Brandon Lewis
Main Page: Brandon Lewis (Conservative - Great Yarmouth)(12 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
4. What assessment he has made of the effect on people in employment of plans by local councils to implement the localisation of council tax support.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
An impact assessment is on my Department’s website. These welfare reforms will create stronger incentives for councils to get people back into work and to play a part in clearing the budget deficit.
Stella Creasy
Will the Government give an assessment of how many more working people they expect to borrow from legal loan sharks as a result of these changes?
Brandon Lewis
None; every local authority is responsible for delivering growth in its area. With this plan, we have given local authorities the tools and the power to be part of driving economic growth, getting more people into work and ensuring that work pays.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
I welcome my hon. Friend to his new position. Will he clarify in further detail the guidance to councils that have high numbers of pensioners in their communities?
Brandon Lewis
I thank my hon. Friend. He is right to highlight the issue of pensioners. We are protecting all their current rights.
Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab)
I welcome the Minister to his new post. As councils begin to consult on their schemes, it is clear that poor working families will have to pay between 15% and 30% of council tax, when previously they paid nothing, leaving many with a choice between paying the bill and buying food. Is that what he meant when he said on his blog:
“This government is rewarding those who work”?
Does it not say all we need to know about this Government that they are introducing a tax rise for the poorest working people on the same day that they are introducing a tax cut for millionaires?
Brandon Lewis
The hon. Lady seems to be making a spending commitment of about half a billion pounds. I am not sure whether that has been approved by the shadow Chancellor. We are ensuring that local authorities have real choices over how they manage the reduction. They can look at a range of areas, including providing more efficient services to the front line. We are looking to ensure that local authorities play their part in economic growth and in getting more people into work in their communities.
Helen Jones
If the Minister will not listen to us, perhaps he will listen to his own Tory councillors. Surrey councillors say that the scheme penalises claimants who go out to work. The Secretary of State’s county council says that it has major implications for some of the most vulnerable members of the community; the Foreign Secretary’s council says that the scheme is unfair; and the Prime Minister’s council thinks it is so bad that it is refusing to implement it at all. Is that not because they know that this is Pickles’s poll tax and it is heading for disaster?
Brandon Lewis
The simple fact is that the scheme is giving local authorities the power to have local decision making over their budgets. Through the consultation, we will see a range of different options, which we will receive towards the end of this month. The scheme is making local councils part of their economic growth programmes, so that we see more people into work and ensure that it always pays to work.
Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)
5. What steps his Department is taking to support first-time buyers.
David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con)
9. What the average change was in band D council tax between 1997-98 and 2009-10.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
The average change in band D council tax between 1997-98 and 2009-10 was 105%.
David Morris
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his new position. Does he agree that this enormous increase in council tax has not yet corresponded with improvements in services under previous Governments? Is that not just another example of an inefficient Labour Government heaping taxes on people yet giving them very little in return?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend is correct to say that this is one of the taxes that the previous Government forced up while still running up record debts and deficit for this country. I am pleased to say that over the last couple of years, this Government have overseen council tax freezes that have led to a fall of 4.4% in real terms.
Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)
Surely the Minister will have noticed the difference. Under the last Government, the poorest people of working age paid lower increases in council tax because of the operation of the council tax benefit system. Under this Government, the poorest people of working age will pay the highest increases in council tax because of this Government’s changes to the council tax benefit system. How can the Minister possibly describe this Pickles tax as fair?
Brandon Lewis
Under the previous Government, welfare under the council tax benefit system rose from £2 billion to almost £4.5 billion—more than the amount spent on health, education and defence. It was right to do something about that and to fix the economic mess left by the previous Government.
Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)
12. What steps he is taking to assist local authorities to make provision for children's outdoor play facilities.
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)
16. What recent representations he has received from local authorities on his plans for the localisation of council tax benefit.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
Earlier this year the Government consulted on funding distribution, and we are currently consulting on arrangements for local precepting authorities. We intend to respond to the outcome of both consultations in the autumn.
Kate Green
(Stretford and Urmston) (Lab): According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, nearly 50% of adults receiving council tax benefit are also receiving a disability-related benefit. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that councils take account of the public sector equality duty in devising localised systems?
Brandon Lewis
The Government have given some guidelines to local authorities. I shall be happy to provide the hon. Lady with a copy, but obviously we are ensuring that local authorities have the power to decide locally what is right for their communities.
Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)
Can the Minister reassure me that under the localisation plans, old-age pensioners will be protected from any discount or other changed arrangement involving their council tax benefit?
Chris Williamson (Derby North) (Lab)
I welcome the Minister to his post. I am sure he is aware that local government leaders say that this policy is inefficient, bureaucratic, unjust and unworkable, and I can confirm that many are referring to it as “Pickles’s poll tax”. The Conservative chairman of the Local Government Association has said that councils
“can either cease helping the working poor, or continue to support them by taking money from other services or putting up council tax.”
What does the Minister think councils should do?
Brandon Lewis
I think it important for councils to realise that they are part of the economy of their area, to do what they can to inspire economic growth in order to get more people into work, and to make decisions for their local communities that are right for those communities.
David Mowat (Warrington South) (Con)
17. What assessment he has made of the potential benefits of the new homes bonus to Warrington.
Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse) (Lab)
T3. I welcome the new fire services Minister to his place. He follows a class act in that role—the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill). Will the new Minister reassure us that he will continue the good work being done with the Department for Education to reduce the number of fires in schools and, specifically, to promote the introduction of fire sprinklers in new schools and their retrofitting in old ones?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words, and I fully endorse his comments about my predecessor, who did an excellent job. I am fortunate to follow in the footsteps of someone who did such great work in moving this issue forward. The hon. Gentleman rightly says that education about fire and fire safety is hugely important, and it is an area in which I intend to continue the good work of his good self and my predecessor.
Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)
T7. Does the Housing Minister agree not only that Firstbuy has enabled 16,500 more first-time buyers to own a home but that it underlines our commitment to the aspiration to home ownership—an aspiration that the Labour party, when in government, treated with total contempt?
Mr Iain Wright (Hartlepool) (Lab)
T6. Hartlepool borough council derives 17% of its business rates from a single company—the nuclear power station. From April 2013, the safety net threshold will be insufficient to match the financial risk, which will increase as the station comes to the end of its operational life. Will the Secretary of State look at the issue urgently to ensure that Hartlepool does not yet again miss out financially?
Mr John Leech (Manchester, Withington) (LD)
The Secretary of State has already assured the House that additional permitted development rights for home owners will be restricted in conservation and other sensitive areas. Can he assure me that sensitive areas will include those subject to article 4 directions, and also those where family housing has come under attack from insensitive over-development of houses in multiple occupation?