Devolution in England

Debate between Annette Brooke and Kris Hopkins

Monday 2nd March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Kris Hopkins]

As I understand it, the accountability for the spend of that money will remain with the NHS and it will be a negotiated position with the local authority. As has been said, the key thing is that the money associated with social services will be driven and directed by local government, but the idea that local authorities, the NHS and the clinical commissioning group come together and shape the services required for their local people is a major step forward. The better care fund has been a path to some of this, but this step itself is fundamental.

I would like to point out some of the things that we have achieved. We have abolished the inspection regime and targets for councils. That regime was extremely costly and imposed huge burdens on local authorities. We have reduced ring-fencing for councils and have created new community rights, giving local people a greater say in shaping their community. We have enabled more decisions about social housing to be taken locally, making the system fairer and more effective, and we have reformed the planning system to cut red tape and interference from central Government, shifting the focus for local authorities to report to their local communities. Through neighbourhood planning, we have helped local people to play a strong role in shaping the areas in which they live and work and in supporting local development proposals.

We have also taken more ambitious steps through growth deals and recent devolution deals further to incentivise local leadership and growth. Some 28 city deals have been negotiated with the largest and fastest-growing cities and their wider functional economic areas outside of London. We should also recognise that 39 local enterprise partnerships will have £12 billion of local growth funding devolved to them over the next five years, with £6 billion having been agreed under the first wave. They are having a direct impact. They are locally led and locally driven, with local people making choices about where the money should be spent—on better roads and public transport, greater support for local businesses to train young people and enhance skills, faster broadband and more homes.

[Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I wholeheartedly agree with the Minister about the benefit the growth funds are bringing to LEPs, but does he share my desire that there should be more democratic accountability for the spending of all this money?

[Kris Hopkins]

LEPs are a partnership between the local authorities and the business leaders who sit inside those groups, and it is up to them to negotiate that position and drive out the delivery of those services. I am confident that these emerging relationships—some of them are very strong at the moment; some still have a way to go—are giving a massive return on the limited amount of money we have to spend as a consequence of the economic situation we found ourselves in.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Annette Brooke and Kris Hopkins

Tuesday 10th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Kris Hopkins]

Although I live in a large metropolitan district, I also represent a significant rural area, and I know that many single elderly people live in large houses. That is another form of deprivation, in that they must sustain those houses on limited and fixed incomes.

1 urge all councils to protect taxpayers this year by taking the additional Government funding that is on offer for a freeze. That will enable them to help hard-working households and those on fixed incomes, such as pensioners, with their living costs. The tax-freeze grant will be embedded in councils’ baseline funding. Five successive years of freeze funding have seen council tax in England fall by 11% in real terms since 2010, after being doubled by the last Administration. Our actions will save for the average Band D household up to £1,075 over the course of this Parliament.

[Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

I welcome the extra funds that will help people to be moved from hospital into the community or to other forms of care, but what is the rationale for ring-fencing that pot of money and not ring-fencing the local welfare assistance money?

[Kris Hopkins]

The additional £37 million is specifically to address some of the winter pressures we face. We wanted to make sure that local councils work with authorities to address the particular needs of those individuals we wanted to help move into appropriate accommodation, and make sure there was sufficient and appropriate domiciliary care to look after them. That is why it is targeted around that group.

Local Government Finance

Debate between Annette Brooke and Kris Hopkins

Thursday 18th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Kris Hopkins]

In the few years I have been in this House, I have always held the hon. Gentleman in high respect. But it is shameful to say that I or my colleagues would go out of our way to pursue the most vulnerable. We want to preserve and protect those most vulnerable people, which is why we have given local councils the opportunity to make choices about how they spend their money.

[Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

On local welfare assistance schemes, will the Minister clarify whether any extra money is being given to councils to provide those services? In the event of no ring-fencing and no monitoring, will he confirm how a family in crisis through no fault of their own will cope on a Friday afternoon if their council says, “No, we are not providing anything”?

[Kris Hopkins]

There is no additional money in this. I said in the statement that if, during the consultation process, a local authority or interested party wants to write to us about additional moneys over and above those noted in the Budget, we will consider its contribution in our final consideration of the settlement. In devolving powers to local authorities and enabling them to make choices, local authorities need to be transparent and open about the choices they make. My right hon. Friend says that there are people who need support. We have identified the money so that people will know what money has gone into a local council historically and been used in that area. I challenge local people to make sure that those authorities make the right choice to protect those individuals in need.