Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and James Gray(10 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)
May I join you, Mr Speaker, and Opposition Members in expressing my sadness at the death of Jim Dobbin? As you rightly said, he had a very distinguished career in the health service before becoming a Member of Parliament, which demonstrates what someone of a more mature age coming into this place for the first time can give us. He was a charming man and always very courteous, and Government Members will miss him deeply.
I am sure the whole House would like to congratulate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the wonderful news this morning that they are expecting a second child. We wish them well.
My Department is announcing the first wave of funding for the builders finance fund, which will help to kick-start the building of 13,000 homes on 160 small sites across England that stalled because of Labour’s housing crash. Thanks to our long-term economic plan, housing construction is up and Britain is building again.
Mr Gray
Jim Dobbin was indeed one of the nicest and kindest men in Parliament, and we will miss him greatly.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has made it plain, both in letters to local authorities and by withdrawing the subsidy, that large and industrial-scale solar farms like those discussed earlier are simply not acceptable on greenfield agricultural sites. However, planning regulations do not so far reflect the robustness of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s determination. Will the Secretary of State either write to local authorities or change the planning regulations so that the Planning Inspectorate and local authorities will take account of what DECC is saying on the subject?
Mr Pickles
The short answer is yes. I was struck by what Members said, and this country clearly needs a robust and sustainable housing policy with regard to energy. We need a degree of reality and reasonableness in this approach. We have made a number of ministerial statements on the matter. It is excellent to see these solar panels on the roofs of houses, but we do not want them taking away valuable agricultural land. I shall look carefully at what my hon. Friends and Opposition Members have said, and we will work with fellow ministries and produce a statement soon.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and James Gray
Mr Pickles
It is indeed an excellent report, but I remind the right hon. Gentleman that the former permanent secretary to the Department, as its accounting officer, washed his hands of the unitary restructuring in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk, demanding that Labour Ministers direct him to continue. He warned that it would
“impact adversely on the financial position of the public sector”.
He said:
“the evidence for such gains is mixed and representations that you have received provide no evidence to quantify such benefits”.
He also said:
“There is every likelihood of such judicial review proceedings being commenced.”
The system was a complete Horlicks, and that is why we abolished it.
Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)
My right hon. Friend is right: the diversity of local government in England is very important, and there is no “one size fits all” solution. Does he accept, however, that it was the last Conservative Government who introduced unitary authorities in the first place, and that Wiltshire has been praised by my noble Friend Lord Heseltine for getting rid of five dual-tier district authorities and replacing them with one, thereby saving an enormous amount of money, keeping the council tax frozen, and getting rid of large layers of bureaucracy in the process?
Mr Pickles
I am glad to hear that my hon. Friend is at one with his local council. Of course I am not opposed to unitary authorities; what I am opposed to is the imposition on local authorities, from the centre, of costly reorganisations I am urging authorities, particularly small district authorities, to start to work together, to merge not just back-office but front-office functions, and to provide a much better deal for their people.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and James Gray
Mr Pickles
I understand now why Polly Toynbee is so disappointed with the right hon. Lady’s opposition across the Dispatch Box. I apologise, Mr Speaker, for not directing my earlier remarks to you. She is concerned about the number of Conservative authorities, but their number is due to the fact that the majority of councils in this country are Conservative—she had a big chance in May to rectify that and failed singularly. However, we are removing the incentives for fortnightly collections, and looking at incentives for weekly collections.
Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)
2. What plans he has to provide support through his Department’s housing policy to serving and former members of the armed forces. [Official Report, 13 July 2011, Vol. 531, c. 3-4MC.]
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and James Gray(13 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Pickles
Of course, there is going to be considerable equalisation, but it seems to me that:
“Local business concerns are critical to good local government. There are sound democratic reasons why, in principle, the business rate should be set locally, not nationally.”
That expresses the point best, and I would have thought there would be consensus on it right across the Chamber as, after all, those are the very words of the Labour party’s 1997 manifesto.
Mr James Gray (North Wiltshire) (Con)
10. What criteria are used to determine the number of houses which should be built in North Wiltshire constituency?