Social Homes for Rent

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Thursday 26th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and remind the House of my interests in the register.

[The Minister of State, Home Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (Lord Greenhalgh) (Con)]

The provision of affordable housing is a central pillar of the Government’s plan to level up the country, which is why we are investing £11.5 billion in affordable homes over the next five years. Our affordable homes programme, which began last year, aims to deliver 32,000 homes for social rent—double that of the previous programme.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

The Minister talks about 32,000 homes for social rent, yet 1.2 million households in this country are on council house waiting lists. The Government recently published their levelling up White Paper, which has 12 missions. Not one of those missions talks about affordable or social housing for rent. Can the Minister explain why?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

We have a commitment here, specifically within the affordable homes programme, to build more homes for social rent. We have also introduced a number of mechanisms that enable councils to build again. A generation of councils has not built any homes, or very few, but we have seen far more in the last decade. The levelling-up missions are clear, but we also have very clear missions to build more homes of all types and tenures.

Building Safety Bill

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Committee stage
Monday 21st February 2022 Grand Committee

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

Can the Minister give us clarification on Amendment 135? He said that new homes and buildings are covered by existing legislation and will be covered by this Bill when it becomes an Act, but does the wording “new homes and buildings” include the conversion of offices, which are old buildings, to residential? I understand that this is a complex area but I wonder whether the Minister is willing to write on this point so that it is on the record.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for giving me that get-out. He is absolutely right that this is a complicated matter. You often have an old office building from which you create a new residential dwelling. We will check whether that is included in the purview of this Bill, and I will write to the noble Lord on that matter.

Non-Domestic Rating (Levy and Safety Net) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 8th February 2022 Grand Committee

[The Minister of State, Home Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (Lord Greenhalgh) (Con)]

My Lords, these regulations make changes to the way in which we calculate levy and safety net payments as part of the business rates retention scheme. The changes are necessary to ensure that the calculations reflect the current circumstances of local government and that individual authorities receive or pay no more or less than they should.

Under the business rates retention scheme, authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly in any year can receive a safety net payment. The cost of the safety net is paid for by recovering, through a levy on growth, a percentage of the business rates income of authorities that, in any year, have seen their business rates income significantly increase. The detailed rules about the calculation of levy and safety net payments are set out in the Non-Domestic Rating (Levy and Safety Net) Regulations 2013.

The regulations before the Committee make a number of changes to the 2013 regulations. They do four things. First, they update the 2013 regulations for 100% retention authorities. The Committee will recall that, since 2017-18, the Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West of England, West Midlands and Cornwall authorities have retained not 50% but 100% of the business rates they collect. As a result, we made changes to the levy and safety net calculations to reflect authorities’ higher business rates income. These changes have been reconfirmed periodically in regulations as and when the Government have extended the 100% arrangements.

As things currently stand, the changes to levy and safety net calculations for 100% retention authorities apply in every year up to and including 2020-21. However, because the Government have now confirmed that the 100% arrangements will stay in place in 2021-22 and 2022-23, we need to extend the timeframe over which the changes to levy and safety net calculations apply. This is provided for in regulations.

Secondly, in Regulation 6 we amend the levy rate of the Greater Manchester authorities. Until recently, the Greater Manchester authorities were part of a pool with an authority that was not involved in the 100% arrangements, so the levy rate was calculated for the pool as a whole. The pool arrangements finished at the end of 2021. From 2021-22 onwards, therefore, these regulations will ensure that the levy rate that applies to the Greater Manchester authorities will be zero, bringing it into line with the levy rate in other 100% retention authorities.

Thirdly, the regulations make a number of changes to deal with the consequences of local government restructuring. When the structure of local government changes, some of the values in the levy and safety net calculations need to change so that they reflect the business rates bases and revenue needs of the new authorities. For the current year, 2021-22, amendments are needed in respect of the newly created authorities of North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire, and for the creation of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority. These changes are made in Regulations 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8, with the updated figures set out in new Schedule 6.

Lastly, the regulations make changes to reflect the exceptional financial support that was made available to authorities in 2020-21 and 2021-22 following Covid. Noble Lords will recall that, in response to Covid, the Government exceptionally waived the business rates bills of the occupiers of eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties and of eligible childcare providers, thereby helping those ratepayers to cope with the financial impact of the lockdowns and restrictions that were put in place to tackle the pandemic. Ratepayers’ bills were reduced by over £11 billion in 2020-21.

We have continued to provide support to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and childcare providers, with an estimated £5.8 billion of relief to be given this financial year. Furthermore, we have recognised the strain on other businesses and have announced an extra £1.5 billion of Covid additional relief funding, to be allocated by local authorities in line with the needs in their local areas.

Of course, this unprecedented reduction in bills, although welcome to ratepayers, has deprived local authorities of a commensurate amount of business rates income. To support the delivery of local services, the Government have therefore compensated local authorities for every pound of business rates income that they have lost as a result of awarding additional reliefs to ratepayers. The compensation, via a grant from central government under Section 31 of the Local Government Act, has been paid up front to authorities to ensure that they had the cash they needed to deliver local services in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The further support, in the form of the £1.5 billion of Covid additional relief fund, will be paid to authorities as soon as possible.

If we did nothing to the 2013 levy and safety net regulations, the loss of income caused by the reduction of ratepayers’ bills and the additional reliefs awarded by authorities would mean that in some cases authorities would receive substantial safety net payments, even though they have already been compensated by means of a Section 31 grant. Therefore, in Regulation 7 we make changes to the 2020-21 and 2021-22 levy and safety net calculations to strip out the impact of income reductions that have been, or will be, compensated via a Section 31 grant. This means that those authorities will not be compensated twice for the same loss of income.

As well as compensating authorities pound for pound for the estimated £18.5 billion of support that we are providing to ratepayers over two years, we have taken further steps to help authorities through a tax income guarantee. Under that guarantee we are providing additional compensation to authorities for losses of business rates or council tax income in 2020-21. For business rates losses over and above those resulting from the reduction in ratepayers’ bills, authorities are being compensated for 75% of the additional loss. But, of course, in the same way as for the Section 31 grants paid to major precepting authorities, we need to change the regulations in 2020-21 to ensure that authorities are not compensated twice for the same loss of income. Regulation 8 and new Schedule 1B change the basis of the calculation of levy and safety net payments to ensure that losses of business rates income do not generate safety net payments if the authority is receiving support through the tax income guarantee.

In conclusion, these regulations make a series of very technical changes to the calculation of levy and safety net payments to ensure that they reflect current circumstances and that authorities will pay or receive the correct levy and safety net payments. I commend them to the Committee.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, I should first remind the Committee that I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association.

In the House of Commons, these amended regulations took just 15 minutes to be explained and approved, and that seems to be because they are appropriate in the circumstances. The revised levy rate for Greater Manchester looks right, since the pool arrangements, as the Minister said, have ceased. It is also right that the restructuring of a few local authorities has been reflected in new, updated figures.

We should support financial relief from business rates for businesses impacted by Covid being fully compensated to local authorities, in line with previous decisions earlier in the pandemic. It is, however, clearly important that the businesses rates retention scheme works as it was intended to. I think it would be wrong to give safety-net payments to some local authorities when they are already compensated by the Government directly, and the proposals on proxy figures for the limited number of 100%-retention authorities seems appropriate.

All the amendments in this statutory instrument today are technical and sensible. But the context is one of a system of business rates that is no longer fit for purpose. It does, however, generate a huge amount of income. I am left wondering what the Government are now thinking about the future of business rates—so anything the Minister can tell us on that would be most welcome.

Finally, I read the comments of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee published on 3 February, and I think the committee was right to raise the issue of whether the public are adequately protected against fraud, given public concern about false claims in other areas of Covid support payments. This is, of course, a relief scheme, and relief schemes are part of normal local authority systems and subject to normal audit systems. However, the Minister might wish to confirm that the Government feel adequately protected, given that it is their money that is helping to fund the cost.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his introduction to this instrument, which, as we have heard, makes various changes to the business rates retention scheme. As we also heard from the Minister, each change is very technical, including amendments to levy and safety-net payments, the restructuring of certain local government areas and the payment by central government of specific grants to local authorities. I will not cover any of the technical detail: the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, amply covered that and asked the questions in these areas that needed to be asked of the Minister, so I will not repeat them.

I will briefly say that Labour supports these changes. However, in the other place when the matter was discussed, some important points were raised about business rates and our high streets. The Minister may remember that yesterday, in the Statement on levelling up, I talked of the need to completely reform and replace the current system of business rates. I appreciate that the terms of the SI before us today are very narrow and that this is not the place to debate that, but I ask the Minister to take our concerns about the current system back to his department. The Government have spoken already about the need to reform the business rates system and have conducted a review, but we have seen little progress to date beyond narrow technical legislation such as that before us today. I encourage the Minister to give his department a nudge. Having said that, we are very happy to support the regulations.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, for their contributions. I thank them both for raising similar issues. While this is a very narrow statutory instrument, it is probably worth saying, thinking about the future business rates is very much a matter for the Treasury. There is a recognition that future business rates need to be thought through. Obviously, there is a review and, self-evidently, there needs to be reform.

Equally, there is the issue alluded to by the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, on what we do about local government in the context of the income for local authorities being council tax and business rates, and business rates fundamentally needing to change to reflect the changing dynamics of our high streets. There is an intellectual debate that can be had about whether we continue to resource equalise, or whether we think about life as a race, whereby we ensure the start line is level and fair and then you get places essentially to compete and, through competition, raise the game. That is an intellectual debate that is entirely proper, not for this statutory instrument, but it one that I like engaging in with people who have a very deep knowledge of local government and care about its future. It is really hard to be fair if you have officials working formulae that only they seem to understand to determine whether a place gets x money or y money. It is job of work that, necessarily, the Secretary of State will be looking at—it is far above my pay grade—but I have been a huge advocate of ensuring that local authorities can be set free to be able to determine their own destinies, rather than being necessarily being always funded from the centre, in the relationship we have today. That is how it has always been, for over 20 years, in my time in local government—but that is not really a matter for today’s debate. I am sure that we will have many debates about this in the Chamber over the coming years.

I have something else on this as well. Local authorities are responsible for the administration of release and provide us with assurance on the use of release. These are not grants but reflect a discount on the liability of a business. Local authorities can take action against any relief that is fraudulent. Does that help the noble Lord, Lord Shipley?

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, that is what it says in the Explanatory Notes. This issue is whether everybody is auditing it very carefully. That was my question really.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

Clearly, we need to ensure there are proper controls in place, both at the local authority level and the Government need to look at it as well. I think that is very wise advice, and we will take that away from this debate.

In conclusion, these regulations are necessary to ensure that the rates retention scheme continues to operate as was intended and that authorities receive the safety-net payments to which they are entitled or make the levy payments due from them. Without these regulations, the amounts paid or received by authorities will be wrong and will impose additional costs on local government as a whole. The regulations ensure that this does not happen, and I hope the Committee will join with me in supporting them.

Building Safety Bill

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

2nd reading
Wednesday 2nd February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

It was the 1970s.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

The 1970s, okay. One of the things it taught you was to really distil your arguments down and to learn things over time. The noble Lord specifically asked whether we could review this on an ongoing basis. I take that suggestion as a very sensible one. Any Government—this Government in particular—need to do things and then see whether they work, review and reflect, and try to take that on board. I do not know whether I have overstepped the mark as a Minister, but I think that is a very sensible suggestion.

We will ensure that we improve competence. One of the things we must recognise is that, to improve competence, which was raised by the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, you need to establish what competence is. That is one of the things we are doing very carefully; it is being done by officials and the shadow building safety regulator. You then have to find out how the accreditation will work, and I know that UKAS and others want to step forward and do that. That will all happen as a result of this Bill.

The noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, gave a really thoughtful speech on something that was new to me, so I appreciate his contribution on cash retention. The Government continue to work with industry on the future of retention payments in the construction industry. However, I am told that there is not a clear consensus as to what may replace the practice, so there is more work to be done. I thank the noble Lord for raising an important issue.

The noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, raised Part 5 and the duty on landlords, and asked whether we were going to cause litigation by setting unreasonable demands on landlords. He also came up with a solution. I really appreciate him raising that issue; leaseholders need as much protection as possible. We are requiring landlords to seek claims only where reasonable, but we note the noble and learned Lord’s suggestions for the guidance, and we will take them on board as we continue with the passage of the Bill.

The noble Baronesses, Lady Jolly and Lady Young of Old Scone, the noble Lord, Lord Jordan, and my noble friends Lady Eaton and Lord Naseby all mentioned the Safer Stairs campaign. As someone who has an elderly father—sadly, my mother did not survive the first wave of Covid—I worry. The thing I worry most about, as someone gets frailer, is staircases. I almost have to declare a personal interest. It is important that we look at staircase standards and recognise how best to achieve that end point, so that new builds have the right level of minimum standard. That does not mean it has to be enshrined as a maximum standard, but we have to work out what we would be proud of as a minimum standard in regulations. I thank noble Lords for raising this issue.

I think it is ironic that one of the sponsors of this campaign is Berkeley homes, because Richmond House, which someone mentioned, is of course a Berkeley build, as is Worcester Park, which really was a shoddy building, although luckily there was no loss of life there. Some developers who normally build good stuff have built things that they should be ashamed of. It is ironic that Berkeley is sponsoring what is a very noble campaign—none the less, I support it.

The noble Lord, Lord Foster, raised electrical safety. I am sure we will work through some of his suggestions—along with pretty much everything else he is interested in—in Committee. I have the briefing and I understand the issue; it is something that we have debated many times.

The noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, raised building safety managers, and I have the note that was prepared by ARMA and IRPM on this. I hear the concerns about cost, and we take those concerns extremely seriously. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and if you are not prescribing how you do it, we do not see why you cannot have a property manager continue to discharge the functions of a building safety manager, going to the expertise only when it is needed. Think of the equivalent in healthcare: you typically go to a GP but see the specialist only when required. I have some sympathy with the issue, but I think that we are not being prescriptive about it, and so it should not be used as an excuse by managing agents to whack up the prices for leaseholders.

I welcome the clear cross-party support from so many noble Lords. There is broad support for the principles set out in a Statement by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in the other place, on 10 January. We will continue to work with your Lordships —even the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy—and by working together we will ensure that homes are safe for future generations. It is a worthy ambition. I commend the Bill to the House.

Building Safety

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 11th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

The noble Earl is right that this is a crisis of epic proportions that has affected hundreds of thousands of leaseholders and has been caused over many decades. I have probably visibly aged while holding this brief, because some of the stories from leaseholders are simply harrowing. That is one reason why I am delighted that the House collectively feels that we are making a big step in the right direction.

I also agree that we should challenge some of the practices that have led to this, such as value engineering, which is essentially a way of cutting corners and trying to inflate profits, often by compromising the integrity of the building. These practices simply must stop. Making the polluter pay and doing so at the individual building level is the way to ensure that the quality of the buildings in future will be far better than what we have seen in the past 30 years in this country.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, the Minister said that this may take time, but what assessment has been undertaken to unlock mortgages, which at the moment are a huge barrier to the sale of properties?

Council Tax: Second Homes

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Thursday 4th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, the Government support the sharing economy, but the noble Lord will be pleased to know that we recognise the concerns about the uneven regulatory requirements in it. In the Tourism Recovery Plan, published in June 2021, we committed to consult on the introduction of a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, the Minister referred to a consultation, but does he accept that every residential property should pay council tax and parish precepts, whether it is a main home, a second home or a holiday let, as a contribution to local services?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I point out that 96% of second homes pay council tax in full, even though they may use local services only on an occasional basis. We believe that, in the sharing economy, where people run businesses and meet the threshold, it is reasonable for them not to pay council tax and to be subject to the business rates regime. No local authority has lost out, because they are covered by various grants in the business rates retention scheme.

Council Tax

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Thursday 22nd July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

Yes, it does. On that basis, grant enables areas with lower council tax bases to receive 16% more in core spending power.

I recognise the point made by the noble Lord about the disparity in valuations between the north and the south, but it is a system that works well to develop the funding that councils need at the moment.

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I refer the House to my registered interests. What consideration will the Government give to the potential benefit of a proportional property tax, as recommended by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee to replace council tax and business rates in its report published earlier this week?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, we have looked at putting on hold the reform of the local government finance system because of the pandemic, and further reforms will be potentially be brought forward as a result of the spending review. I note the idea that the noble Lord raises.

Social Housing

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 24th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I remind the House of my register of interests and beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Minister of State, Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Lord Greenhalgh) (Con)]

We have confirmed £12 billion over the next five years, which will be the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes our new £11.5 billion affordable homes programme; around half of its delivery will be for social and affordable rent. We expect our new programme to deliver around 32,000 social rent homes, double the number of the current programme.

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

I thank the Minister for his reply. House prices have been rising steadily because of demand-side subsidies by the Government for owner-occupation, yet the National Housing Federation estimates that almost 4 million people need the security of a home for social rent because they cannot afford to buy. I ask the Minister whether he thinks that the Government have got their priorities right.

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, of course I think that we have got our priorities right. We are focusing on building homes of all types and tenures. That includes affordable and social rent and, importantly, giving people the opportunity to buy and own their own home.

Building Safety

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 22nd February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I point out that the priority of this Government is to protect leaseholders from facing the costs of the removal of unsafe cladding, whether they are in social sector buildings or in private buildings. Where registered social landlords feel that they need to impose costs on leaseholders, access to grant funding is available as well as the new financing scheme. That protects the leaseholders in those properties, which is the priority of this Government.

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I remind the House that I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association. Those in a flat 19 metres high will have unsafe cladding replaced at no cost, and that is welcome. Those in a flat 17 metres high will have to pay up to £50 a month for an unknown period. Why do the Government think that is fair?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, I pointed out that height is a marker for risk. Those buildings greater than 18 metres are four times more likely to result in a fire-related fatality or someone needing to go to hospital for treatment. Above 30 metres, that rises to 35 times more likely. So the focus needs to be on removing the material that accelerates the spread of fire in buildings that in and of themselves, through height and being of residential use, are at greater risk of causing fatalities.

Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Wednesday 6th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for raising the issue of the high street. There is support through the high streets fund to ensure that our high streets thrive, but they are places where we need to see significant change. As my noble friend points out, a lot of businesses on the high street are struggling to pay their business rates. I think that, in the longer term, the tax base needs to shift. This is not policy, but self-evidently we are seeing online business take a greater share, and those housed in bricks and mortar are struggling to make a go of their businesses.

We need to see a policy shift over time. The Government cannot do that by waving a magic wand, so we need to make sure that there are policy tweaks to support the high street in the interim. There are a lot of measures to do that in those that my right honourable friend Robert Jenrick has announced. More will be coming to support our high streets, which are the very bedrock of local economies.

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I too should remind the House that I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association. The Minister said earlier that the settlement is particularly generous, but the reality is that the Statement means that council tax could rise for council tax payers by up to 5% in April. At the general election just over a year ago, the Conservative Party manifesto promised not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT in this Parliament. The consequence is an increased burden on council tax payers for the sixth year in a row, largely to fund adult social care. Why do the Government force up council tax in this way, well above the rate of inflation?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, all of us who have run local authorities recognise the spending pressures intrinsic to local government, particularly for adult social care but also for social care for children. They form a significant part of any local authority budget, so it is quite right and proper to think about giving the option, as a balancing item, to have the latitude to increase council tax to pay for some of our most needy. The other 2% is very much guidance; it is a balancing item. It is for administrations up and down the country to decide whether they want to increase council tax to achieve the maximum core spending power. That is the situation that we find ourselves in. There is no reduction in grant and significant extra funding to see local councils through the Covid-related pressures. That is a good deal, particularly given the state of our national economy and the rise in national debt.

Housing Delivery Test

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend is right to point to the importance of modern methods of construction, whether they be non-volumetric modular housing, volumetric modular housing or design for manufacturing and assembly. We need to learn from the Victorian era, when they used pattern books and a systematic approach; these will help in these difficult times.

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I remind the House of my interests as set out in the register. Over 100 local planning authorities did not meet their targets in 2019, so is the Minister confident that the targets are accurately set?

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

My Lords, the housing delivery target is based primarily on the housing needs assessment in the local plan. Where the plan is over five years old, we look at the housing needs formula. Only eight councils are below the 45% delivery rate, where a presumption of sustainable development is enforced.

Devolution: England

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Tuesday 28th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I remind the House that I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association.

[The Minister of State, Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Lord Greenhalgh) (Con)]

We intend to publish the local recovery devolution White Paper in the autumn. This will set out our plans for expanding devolution across England, building on the success of our directly elected combined authority mayors. Our plans will involve introducing more elected mayors and giving them and existing mayors the powers that they need to lead economic recovery and long-term growth.

[Lord Shipley [V]]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. Does he agree that one major lesson of the Covid-19 pandemic is that centralised control of England has not worked well? Will he now confirm that the Government are not planning to impose a top-down reorganisation of local government across England but will consult on a system of devolution based on evidence, consent and democratic accountability for local communities and that this will not be a compulsory, standardised and centralised model?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

My Lords, there is no doubt that we share the same ambition to see further decentralisation and devolution over time. This is very much a process. I would not want to pre-empt the White Paper, but we have made a commitment to directly elected mayors as the point of accountability to lead economic recovery.

Covid-19: Local Government Finance

Debate between Lord Shipley and Lord Greenhalgh

Monday 29th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh]

We need to recognise that monthly reports are now provided to the ministry by all local authorities so we can keep track of expenditure. Broadly speaking, the first two tranches, totalling some £3.2 billion, are in line with—or approximately the same as—the money spent to address demand pressures related to Covid-19. In addition, a number of other steps have been taken to deal with cash-flow emergencies and other pressures. As I said in response to the previous question, the definitive financial plan will be made but we will continue to keep close contact with councils.

[Lord Shipley (LD) [V]]

Will the Minister confirm that the Government will not try to push a greater financial burden on to council tax payers to meet the current funding gap, which should be met nationally?

[Lord Greenhalgh]

As we have said, our focus is on covering both the demand pressures and the income deficit and on providing the comprehensive package that will ensure that council tax payers do not face that unnecessary burden.