Council Tax

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Thursday 14th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, the noble Baroness should know that the level of council tax increases since 2010 has been lower than the rate of inflation judged by CPI. That was not the case in the previous decade. I think the noble Baroness should look at those figures.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

Does the Minister know that there is one part of the United Kingdom where council tax cuts have been even greater than in England? It is in Scotland, where the SNP has imposed swingeing cuts, far greater than in England, on local councils. What message does the Minister have for Nicola Sturgeon?

Business Rate Appeals

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Monday 25th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Earl, who has been very active in this area. Two hours ago, he sent me a list of issues he is concerned about, which I will ensure that officials address. In the process of reading it, I noted his acknowledgement that the system has improved. More work needs to be done, as I said, but we hold regular meetings to review progress and speak to chief executives and officials to ensure that it continues.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, could this be one of the few messes not caused by Brexit?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, no Question is complete without a contribution from the noble Lord. This is one of the many areas where we are making good progress—as we are on Brexit too.

Tenant Fees Bill

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

3rd reading (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 15th January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their contributions concerning these amendments. I will say more at the final stage of the Bill—the passage, I hope—about the points the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, raised, but I thank her very much indeed. As always, I thank the most reverend Primate very much indeed for his positive contributions and engagement, and his most kind comments. He is extremely gracious. As always, the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, asks a question that goes straight for the middle stump. I will write to him, if I may, on that issue because I do not want to mislead him.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

I am grateful and anticipate being the recipient of a letter. However, if we agree it may be too late because, before we agree, should we not know if Saturdays and Sundays are included, or if it is only weekdays? I normally find that weekdays are the only days counted for this purpose, and that Saturdays and Sundays, when offices are closed and people are unable to take payments and so on, are not included. I do not know if help is on its way, but I think it would be helpful to know exactly before we agree this.

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I now have the answer, and it is “any day”. I am very grateful to the noble Lord for coming back on the issue, which gave me the opportunity to get expert advice on it. I hope he is content with that. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, for his contribution.

Housing: Serviced Plots

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Wednesday 12th December 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, we are very keen and willing to look at any area that opens up finance for this sector, so I certainly do not rule that out. We are, as I say, actively pursuing this matter with building societies and with banks, and they are responding, but I will take the noble Lord’s suggestion back, if I may.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, what advice would the Minister give to someone threatened with eviction from their home just off Whitehall?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

Stick at it, and she will be there tomorrow.

Growth Deals: North of Tyne and Borderlands

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Tuesday 17th April 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is right about the need for investment on the A1. I think that in 2014 we committed funds for improvements on the A1 from Newcastle to Berwick, from memory, but she is absolutely right that it is work in progress and it is important that we bear that in mind.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, is this not a dog’s breakfast? Does the Minister remember that, when he was on the Back Benches, he and I agreed—in fact, we were lobbying hard—for reorganisation of local government in England, for devolution in England on some kind of systematic, logical basis? Why has he changed his mind?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I am not sure that I have changed my mind, but the noble Lord is assuming that that is the case. There is unfinished work on this, but that does not mean—in fairness, the noble Lord did not say so—that these deals are not important deals and very valuable for Scotland, the north of England and, indeed, the rest of the country. They are ways forward in terms of giving power to local areas which I think the noble Lord should welcome.

Community Football Clubs

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Wednesday 28th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

Yes. The noble Lord will be aware that my honourable friend Tracey Crouch, the Minister for Sport, in answering a debate in the other place, indicated that she was minded—indeed, determined—to find and appoint an independent mediator. I would be happy to meet with the noble Lord to discuss how we can carry this forward; I very much support what he is up to.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My noble friend deserves the title he got of “Campaigner of the Week” for this campaign. Will the Minister send a message to Andrew McDaniel, head of the New York hedge fund Meadow Partners, which owns Meadow Residential, to get round the table to resolve this problem? Will he also tell him that treating a much-loved local club like this—putting up a six-foot security fence with a notice saying “Trespassers will be prosecuted”—does not help?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I note what the noble Lord says. Clearly we are hoping for mediation, so perhaps his mediation skills might be brought to bear when we get there—although possibly the approach might be a little more nuanced. I will just add that the situation in Dulwich is by no means unique. There are many other such situations, and the Minister for Sport is determined to look at this in a holistic way to see what we can do.

Yorkshire: Devolution

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Monday 16th October 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

I am grateful to my noble friend, who knows what he is talking about in the context of Yorkshire as he has great experience. If a deal is to go forward, it will be on the basis that the existing deal, which the four constituent parts of the Sheffield City Region have subscribed to on many occasions, goes forward independently. If the other authorities—and it is for them to come together to determine this—wish to progress a greater Yorkshire deal, they can do so. If the authorities wished to combine thereafter—and that would be a matter for them—it would be possible for that to be discussed further down the line, but we have an existing deal, on which a great deal of time and energy has been expended locally and in both Houses of Parliament.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister recall the discussions he and I had when he was a Back-Bencher about the need for a constitutional convention to look at a comprehensive and coherent structure of devolution for England, which would be much better than the ad hoc arrangements that are taking place, or not taking place, across the country? Will he tell the House how he is using his now great powers within government to advance that idea?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord for exaggerating my powers. It is something he has done on previous occasions, and I am very grateful for that. I recall the discussions we had, but I think I was much more in receive mode than in despatch mode on those occasions. They were interesting discussions. The important point, and I am sure we both agree, is that these things have to be consensual. I am sure he will also agree that we cannot unravel agreements that have been made and on which a lot of people have expended so much energy.

Domestic Violence: Victims

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Tuesday 12th September 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Baroness for that point. She is right, of course; a significant minority of men are subjected to domestic violence and organisations support them, too. It is important that that message gets across—and that is something I shall mention to Katie Ghose this afternoon. The noble and learned Baroness also mentioned forced marriages. There are particular issues in the BME community and, again, we try to confront that. We have support from particular organisations that deal with BME domestic abuse: for example, Imkaan, and on my recent Liverpool visit I met Tracey Gore of the Steve Biko domestic abuse service—so we are over that as well.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My noble friend Lady Donaghy tabled this Question two weeks ago. When did the Minister’s office conveniently fix up for him to meet the chief executive of Women’s Aid this afternoon?

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I have great respect for the noble Lord, but he will be disappointed to know that it has been in the calendar for far longer than that. I am sorry to have to tell him that. An earlier meeting was postponed because I could not make it. It was put back in the diary immediately to have the meeting today. I am very grateful for the question the noble Lord has just asked.