Local Government Finance

Debate between Lord Pickles and Steve Rotheram

Monday 18th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

That, of course, is a matter for the Leader of the House and the usual channels. However, my hon. Friend is a perceptive Member, and he will have noticed that we are hoping to introduce the system by 2013, so we are not talking about the long term.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

The American novelist John Updike once said:

“Government is either organised benevolence or organised madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading.”

Given that the Government show no benevolence towards Liverpool—perhaps people can fill the in blanks for themselves—can the Secretary of State specifically guarantee that Liverpool will not see a real-terms cut in its funding after the first two years?

[Mr Pickles]

It is a wonderful thing to be quoting John Updike—but listening to the hon. Gentleman, I sometimes think that he might consider himself to be Master of the Universe, from another novel, “The Bonfire of the Vanities”. Let us be clear: which authority would have benefited the most from this scheme? It is Liverpool, which would have done exceptionally well. If the hon. Gentleman had been paying the slightest attention to what I have been saying, rather than working up some smart quotation, he would have realised that Liverpool does well out of this system, because it—

[Steve Rotheram]

Yes or no?

[Mr Pickles]

Yes, it is going to do better out of this system, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will get those on his Front Bench behind the process, because the system is designed to ensure that proud cities such as Liverpool no longer have to rattle the begging bowl. They can bring more money and resources in, and the people of Liverpool are the ones who will benefit.

Amendment of the Law

Debate between Lord Pickles and Steve Rotheram

Monday 28th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Pickles]

There is one in Teesside and an additional one within the northern area. In truth, it is up to the local enterprise partnerships to put the thing together. [Interruption.] The hon. Lady wants to control everything from here, but I have to say that she was not very successful in doing so. What is wrong with an approach in which rather than us down here in Whitehall telling the people of the north-east what to do, the people of the north-east tell us how they will do things?

We are taking measures to help get the house building industry firing on all cylinders. Every new home supports four jobs in house building and two more in related industries. The availability of new homes helps people move around the country for work. Getting the housing industry moving again is key to restoring growth. Under the new Government, house building starts are up 23% and construction orders for new private housing are up 50% compared with Labour’s last year. But we need to go much further. There are about 200,000 granted planning permissions out there in the country, but the homes are not being built.

The answer is not targets; it is addressing the root causes. First, there is a tight mortgage market, so we will introduce a new form of support that will help first-time buyers get a foot on the ladder: a 20% equity loan, co-funded by Government and developers. That will put ownership within the grasp of 10,000 first-time buyers. We will reform the stamp duty land tax rules on bulk purchases of new homes to boost equity investment. We will help to reduce the sector’s reliance on mortgage funding.

Secondly, there is the problem that elements of the planning system are holding up the building of new homes. Let us go back to the 200,000 granted planning permissions. It is fair for councils to agree a contribution to the area where developers are planning to build to ensure that the development is sustainable, perhaps by providing a new park or playground, or by paying for road widening. However, what looked like a reasonable request three or four years ago may no longer look quite so reasonable if it stops necessary development happening altogether. If those commitments make it simply too expensive to build, we need to be realistic. Councils should not compromise on the essentials to make a development acceptable to the local area, but unrealistic agreements negotiated in the boom times should be reviewed to help new developments move forward quickly.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

I am grateful that the Secretary of State mentioned Liverpool, but what is happening with Liverpool Waters is nothing to do with his Government. I read a statement that said, “Pickles was always happy and obedient, and would often roll over and have his tummy tickled.” Although the statement was about the dog called Pickles who found the World cup in 1966, does it not describe exactly what he did when negotiating his Department’s budget?

[Mr Pickles]

I suspect that when the hon. Gentleman was putting that question together in front of his shaving mirror, it seemed more of a tummy tickler than it actually was.