Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation
Debate between Lord Pickles and Jim Fitzpatrick(9 years, 8 months ago)
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The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)
This Government have put Britain on the road to economic recovery. In 2010, our country was on the cliff edge, staring into an abyss of financial oblivion. The economy was stalling, unemployment was rising and the national debt was spiralling out of control. From day one, pulling the country back on to safer, more secure ground was our top priority.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr Pickles
In a few moments I will. It would be rather nice if I was able to start the speech, because I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would like something to critique.
Five years later, it is a different story: we have stepped back from the cliff edge, our growth rate is faster than that of anywhere in the G7, and our job creation is the envy of the developed world. It all confirms the old Yorkshire proverb, “Where there’s muck, there’s brass” and, boy, did Labour leave us a lot of muck. We have managed to start cleaning up the mess only because we stuck to our long-term economic plan. We stood our ground when ferocious economic headwinds blew in from the eurozone. We did not listen to those who said that the only solution was more borrowing and more spending beyond our means. Nobody now talks about plan B. We stood firm, and as a result today the deficit has been brought down by a half. Living standards are rising and a record number of people have found jobs. With our council tax freeze, there is more money in people’s pockets. The Budget is built on economic success. It will make our economy more resilient and protect taxpayers’ money. It will bring down the deficit and ensure that Britain pays its way in the world, so much so that the shadow Chancellor said that there is nothing in the Budget that Labour would vote against. Now the hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr Anderson) will tell me why the shadow Chancellor was wrong.
Mr Pickles
I kind of regret giving way to the hon. Gentleman. That sort of bellicose description is not worth considering. After all, Yorkshire is at the very heart of our economic growth, but naysayers like him—
Jim Fitzpatrick
I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. I apologise for interrupting him prematurely at the beginning of his speech. I was just very curious to know whether, in outlining the economic recovery, he was going to refer to the report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which was covered by yesterday’s Telegraph and today’s Guardian and says that the 300,000 immigrants have fuelled the recovery. What does that do to the UK Independence party’s fox and some of the Members on the Government Benches who have been raising immigration as a scare story?
Mr Pickles
Of course if we create more jobs in the UK than in the rest of the European Union combined, it is not surprising that we are doing well, and that people are leaving our great friends in France to come here to increase our prosperity. I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman, who has such a distinguished record of supporting the firefighters, did not wish to congratulate the Government on changing the rules to ensure that spouses of firefighters who die in action will be able to remarry, should they desire to do so, and not lose their pension.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and Jim Fitzpatrick
Mr Pickles
We have, of course, honoured our obligations to the people of Somerset with £20 million having already gone in and an additional £13.1 million for looking at the possibility of a barrier at Bridgwater. It simply comes down to this: what we are doing is trying to find something sustainable. The hon. Gentleman seems to be urging me to tax people who were flooded. What we are looking at is trying to get something sustainable without over-burdening the people of Somerset. That seems a much more sensible course to pursue.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
T10. Further to the Secretary of State’s statement last week on the PricewaterhouseCoopers report on Tower Hamlets and the criticism on grants and disposal of assets in particular, it was reported at column 669 that the right hon. Gentleman would “send a copy” of the report “to the police”. Will he confirm that a copy will be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, too?
Mr Pickles
It appears on our website, but I will certainly bring the attention of the Crown Prosecution Service to it. I express no view on whether or not these matters are criminal. I am certainly unhappy with them, but it is for the police and the Crown Prosecution to make the appropriate decision. I am determined to ensure that Tower Hamlets has the best possible council so that public confidence can be re-established in it.
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Debate between Lord Pickles and Jim Fitzpatrick
Mr Pickles
I have no intention of reintroducing those measures in the lifetime of this Parliament. What is most important for us is to get a strong sense of corporate identity for Tower Hamlets and some transparency, so when people are overriding the sensible decisions made, they understand that it will be given the full glare of publicity.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
Tower Hamlets is a great borough, whose reputation is being destroyed by independent mayor Lutfur Rahman and his Tower Hamlets First party. The mayor tries to present himself as a victim but, from reading the report, it seems that he and his senior colleagues are either in denial—they are the only people who do not know what is going on in Tower Hamlets—or they are lying to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Maybe the Secretary of State could indicate which he thinks is the case. Can he reassure us that the commissioners, if and when appointed, will meet the leaders of the Conservative and Labour groups on the council as a matter of urgency, and may I ask him to reconsider his decision to charge the taxpayers of Tower Hamlets the full sum of £1 million? Given the profile of Tower Hamlets—the poverty of the borough, notwithstanding the new business district, with Canary Wharf—charging Tower Hamlets taxpayers the £1 million seems unfair, especially as they are being victimised by Lutfur Rahman more than anyone else.
Mr Pickles
On the latter point, I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman, but the method of charging is laid down in the legislation, and it needs to be emphasised strongly that the amount PricewaterhouseCoopers charged would have been considerably less had the mayor decided to co-operate and not to obfuscate and delay. The only reason I did not make this statement in July is the delays by that administration. If the mayor would like to make a substantial contribution out of his own pocket to the report, that would seem to me to be a sensible thing to do.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and Jim Fitzpatrick(10 years, 2 months ago)
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Mr Pickles
My hon. Friend has raised a very reasonable point. We are working with other Departments to identify funds for that purpose, and we hope to make an announcement very soon.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
T6. The Secretary of State commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an examination of the finances of Tower Hamlets council. Tower Hamlets council will be paying for that audit. Will the Secretary of State update us on how long it will be before the auditors report?
Mr Pickles
We are talking in terms of a matter of days. I understand that the consultants have finished their report, but the facts will have to be checked with Tower Hamlets, and only when that process has been completed will I be briefed on it. I shall then have to make a “minded” statement, because Tower Hamlets will obviously have the right to respond before I make a final statement to the House.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and Jim Fitzpatrick
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
The welcome written statement released today says Ministers “have long been concerned” about Tower Hamlets. Will the Secretary of State agree that Tower Hamlets was an improving and in many ways well-run council between 1994 and 2010, and confirm that the period under inspection is from 2010 and therefore that the concern of Ministers and others is a relatively recent phenomenon?
Mr Pickles
There have been some worries about the running of the council; the hon. Gentleman has raised them with me privately. Now that the investigation has started, it must be on the basis that everyone is innocent until the allegations are proved, so it is probably not sensible for me or others to speculate about the strength and nature of the claims until we receive the report at the end of June.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lord Pickles and Jim Fitzpatrick
Mr Pickles
Frankly, I cannot understand it. Margaret Thatcher introduced a right for the press to be able to scrutinise local authorities, and had modern media existed all those years ago they would have been included in that. Why should councils not show the good things they are doing for their communities?
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
I fully support the point made by the hon. Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) about Tower Hamlets council meetings being broadcast and reported. However, Mr Speaker, you sometimes have difficulty controlling proceedings here on a Wednesday and they have been broadcast live on television for many years. What evidence does the Secretary of State have that it will improve the conduct in Tower Hamlets, which is what we all want to see?
Mr Pickles
We have legislated to ensure that cameras should film Tower Hamlets cabinet meetings, but we have not said that they should film the main council or committees. If councils continue to refuse to do this—only a handful are doing so—we will take the necessary measures, because the public have a right to know.
Local Government Finance Bill
Debate between Lord Pickles and Jim Fitzpatrick(12 years, 10 months ago)
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Mr Pickles
I do not know whether colleagues were listening but I heard an Opposition Member say that economic success was a southern phenomenon. If that is what Opposition Members think, they should seriously consider whether they are doing their electorate a service.
If our reforms had been in place over the past five years—since the last revaluation cycle—places such as Liverpool, Doncaster, Durham and north and south Tyneside would have benefited, because their growth in business rates outstripped the national average.
Most of all, however, the grumblers have missed the key point. This is not simply about redistributing the proceeds of growth. If these reforms lead to every council working as hard as possible to help business to thrive, there is the potential to increase overall growth.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
As part of the south-east phenomenon—the area that I represent covers Canary Wharf and the London borough of Tower Hamlets—my constituency would naturally, I assume, be a winner from these reforms. Has the Secretary of State seen the briefing issued today by London Councils to London MPs? It welcomes the retention of part of the business rate but then states:
“However, the Bill as drafted creates a fiendishly complex system in which the level of the business rate incentive is uncertain and unpredictable”.
Will he respond to that concern from London Councils?
Mr Pickles
Yes, of course. The idea is to give the maximum incentive to councils. That is how the system is being devised. However, it is much simpler than the existing system, which is just about impenetrable. Indeed, London Councils considered that point some time ago when it described the four—[Interruption.] Ah, I have it in front of me. How very helpful! This is marvellous. Bob always comes up trumps. This quote comes from the London Councils’ report, “Four Block Muddle”:
“The current formula grant system…lacks transparency and is inherently unstable and unpredictable, generating fluctuations in grant allocation that defy logic… Even finance experts, let alone members of the public, struggle to understand the working of this complex system.”
So here we are introducing a much better system, and, to coin a phrase, I would have expected local councils to rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.