone down, largely due to the work carried out by fire authorities. Given that, the response need may be slightly different.

Housing

Debate between Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness Hanham

Tuesday 22nd May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

My Lords, I am grateful. Will the Minister share with the House the number of people who are currently on housing waiting lists in the United Kingdom? Can she also share with us the number of underoccupied properties and the number of empty properties in the UK?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I do not have the figures with me, although I appreciate that they are available. Perhaps I may write to the noble Lord and give them to him.

Local Authorities: Standards

Debate between Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness Hanham

Tuesday 28th February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, the changes we made to the standards committees and standards support were made, as the noble Lord will recall, as a result of concern in this House. Our thrust has always been to ensure that this matter is run at a local level so the decisions made on how the system is set up will be left to local authorities. But I assure the noble Lord that we will be monitoring what happens as a result of those changes and looking to see how local authorities are dealing with allegations about the conduct of councillors—just to avoid, we hope, the problems that he mentioned and to find out the views of councils about the new arrangements.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

My Lords, has the noble Baroness had a chance to reflect on the recent High Court decision in the case of Bideford Council? Does not she agree that it is “vexatious and frivolous”—the words in the Question—when local authorities are taken to court for arranging voluntary sessions before council meetings where members are invited to say prayers, as we do in this House?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, that was a legal decision which was interpreted, I think, as part of European Union law. It is clear that councillors can voluntarily attend prayers if they wish. There is no compulsion on them to attend, but council authorities can have prayers out of the chamber if people wish to have them before a meeting.

Housing: Market Stability

Debate between Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness Hanham

Monday 23rd May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I am not aware at the moment of the Government having any intention of causing land auctions or doing what else the noble Lord describes. Under the Localism Bill, of course, we are preparing for neighbourhood plans, which will identify land that is available, and we will also look to the community right to challenge to identify and challenge land that is available for development. The Government are moving along the lines of trying to ensure that land is freed up and are also looking at public land to ensure that, if it is available, it can be used for housing.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool]

When the noble Baroness looks at the strategy that she says will be published in the autumn, will she particularly look at the role that housing co-operatives, self-build and empty housing can play in this strategy? Does she agree that—especially as regards empty properties in northern towns and cities where far too many such properties often blight whole communities as they become tinder-boxes and breeding grounds for vermin—these properties need to be put back into use for people on housing waiting lists?

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, I wholly agree with what the noble Lord has said. It is a sad fact that there are many empty properties which can or should be brought back into use. We have already allocated money to this and within the new homes money we will identify such empty properties. For that, £100 million is already available. It is not occurring just in the north but across the country. We are anxious too to make sure that homes are brought up a decent standard. In areas—particularly in the north, I guess—where traditionally a lot of houses have been left empty, it is perfectly right that those are brought back into use rather than just demolished or left.