Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL]
Debate between Lord Beecham and Lord Teverson
Lord Teverson (LD)
My Lords, this amendment was put forward by my noble friends Lord Shipley, Lord Scriven and Lady Pinnock. As we know, one of the key tasks of combined authorities—and one of the key areas where we expect there to be strong synergies, better co-ordination and economic stimulus—is transport and changing transport arrangements. We have seen how in London transport is absolutely essential, and an important part of the mayor’s role; in fact, many people would say it is perhaps the only effective part of the mayor’s role in London. Although we are not comparing London with the other metropolitan areas, it is still a very important area—we have seen that from the recent debate in terms of the northern powerhouse and all the transport arrangements around the Greater Manchester authority, and the others proposed in the north, and indeed joining up those combined authorities that are likely to happen in the north of England.
The purpose of this amendment is simple. Given that this is such a core element of any proposal for combined authorities and the relationship between the Government and those authorities, there should be a very clear form of communication, consultation and exchange of information between those authorities and the Secretary of State. As and when those combined authorities come about, there is then an obligation, once it has been entered into, for the Government and the Secretary of State to communicate transport issues—whether that be rail, roads, airports or ports—with the combined authority, and for a consultation to take place. Clearly, this is important and part of what will happen.
This has been shown to be very important because, since we had the debate on the northern powerhouse and the transport elements and connectivity of that, already we have had a major change. The following week we heard that a core part of the northern powerhouse strategy—the electrification and improvement of the line on the TransPennine Express between Manchester and Leeds—is postponed. We hope that it is only postponed but it appears that we will all have to catch our breath and wait during the whole of the summer until Network Rail, in conjunction with the department, decides the fate of something that was seen to be absolutely core to the northern powerhouse and the new potential combined authorities.
There is no better illustration than this of why such a change in the Bill is required, in order that there will be real communication, advance warning and consultation between those authorities, the Secretary of State and the department, let alone all the public who are affected. That announcement, which was made so soon after we had the debate, and was apparently a surprise and a new announcement, came very soon after all the big promises and the energy that the Chancellor and others put into the concept of the northern powerhouse. This amendment is nothing more than a sticking plaster but we hope that it would work better for the future and ensure that such an incident does not happen again. I beg to move.
Lord Beecham (Lab)
My Lords, there is a good deal of sense in this amendment. Of course, there are areas—my own is one of them—in which transport issues were effectively run, so far as the Metro system is concerned, for many years by the local authorities before the combined authority came into being. The combined authority currently oversees the function. In relation to roads in particular, I said at an earlier stage of the Bill that, in my part of the world at any rate, the experience of local authorities with Highways England—as I now understand it to be, as opposed to the Highways Agency—is far from satisfactory. What would be the relationship there? Would it be a direct relationship with the combined authorities—Highways England is not really organised on a basis comparable to local government—or would it be via the Secretary of State? It is a matter that needs clarifying. The general thrust in this is one which we would support.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2010
Debate between Lord Beecham and Lord Teverson
Lord Beecham
My Lords, I congratulate the Government on their prescience in bringing forward this statutory instrument just in time for the comprehensive spending review. As my noble friend Lady Smith has pointed out, the CSR included a significant reduction in funding for Warm Zone and for other schemes funded by a variety of agencies, including local authorities, the health service and other government departments. In the case of Warm Zone, a 60 per cent reduction for each of the next two years will be followed by the new scheme to which my noble friend has referred.
I come from Newcastle. I come not bearing coals to this energy-related debate but because two schemes are based in Newcastle. The first is a voluntary sector scheme devised by Neighbourhood Energy Action, which is now a national organisation and delivers the Warm Front programme. Warm Front has operated primarily in the private rented sector, as opposed to the owner-occupier sector, with which Warm Zone deals. It, too, is critically dependent on public funding and it remains to be seen what impact the comprehensive spending review and its consequences will have on its programmes.
As my noble friend has said, Warm Zone is managed by Eaga, which is also based in Newcastle. Eaga was assisted by the Newcastle City Council under the then leadership of the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, who is not present at the moment. The council purchased a £23 million building from the late lamented Northern Rock Building Society, or bank as it subsequently became, on the basis that it would house this thriving concern and pay a rent to the council. Of course, the prospects of that company are now significantly diminished. In the past year, its share price has reduced by two-thirds and just in the past few days it has dropped by around 10 per cent. So its future is certainly now open to question and, with it, the many homes that it would have assisted in terms of insulation works.
Apart from the works that both these organisations and others like them carry out, which are clearly prejudiced by the present situation and no doubt sooner rather than later presumably will fall within the scope of the statutory instrument, there are other aspects to what the organisations do. In addition to carrying out such works, they both work to assist people with the problems of fuel poverty. Both organisations have worked in the ward that I represent in Newcastle and throughout the city and elsewhere. They help with benefits checks across the range of welfare benefits to which people are entitled. If they are unable to proceed with their insulation programmes their significant contribution to the take-up of such welfare benefits will go as well.
Given the financial circumstances we now face as a result of the comprehensive spending review, while clearly there is a necessity for this statutory instrument, the implications go wider even than just the energy-related aspects. I hope that it will be possible in due course to restore the activities of both organisations and others like them to the level they have experienced in the past few years, so that they can carry out not only energy conservation programmes, which are environmentally beneficial to combating fuel poverty, but also help to combat other aspects of poverty and reduce the inequalities which disfigure so many parts of this country.
Lord Teverson
My Lords, the thing that interested me most when I read this rather obscure amending regulation was that it insisted that the Government pay the agency that had to do the work. I could not understand how it had worked in the past if there was no obligation on the Government to pay the agency that delivered this programme. However, the Minister may wish to come back on that.
Last week I had to leave the House to go to a conference before the comprehensive spending review was completed. I watched part of it at Heathrow as I waited to go to a conference in Japan where we discussed matters such as energy and climate change. I was struck by how good DECC—the Minister and his colleagues—had been in its tussle with the Treasury and my honourable friend Danny Alexander to achieve a good settlement for the environment and for energy in the review. Carbon capture and storage, the renewable heat initiative and feed-in tariffs, which many of us had feared would be significantly cut back, are still going ahead. It is good to see that the emphasis given to climate change and energy within the coalition agreement is being delivered in that way.
As the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, stated, the situation could change and the Warm Front scheme might have to come to an end during a budgetary year because of the funds running out. I regret that, theoretically, that could happen and that it is slightly more likely now. I realise that it will be the case in some areas because of the problems that we have with the national budget at the moment and the changes that we will have to bring forward in order to make the accounts balance sufficiently in the future. If that situation ever comes into being, cutting off a fund at a particular point would be an unfair way of rationing allocations. What plans do the Government have to ensure that any rationing will produce best value in terms of energy saved for those households that need the investment most?