Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Wednesday 14th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I always hear the Secretary of State’s words. I have been hearing them for at least 20 years.

[Sir Eric Pickles (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

I welcome my right hon. Friend to the Dispatch Box and assure her that I, too, enjoyed reading the Daily Mail this morning. As part of getting proper value, would it not make sense to reward those organisations that are working for peace within the middle east rather than to have money going to those who seek to encourage terrorism?

EU Nationals: UK Residence

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 4th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If I am to accommodate most colleagues, there will be a premium upon brevity, to be exemplified by the right hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Sir Eric Pickles).

[Sir Eric Pickles (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

The hyperbole and the overstatement from the Opposition Benches will do much to frighten EU nationals in this country, more so than anything that has been said from the Front Bench. But there is an urgency to giving a clear message on the matter. EU citizens are among our top surgeons, our top consultants, our top anaesthetists. They are among our top engineers and our top architects. These are people who can work anywhere in the world and we need to be very clear that we want them here, as part of our economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Tuesday 9th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Sir Eric Pickles (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

Given what the Foreign Secretary has said about the importance of the Iran discussions on the nuclear agreement, what is he doing to ensure greater clarity about the baselines, the extent of the inspection regime and the consequences of infringement? Given that the agreement will allow advanced centrifuge, the infringements might arrive a little earlier than anticipated.

[Mr Speaker]

A question worthy of a knight. I apologise to Sir Eric.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 16th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

Given that the right hon. Gentleman’s party is promising £52 billion-worth of cuts to local authorities, I do not see that he has a leg to stand on. I have to say to him that this coalition has worked hard to protect the elderly and to improve the better care programme. My desk is covered with requests from Labour councils demanding that we cease the exemption for elderly people on council tax relief and the like. Frankly, for the right hon. Gentleman to pose as a friend of the elderly is absolutely ludicrous.

[Mr Speaker]

Tessa Munt. Not here.

Points of Order

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Wednesday 4th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I appreciate that. I think the Secretary of State did give a clear answer, although I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. It is a perfectly reasonable question and I am sure the Secretary of State is happy to repeat his answer.

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

The 2015 elections continue as normal.

[Mr Speaker]

I am very grateful to the Secretary of State. A last point of order, I think, for now, from Mr Peter Bone.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 2nd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. It will not be long before we hear the hon. Gentleman’s dulcet tones. We can hold on just a moment. Let us hear Secretary Pickles, adorned in his waistcoat, first.

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

I can hardly wait, Mr Speaker. Last week, the Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission published its recommendations to ensure that the memory of the holocaust is preserved. The Government will commit £50 million to the creation of the national memorial, the learning centre and the endowment fund. My Department will sponsor the new Holocaust Memorial Foundation, which will take forward those recommendations. Its first task will be to undertake an urgent programme to record and preserve the testimony of British holocaust survivors and liberators. It is our collective responsibility to educate future generations about the horrors of the holocaust and never to forget why we need to challenge and combat the forces of hate.

London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Tuesday 4th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

I might be doing the right hon. Gentleman a disservice, but I think he was the architect of the powers that I am currently using, so I shall be freshly polishing the substantial bust of him that sits in my office. He is right to refer to experience. In Doncaster, we used the Local Government Association and peer-to-peer monitoring, and we got alongside the councillors. It was not just the mayor that we were trying to bolster up; it was the councillors as well. We took cognisance of the fact that we needed to bring out the best. Not everything is wrong in Tower Hamlets, as the hon. Members for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) and for Bethnal Green and Bow (Rushanara Ali) have said. It is a wonderful, vibrant place, but frankly it deserves better leadership.

[Mr Speaker]

I will leave open the question of whether a bust of the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr Raynsford) is any more or less substantial than any bust of the Secretary of State.

[Paul Uppal (Wolverhampton South West) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement, and I want to revisit a comment that has been made by colleagues on both sides of the House. It appears that the rot started to set in as a result of electoral fraud at the very beginning, and that that was the first step. Many people from a south Asian community background feel that it is unfortunate that this spotlight has been shone on the community. I hope that, for the sake of community cohesion, the proposed action can be a stepping stone towards ensuring that we have a full, robust and fair electoral system. Many migrants come to these shores to escape electoral fraud and dishonesty in the countries they came from.

[Mr Pickles]

I agree that electoral probity, honesty and transparency are hallmarks of our democracy. No one, on being elected—or failing to be elected—should have to wonder whether that was the electorate’s decision or a result of the system. With regard to your last remark, Mr Speaker, may I respectfully suggest that it is just a matter of scale?

[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.

[Mr Speaker]

We are all deeply grateful to the Secretary of State. I hope that everyone saw the map that he took the trouble to show to the House. Inspections can no doubt take place afterwards as well.

[John Stevenson (Carlisle) (Con)]

Notwithstanding what has been going on in Tower Hamlets, does my right hon. Friend agree that elected mayors can provide a positive and effective form of leadership in local government?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

I refer the House to my entry in the register as a member of Kettering borough council. Is not one of themes common to what happened in Doncaster, Rotherham and Tower Hamlets the importance, but sometimes the ineffectiveness, of local government scrutiny by councillors in their own authority? What can be done to strengthen the power of scrutiny committees, and raise the profile and esteem of scrutiny work? Instead of councillors always wanting to be in the administration, they should increasingly want to be in the scrutiny side of things, to hold mayors and chairmen of committees to account for making decisions about very large sums?

[Mr Speaker]

We could learn from the hon. Gentleman’s parliamentary example.

[Mr Pickles]

Not for the first time, Mr Speaker, you take the words out of my mouth. My hon. Friend is a member of a very well-run council and he expresses some wise views. I would be interested in hearing his views, and those of any right hon. or hon. Member, as to how we might strengthen scrutiny in local authorities. Given that we have had a while to bed it down, there probably is a time for a re-examination.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 8th September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

The right hon. Gentleman will readily understand that when we came to office, the Prevent strategy was moved to the Home Office. We have concentrated on the matters that bring people together and encourage communities not to be isolated. We have spent the best part of £45 million on that endeavour, on things ranging from “English First”, which ensures English is taught in perhaps unusual places—trying to target young mothers, for example—to putting a lot of money, about £10 million, into the recruitment of detached youth workers to appropriate organisations. We have also funded groups that work together, whether it be in mosques, churches or synagogues. The right hon. Gentleman is quite right to say that we all have an obligation in this regard. Speaking as someone brought up in a multicultural city, I think this issue goes far deeper than funding streams. It is an extraordinary sight to see someone born and brought up in this country participating in atrocities in the middle east. I pledge the Government, along with the Opposition, to work hard on this—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am grateful to the Secretary of State, but we have many questions to get through.

[Hilary Benn]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his reply. Given what he said, however, why does he think that last month the widely respected counter-extremism think-tank Quilliam criticised his Department’s failure to produce a proper strategy as “catastrophic”? Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that much more needs to be done across government and the country to protect our young people, including confronting head-on Islamic State’s repugnant ideology, its promoters and apologists here in the United Kingdom and its utter contempt for our democracy and way of life? As he does so, he will have the full support of the Opposition.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Pickles]

I do not mind whether somebody is Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Independent or UKIP—if they are on the fiddle, they deserve to have their collar felt, and that behaviour was completely unacceptable.

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, Mr Nick de Bois.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 30th June 2014 Commons Chamber

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

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer question 1—

[Mr Speaker]

I remind the Secretary of State that he is seeking to answer that with question 16. I shall be advised if I am mistaken or if he has changed his mind.

[Mr Pickles]

Thank goodness someone is paying attention to what is going on.

To be helpful, I have published “50 ways to save”, a practical guide to councils on how they can make the most of their budgets to protect front-line services and keep council tax down.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell)—[Interruption.] After the initiative of the right hon. Gentleman in bringing about the grouping and then in so graciously recollecting the fact that he had done so, the hon. Member for Romford is sadly not with us.

[Mr Pickles]

Perhaps I was prescient.

[Mr Speaker]

Yes, the right hon. Gentleman might have been prescient. I am sure the hon. Member for Romford was told by the Department. If he was not, we are sorry. If he was, he should be here and we are sorry that he is not. No doubt further and better information will become available in due course.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Gentleman has put the same question—he just sanitised it.

[Mr Pickles]

And very good it was too. Let me be absolutely clear: we have no plans to impose taxation on agriculture by extending the rating system to agricultural land. We rule that out absolutely.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 7th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

As my hon. Friend the Planning Minister has reminded me, we are in the middle of a consultation to help with regard to the designation of certain planning use classes. If the hon. Gentleman wants to invite his council to make a contribution to that, it would be most welcome.

[Mr Speaker]

He’s a lucky chappy; let’s call the fellow from Chelmsford.

[Mr Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con)]

19. Will my right hon. Friend tell me how many businesses in Chelmsford will benefit from this rate reduction? Does he agree that it is a significant step forward in helping to regenerate businesses, cut unemployment by expanding the work force and encourage small businesses to thrive?

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that it is a disgrace that the last authority, with a Conservative administration in county hall, is being investigated by the police? There has perhaps been a misappropriation of funds, which the police are looking into, and serious problems with the accounting at county hall. The Labour administration which has come in is having to pick up the pieces.

[Mr Speaker]

Very tangentially related to the question of a council tax freeze, but the intellectual ingenuity of the Secretary of State is such that I feel sure he can respond both pithily and in order.

[Mr Pickles]

I am grateful for that vote of confidence, Mr Speaker. That view might not always be shared throughout the House. Clearly, investigations are taking place, but that in no way undermines the enormous achievement of delivering a low council tax, improving many services and getting a lot of people off the dole during the four years that Conservatives ran that council.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 3rd March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

As the hon. Gentleman suggests, I will write to him, if figures are available. Diligent Members of Parliament can certainly take actions to save valuable swimming pools if they get cracking.

[Mr Speaker]

It has to be said that the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is hiding his light under a bushel, because I am advised that he is a most accomplished swimmer. As he has chosen not to inform the House of that fact, I am generously doing so on his behalf.

Flooding

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 10th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

I did note that, but I did not want this to be a partisan exchange, which is not the attitude of the Labour party—I did not want to criticise the Labour party. [Interruption.] My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State has just reminded me that we will look at bespoke patterns of support that will enable us to ameliorate the effects of flooding, and to ensure that people feel safe in their own homes.

[Mr Speaker]

Mr Wayne David.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

Thank you for the sigh of confidence that you gave before calling me, Mr Speaker.

Everyone in the House would agree that we need a united Government response to this crisis. How does the Secretary of State respond to suggestions that there is a damaging Cabinet rift between him and the Environment Secretary?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Pickles]

The Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall, has just volunteered to meet the hon. Lady, and I am sure that—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We wish to see the Secretary of State’s face, looking at us all fully rather than just at those on his own Benches. He has a habit of gyrating around; let us see the man’s face.

[Mr Pickles]

I apologise. I have always felt that those on my own Benches scrubbed up rather well, and it is uplifting to the spirit to look at them.

As I have said, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary has agreed to meet the hon. Member for Wells (Tessa Munt) to discuss that matter, and I am sure that those deliberations will be worth while.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

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

I would like to make a very brief statement about a recent development regarding my Department and officials at the European Union. The previous Labour Government signed up to a petty EU regulation that forced my Department and other Departments to fly the European flag outside our buildings. I can announce today that we have renegotiated this, and the burdensome law on flying the EU flag has now gone. This small step shows that our nation can and should claim powers back from Brussels. I apologise to you, Mr Speaker, for not flying the flag of Buckingham yesterday to celebrate your birthday. I hope you had a good day.

[Mr Speaker]

The Secretary of State is forgiven.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 5th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

Of course I will give way to the very distinguished gentleman. [Interruption.] Or were there two distinguished Members standing together?

[Mr Speaker]

On this occasion, I believe the Secretary of State is referring to a former Minister of State—with no disrespect to the hon. Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley), whose distinction is universally known.

[Mr Raynsford]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way, and hope this will not cause him any difficulty with his colleague. How will “nationally significant developments” be defined? What definitions will be used to decide whether developments are nationally significant and thus fall within the remit?

Points of Order

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 21st November 2011 Commons Chamber

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

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before I respond to the point of order, the Secretary of State is seeking to catch my eye, and I shall listen to him.

[Mr Pickles]

Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I want to give an assurance to you, Mr Speaker, that what appeared in the Financial Times and The Times on Saturday was not authorised by my Department or by any other Department. As my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Local Government has explained, putting together policy statements necessarily involves talking to third parties, and it is a matter of some considerable regret that this information was released before we intended. It was our intention to release everything today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 5th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

Of course we will reflect on those matters, but it is important that these important intrusions into people’s private lives are regulated, and the Bill intends to regulate them, but if the hon. Gentleman has a specific point, we will be happy to look into it.

[Mr Speaker]

James Gray. Not here.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 20th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

My hon. Friend makes my point very well. As the Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for local government and planning announced, we are considering financial assessments. Often the kind of authority to which my hon. Friend referred could do with some help with procurement—we have seen a number of smaller districts get together—and we would certainly hope to deal with weekly collections in all their various forms.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. If the Secretary of State could face the Chamber, we will all benefit from hearing the full flow of his eloquence.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Pickles]

My advice to the hon. Gentleman is to cancel the leaflet. If it has already gone, pull it back. There is no intention whatsoever, under any circumstances, that he should lose 34%—not in one lump, not in a series of lumps. He is going to have to trust me. We are producing a scheme that he will like. We are producing a scheme such that he might even consider crossing the Floor.

[Mr Speaker]

We are obliged to the Secretary of State, I am sure.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Pickles]

We have delivered a good settlement for local government; we are looking to reduce our own Department, including reducing at the top and reducing numbers; and we are looking to extend that by offering help on growth, on enterprise zones and on local partnerships for growth. This Department has changed enormously over the past year by becoming pro-growth and helpful to local communities, offering power to local government and ensuring that ordinary people do not face a big increase in council tax.

[Mr Speaker]

I think the hon. Gentleman might want an Adjournment debate on the matter.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

In the Westminster city council area, 3,000 elderly and disabled people are losing social care, children’s centres are being cut, street cleansing is being cut and the youth service is being cut. In the light of that, does the Secretary of State think it is a good use of public money to run a summer roadshow

“to counter the messages that people are hearing about council services being reduced or withdrawn”?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 4th April 2011 Commons Chamber

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

I am sure the whole House would like to place on record its gratitude for the professionalism and commitment of the 60 firefighters who are deployed as part of the UK’s international search and rescue team assisting the victims of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. With the number of dead and missing growing daily, our thoughts are with the brave Japanese people.

The Budget revealed our plans to help support local enterprise and jobs, including the extension of the business rates holiday for small firms and small shops. The Department is the lead Department for enterprise zones, and we will make further announcements in the coming weeks. Letters detailing the first payments of the new homes bonus go out to local authorities today. The Department has published its plans for a future of local audit and delivery that is better value for money for taxpayers than the failed Audit Commission regime. The new rules to stop unfair competition from municipal newspapers are now in effect. I am sure that local press and the public noticed that Labour MPs voted en bloc to defend town hall Pravdas.

[Mr Speaker]

That was a very long answer, but I am sure they will be shorter in future.

[Annette Brooke]

May I associate myself with the Secretary of State’s comments on those brave firefighters, and express sympathy for the people of Japan?

With reference to the review of the statutory duties placed on local authorities, the Secretary of State will be aware that there is a great deal of concern among families with disabled children and young people. Can he give us some clarity on this matter, and confirm that no changes will be made to statutory duties relating to that group without formal consultation and a full impact assessment?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 28th February 2011 Commons Chamber

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

I beg your pardon, Mr Speaker, but I have not the remotest idea where I am.

[Mr Speaker]

Question No. 9 from the hon. Member for Reading East (Mr Wilson).

[Mr Pickles]

rose—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 17th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

I confess that I had difficulty hearing the hon. Lady for all the gasps of disbelief. Only if Durham is using an abacus for calculation or providing the information on vellum is that likely to happen. In most councils and in my Department it happens automatically. With a simple spreadsheet, it is very easy to do.

[Mr Speaker]

I had the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) down for question 2 but, if there has been a change of plan or if I have been misinformed, that is fine.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let me gently say to the hon. Gentleman that I think we have got the thrust of it, and topicals need to be brief.

[Mr Pickles]

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman gets out much, but West Oxfordshire is a very small place, and Durham is a lot bigger. Durham has reserves of just short of £93 million, and it receives formula grant at £459 per head, a sum that the people of West Oxfordshire can only dream of.

Local Government Funding

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Monday 6th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

The hon. Gentleman may be wondering why he is sitting on that side of the House. We have had a general election. His party lost and we won, which is why we are on this side of the House. As for the front-loading—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The Secretary of State is not a notably softly spoken man, but I am having considerable trouble hearing him. He says that he is a gentle and sensitive soul; that is as may be, but I can normally hear him. There is so much noise in the Chamber that I cannot hear him now, and I want him to be heard.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Thursday 25th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

There needs to be consistency from Opposition Members. They cry, “What are the Government doing to help the north of England?” but the national insurance holiday is a tangible measure that the previous Government were unable to take. The hon. Gentleman should congratulate this Government. After all, only when we get through the reduction in public expenditure and get our economy back on to an even keel can we look forward to—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I thank the Secretary of State.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Thursday 15th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

The north-west of England is, of course, a vibrant area full of people of enterprise. As my hon. Friend rightly says, the regional growth fund will provide targeted support to areas of deprivation, unlike the regional development agencies, which simply move one form of public money around to another public body. We will ensure that private investment is brought in and, in addition, we will have the local enterprise partnerships. She will also be aware that we will give national insurance incentives for firms in the north to create jobs, and extend small business rate relief to them. There will be diverse other measures.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Today, questions and, in particular, answers are rather long, and need to get shorter.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

Would not scrapping the Government office for the north-west mean north-west local authorities having to go cap in hand to each Whitehall Department? Would not such a diktat be of a piece with the Secretary of State bludgeoning the Business Secretary over scrapping regional development agencies? What has he to say to the former Tory leader from Trafford, Councillor Susan Williams, who asked:

“Where is the voice of the NW to government?”

and then said that it was in “a void”? Would he not leave north-west local authorities swinging in limbo, with their economies disrupted by his cuts and no north-west body promoting major regenerational transport projects? Is not his localism just a fraudulent—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman must resume his seat. That is now five questions. It is an abuse of the procedures of the House when Members, on both sides, ask questions that are simply too long. I want a short answer from the Secretary of State please.

[Mr Pickles]

No.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

Order. That was very unsatisfactory; I think that I will have to add injury time. Let us hear it from the Minister.

[Mr Pickles]

I wanted to answer it all the time.

This is about ensuring that local government finance is delivered fairly and straightforwardly. Given that we have been a bit slow in answering the hon. Lady, it is incumbent on me to say that if she wants to come and see me—or I can come and see her—I will give her a full answer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Pickles and John Bercow

Thursday 10th June 2010 Commons Chamber

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

Further to the coalition agreement—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think the right hon. Gentleman should have requested a grouping with questions 9 and 15.

[Mr Pickles]

You are absolutely right, Mr Speaker. I was just so happy to be here. I hope that I do not go on too long—[Hon. Members: “So do we.”] Well, I was not thinking of putting it to a vote.

--- Later in debate ---

[Zac Goldsmith]

I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on his welcome return to the Communities and Local Government brief. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Minister, not only for his recent work in developing the Government’s ambitious low-carbon economy programme, but for his long-term battle to give communities the power they need to stand up for themselves against inappropriate development.

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for his answer, but will he reassure the House and my constituents that he intends to repeal perverse rules that prevent local councillors from standing up for their constituents—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but I must now cut off the hon. Gentleman. From now on, questions and answers must be briefer.

[Mr Pickles]

I think I got the gist; I think my hon. Friend was referring to predetermination and I am delighted to inform the House that it is our intention to repeal those regulations. That means we can give local councils the thing that Members of Parliament so desire—that councillors with opinions can actually vote on those opinions.

[Mr Speaker]

Matthew Offord is not here, so I call Bob Blackman.

[Bob Blackman]

In Harrow East, the decision to safeguard gardens will be warmly welcomed, but another problem remains: unscrupulous developers whose planning application is turned down by councillors at local level, but who then appeal. What proposals are there to prevent the overturning of local planning decisions on appeal?