Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Monday 10th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

Obviously, if my hon. Friend has something specific in mind, I would be most interested to hear what he has to say, and perhaps we could have a discussion about it today.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

T8. This Government have taken away 58% of Liverpool city council’s funding, hitting Liverpool harder than anywhere else, yet Liverpool is still finding innovative new ways of maintaining services, including the announcement today that all our libraries will be kept open. Will the Secretary of State finally travel to visit Liverpool for himself to see what difference the city could make if its funding cuts were at the national average?

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Tuesday 4th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We cannot explore this issue at length, but in terms of being intellectually substantial, the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich and the Secretary of State both score very highly.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Members on both sides of the House will be shocked by many elements of the report. Knowing how rigorous the process relating to securing grants is in Liverpool, I think many people will be appalled to learn that £407,700 was given to bodies in Tower Hamlets that failed to meet the minimum criteria for being awarded anything at all. What efforts will the Secretary of State’s Department be making to recover that money?

[Mr Pickles]

We will certainly look into that possibility. It is the council and the people of Tower Hamlets who have not received the appropriate sums. In the early part of the report, there is a map that shows how the grants have been allocated in a quite arbitrary way, concentrating them on just one area. The fact that more than £400,000 was simply handed out, as though by some mediaeval monarch, with no thought or consideration goes to the heart of the matter. Public money is precious and it should be accounted for. No one should receive public money without proper scrutiny. I refer the hon. Lady to the map on page 23 of the report, which shows the way in which the money has been distributed. It is an absolute disgrace.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Monday 21st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

That just shows what a committed Conservative council will do, compared with Labour authorities, which seem to be interested in shroud-waving and cutting front-line services.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Liverpool city council will have seen a real-terms Government grant cut of 56% between 2010 and 2017. That £329 million reduction means that come 2017 we will have a shortfall of £17 million for mandatory services. Why are the most deprived areas being hit the hardest?

[Mr Pickles]

We are funding hard-hit areas to a greater extent. Something like the amount of money paid per household in Liverpool will be well above the amount that is paid in more prosperous parts of the country. I do not recall the hon. Lady saying that kind of thing when we put together the multi-million-pound city deal for Liverpool.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Monday 4th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Last month at the Come Together conference in Liverpool, political and faith leaders from across the country called on the Government to think again about the unfair distribution of local government cuts. Places such as Liverpool will lose £252 per head while the Prime Minister’s local authority of West Oxfordshire will lose just £34 per head. Will the Secretary of State listen to the message of the Come Together conference and look again at how the cuts can be redistributed fairly?

[Mr Pickles]

Liverpool has received a very generous settlement—far more generous than the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. The hon. Lady must understand that the level of grant allocated to Liverpool far exceeds the money that is being taken away. She will recognise that under this system, with the city deal and the extra help and considerations, Liverpool has a far better deal than it would have had under Labour.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

I will e-mail that to the hon. Gentleman. Why should I not like Birmingham? It is a beautiful city and the second city in England. Anybody who wants to set up enterprise will find a welcoming hand there. I wish Birmingham nothing but success, but I must tell him—I have some familiarity with the finance—that the top few suggestions would help Birmingham out. I hope Birmingham takes that line. If it does, it will produce better services and have a much more secure future. I wish it well.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Further to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman), may I remind the Secretary of State that Liverpool is the most deprived city in the UK? Will he tell the House why he is yet again disproportionately hitting both the Merseyside fire and rescue service budget and our council budget?

[Mr Pickles]

May I remind the hon. Lady that she has £2,740 per household, plus the amount for the fire authority? Metropolitan fire authorities are receiving a much higher level of settlement than other parts of the country. We have offered Liverpool a fantastic deal. The mayor of Liverpool had my complete confidence up to the point when he suggested that there will be riots on the streets—he was one of the first to offer reassurance during last year’s riots. I hope again to be able to work with Joe to the betterment of Liverpool.

Housing and Planning

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

My hon. Friend gives a far better answer than I could to the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr Raynsford). The reality is that this works with local people and local councils. It is not like sending in the commissioners.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

With starts for social homes down by 97% and those for affordable homes down by 68%, will the Secretary of State now apologise for slashing the affordable homes budget, which has led to swathes of flattened land and boarded-up housing in parts of my constituency?

[Mr Pickles]

This is my advice to the hon. Lady: do not take a Whip’s question, because invariably the figures are dodgy. [Interruption.] My Whips are a saintly bunch. The level of support that we are offering is not materially different from the previous Chancellor’s planned reductions. The hon. Lady cannot get away from that or from the fact that her party promised not five eco-towns but 10, yet not one foundation has been laid for any building. She should think about that before she takes a Whip’s question.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)]

The Government have published proposals to allow local retention of business rates and are seeking views by 24 October. The plans give councils a strong financial incentive to drive economic growth, as well as providing protections for places in need of additional support. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, we intend to introduce business rates retention by April 2013.

[Luciana Berger]

There is significant concern in cities such as Liverpool that councils will lose money after the first year if they cannot adjust quickly enough to the changes. We have had reassurances from Ministers that councils will get that support in the first year, but will the Secretary of State guarantee that they will get that additional support in years 2, 3 and 4?

[Mr Pickles]

Had the provisions been in place over the past few years, Liverpool would have done particularly well out of the system. I am confident that the leadership of Liverpool will respond to this, because it puts Liverpool very much in the driving seat. My opinion is that Liverpool is an extremely good place to invest.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Monday 13th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

My hon. Friend clearly shows what localism can do, and the Localism Bill will ensure that more communities can do that. He will have noticed the scoffing on the Labour Benches about ordinary people banding together to protect a community facility. We have to emphasise that it does not have to be owned by the state to be used by the community. My hon. Friend clearly demonstrates the future; Labour Members demonstrate the past.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Earlier this year, Liverpool, the most deprived local authority, sustained the largest cut to its area-based grant of any core city. Will the Secretary of State now please answer the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman), and tell us how much he is cutting in cash terms from Liverpool’s budget?

[Mr Pickles]

One of the reasons why the hon. Lady’s constituents and the fine city of Liverpool face a problem is the working neighbourhoods fund, which the Labour party cut. It took that money away. We had to find a way to pay for that, which is why Liverpool will be restricted to a loss of 8.7% and 7.1%. In addition, on the tour to which I referred earlier, we ensured that the money for decent homes, which the previous Government abandoned, was provided for Liverpool. Liverpool is in a much stronger position now than it was when the Labour Government were in power.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and Luciana Berger

Thursday 25th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

I thought the development was very interesting. It will transform the south of the river; indeed, Members of the House will be able to look across to one of the more exciting developments in our capital. I very much recall my visit, which was just before my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced our intention to move forward on TIFs at the Liberal party conference. We will be including this in the localism Bill, which will be introduced in this House very soon.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

T7. On Monday, the Government set out plans to reform social housing, including the scrapping of guaranteed long-term tenancies. These reforms have been described by leading charities as “a deliberate attack on the poorest in society”.Does the Housing Minister agree with the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, who said of the Government’s proposal:“it is not a Liberal Democrat policy, it is not a coalition policy, it was not in the election manifesto of either party, it was not in the coalition agreement…our party would need a lot of persuading that it has merit”?