Combined Authorities (Borrowing) Regulations 2018

Debate between Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth and Lord Jones

Tuesday 1st May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have participated in the debate on these important borrowing powers. I welcome their participation; it is most helpful and reflects the general support we have had for the Government’s approach and the flowering of these combined authorities and mayoralties—particularly in the north and the Midlands—to seek to redress the great growth of the economy in the south and, to some extent, East Anglia. It reflects the importance that we attach to ensuring that there is strong economic development elsewhere.

First, I turn to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Jones. I thank him for his kind words and reflect on his distinguished service over a considerable period of time in Wales and, more broadly, in the Government in Westminster. He is right that these provisions are England-only, because the department is England-only, but he is also right that exciting and important things are happening in Wales and across the border between Wales and England, around the River Dee and Chester. Also, the North Wales Growth Deal looks to links with the northern powerhouse and the Borderlands Growth Deal encompasses southern Scotland as well as Northumberland and Cumbria. Working with the devolved Administrations in Edinburgh and Cardiff is very much on our agenda. I can reassure the noble Lord that I was in Wales just last Thursday, speaking to the Labour Economy Minister, Ken Skates, to discuss the Mid-Wales Growth Deal and possible links with the LEP in the Marches.

[Lord Jones]

Does the Minister agree that Mr Skates has made considerable advances in aiming for a better relationship between Whitehall and Cardiff?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

I certainly do. I do not want to damage his future political career at this very sensitive juncture in Wales, but that would certainly be my reflection on things. My apologies to Ken if that does not help.

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, for what she expressed as her fundamental support for what we are doing here. I accentuate that the borrowing caps have been agreed with the constituent authorities, as well as the combined authorities. I note that she raised some issues, quite rightly, about the additional borrowing and asked for reassurance about the checks that exist. First, the cap has been agreed; as she will know, the Treasury is not generally profligate in these matters. Additionally, local authorities are already subject to a prudential borrowing code and regime, which will remain the case. The monitoring officer will be watching that like a hawk to make sure that it complies with the overriding requirement that the authority is able to pay back the debt that is concluded.

The noble Baroness is right that this varies from area to area; indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, also made that point. These are bespoke deals. For example, there is a world of difference between Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Liverpool City Region, so it is not surprising that there are differences between the areas in what is being devolved. The nature of devolution includes these electoral checks, done locally, and one has to trust that people will look after their area. It is the Government’s belief—widely shared in the House, I think—that these things should be dealt with at a level close to people’s jobs, homes and experience. That is precisely what is happening here. I note that the noble Baroness went on to talk about her positive welcome; I very much thank her for that.

The noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, also generally welcomed the borrowing powers. He noted, and I agree, that sometimes these consultations result in very few people responding. The same is true, sadly, of the number of people voting in local elections, which the noble Lord and I have discussed in other environments. I know that the average turnout is always higher in the noble Lord’s elections in Lewisham, for reasons we can only speculate on, but his point was fair. We often include a health warning and say that we are disappointed by the number of people who responded. Nevertheless, it is important that we go through that consultation exercise. I suggest that if we were doing something that was entirely off beam, the number of people responding would be greater. That is the experience. Nevertheless, it is a point well made.

I thank noble Lords for their general welcome for what are important powers for these combined authorities. I am not making a party-political point here, but I note the combined authorities’ success across the board. They are working well and are generally welcomed by the people in their areas.

The noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, asked me to address future developments. We will be watching Sheffield. She is right that there are challenges there and, as noble Lords have seen, there is a challenge about the position of Yorkshire generally. We are looking at proposals that have been made relating to that. They have landed with us and we are looking at them. Obviously that is something we would want to discuss with the incoming mayor of the Sheffield City Region. It is not quite universal in Yorkshire. As the noble Baroness will know, Sheffield and Rotherham are not as warm about this as other authorities, let us say. That is what is happening there. We are aware that Leeds, for example, is the largest city without a mayoralty combined authority badge. It is important that that is put right.

We are looking more broadly at devolution now that we have, or will have shortly, eight combined authorities with the biggest cities, although not exclusively large cities, because Cambridge and Peterborough are somewhat different and we have a particular arrangement with Cornwall, where there is no mayoralty but there is a devolution deal. We are looking at that. In the fullness of time I expect to bring that back to the House for discussion. With that, I beg to move.

Homelessness

Debate between Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth and Lord Jones

Tuesday 9th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, first, this is not a problem unique to the United Kingdom.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

Secondly, there is only one country in the EU that does not face mounting numbers of rough sleepers and homelessness, and that is Finland. We have been careful to ensure that we have Finnish assistance on the advisory committee we are using. We are looking at this issue in a broad sense. It has not suddenly happened but it has increased over a period of time. Yes, it is a serious problem, as I have said on many occasions. We are committing resources to it and the noble Lord will be aware of our target of halving rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it by 2027.