Council Tax

Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Lord Clark of Windermere

Wednesday 15th September 2021 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

The Government recognise that authorities have differing abilities to generate income from council tax, and the settlement methodology takes these into account when allocating funding. The Government have used grant funding to equalise against the adult social care precept since its introduction. Funding baselines for every authority, whether up north or down south, are determined by an assessment of the relative needs of areas, including measures of deprivation. Indeed, councils in the most deprived areas of the country receive 16% more in core spending power than in the least deprived areas.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, throughout Cumbria, whether in Barrow, Carlisle, Kendal or the many households in the villages in between, householders feel aggrieved that because of the national framework they are forced to pay more council tax than luxury houses in London. Even the Government must accept that it is grossly unfair. When do they intend to take one small step towards alleviating the problem and help levelling up in Britain?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

I am sure the noble Lord is aware of the support that is given. Following the spending review in 2020, local authorities’ core spending power is estimated to have increased by 4.6% in cash terms in 2021-22. This follows the largest real-terms increase in core spending power for a decade at the spending review in 2019. Local authorities, including the ones he mentioned, will have access to £2.2 billion of additional funding in 2021-22 to invest in public services.

Covid-19: Ireland

Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Lord Clark of Windermere

Wednesday 20th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Lord is absolutely right. Having clear co-operation on Covid-19 is incredibly important. The UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government share the goal of working together to ensure that we take complementary measures to safeguard the health and well-being of UK and Irish citizens.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

As noble Lords are aware, between Great Britain and Ireland lies the self-governing British Crown dependency of the Isle of Man. Although its Parliament has total responsibility for Covid-19 matters, will the Minister bear in mind the island’s interests in any relevant joint discussions?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

Yes, absolutely. I will take that back to the department. The Isle of Man is part of the common travel area, so we should bear in mind its interests in relation to Ireland and Northern Ireland in tackling this dreadful virus, and we do.

Tourism

Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Lord Clark of Windermere

Wednesday 23rd May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

Yes, I am aware, from the many questions that my noble friend has asked in the House. I think that my noble friend Lord Young would probably agree with that, so we are certainly aware of that issue.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister appreciate that in some of our national parks, the problem of tourism is actually how to manage the number of visitors? For example, in the Lake District National Park last year we had 19 million visitors; this year, it is likely to be over 20 million, all of whom have to travel by road. Will the Minister look at the possibility of dusting down the plans for a light railway from Windermere to Keswick?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

I think the noble Lord raised a similar question about a week ago on the subject of routes into the Lake District. I am not going to repeat the answer given by my noble friend Lord Ashton but I will say that we are very aware of the need to transport tourists to and from important areas within the UK, including the Lake District, quickly and safely.

NHS: US Companies

Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Lord Clark of Windermere

Thursday 22nd March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister concede that American companies are already playing a big part in the running of the NHS? Is he aware of the Written Answer given to me by the noble Lord, Lord O’Shaughnessy, last October, which, talking about one of the three companies that oversee the supply of agency nurses used by every trust in the UK, stated:

“We can confirm that Health Trust Europe”—


one of the three—

“is owned by Health Care America and is a privately owned company”.

Will the Minister not come clean and tell us what part American companies play in running the NHS?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

I do not think there is anything to come clean about, because I have already reassured the House that no privatisations will take place, and there is no privatisation in place now. The Government’s position is that the NHS is now, and always will be, a public service free at the point of need, and that it is not, and never will be, for sale to the private sector, whether overseas or domestic. No trade agreements will ever alter these fundamental facts.

Universities: European Union Students

Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Lord Clark of Windermere

Wednesday 15th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Baroness makes a good point. These are reassurances that we are looking to give, and I reassure her further that we are maintaining our dialogue with the sector about the risks and the opportunities that Brexit presents. Jo Johnson, the Minister for Universities, has established a high-level stakeholder working group on the EU exit for universities, research and innovation.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Viscount will be aware that the regulations abolishing the bursary system for nurses in the UK, including places for students from the European Union, have been laid on the Table of this House. The first indication is that there is a 23% fall in applications, and, on the specialist courses, that the number of applications from European Union countries is down by 95%. If by the following year these figures prove to be as dismal as they seem, will the Government promise that they will look again at the whole bursary scheme for nurses?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Lord is correct on the figures. They are somewhat as expected. Data published by UCAS for nursing applications from English domiciled applicants show a dip of around 23%, so he is correct. However, at a national level, these figures will still allow the NHS in England to fill the 20,000 or so student nursing training places, assuming that students meet the entry requirements of their offer from their course provider.

Technical Education and Apprenticeships

Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Lord Clark of Windermere

Wednesday 7th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

Will the Minister advise the House of the Government’s latest thinking on introducing apprenticeships for fully qualified nurses? What discussions have the Government had with universities that currently provide degree qualifications for all qualified nurses?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

I may need to write to the noble Lord. The only answer I can give now with regard to the nursing profession is that health and science is an important part of the 15 new technical routes. There are five different routes one can go down. This was part of the Sainsbury review.