Brandon Lewis
Main Page: Brandon Lewis (Conservative - Great Yarmouth)
Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)
6. What assessment he has made of the effects of the local government finance settlement on local authority services for families with young children.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
Every part of the public sector has to do its bit to pay off Labour’s record deficit. We have been clear that councils should make sensible savings, and not take the lazy option of cutting front-line services. That is why we have protected the early intervention grant of £2.5 billion —up £100 million for 2014-15.
Sarah Champion
What does the Minister suggest that I say to my constituents who face an additional monthly bill of £160 for child care, following his local government finance cuts to Rotherham that are forcing Sure Starts to close?
Brandon Lewis
I would say to the hon. Lady that apart from the fact that, at the end of November 2013, there were 3,055 children’s centres and 501 additional sites open to families and children—providing children’s centre services as part of the network—local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that they have sufficient children’s centres to meet local need. It is quite right that she keeps the pressure on her council to be sensible about the savings it makes, and to make sure that it puts money into the right front-line services, and does not waste it in useless bureaucracy and management.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)
Given that a quarter of all Government expenditure is delivered via local government, does my hon. Friend agree that it is important—indeed, essential—for local councils to play their part in reducing the huge deficit we inherited from the previous Labour Government?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a very fair point. Councils should look to curtail the £2 billion of fraud and error in the system, and the £2 billion of uncollected council tax, to make sure that they are able to provide the front-line services that residents rightly deserve.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
Does the Minister agree that the problem is not only half-empty and understaffed children’s centres, but the fact that children’s services in charge of child protection are not able to fulfil that function fully enough?
Brandon Lewis
Again, I would say to the hon. Gentleman that if the local authority in his area is making bad decisions about where its funding goes, he should put pressure on it, and I am very happy to help him to do so.
Stephen Mosley (City of Chester) (Con)
Cheshire West and Chester’s adoption and fostering services have recently been rated the best in the north-west. The council has achieved that by working and combining resources with two Labour councils, Halton and Knowsley. Does that not show that if councils work together to reduce costs, they can improve services as well?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend gives a very good example not just of cross-party work, but of bringing different agencies and authorities together with the kind of shared, structural approach that delivers a much better service for less. That is exactly what residents want, and it is the right way to spend taxpayers’ money.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
7. What steps he is taking to help local shops and firms with their business rate bills.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
At the end of last year, the Government announced a £1 billion business rates support package, which includes a £1,000 discount for smaller shops, pubs and restaurants, and a 50% discount for businesses taking on long-term empty shops, and which doubles small business relief for another year, helping just over 500,000 small businesses.
Charlie Elphicke
What help does the Minister think the £1,000 cut in business rates will provide to Deal in my constituency? As he knows, Deal was recently named as having the high street of the year.
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend is quite right. I enjoyed visiting Deal recently to see the success that it has made of its high street, with small independent shops working together with the town council and the local authority. The £1,000 discount will be important, particularly to those small independent shops, and it comes on top of the national insurance benefit that they will get from April. That means that they will have a lower cost line and therefore be able to take more income that they can use to reinvest and, I hope, to employ more people, and so see Deal go from strength to strength.
Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)
The reality is that, despite what the Minister says, business rates have risen by £1,500 on average since the last election and are due to rise by a further £270. It is the straw that is breaking the back of many local businesses. When will he really do something about it, instead of just bluster?
Brandon Lewis
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, because it allows me just gently to remind him that, under the Labour Government, I do not remember any Opposition Members looking completely to review business rates or to do something about them—unlike this Government, who have just announced a £1 billion package, particularly to help businesses in and around our high streets to go from strength to strength, because we care about our high streets and the communities they serve.
Mr Nick Raynsford (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)
8. What representations he has received in support of the case for making the installation of smoke alarms mandatory in all privately rented accommodation. [R]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
Fire and rescue authorities are best placed to assess and manage their services. They do that through integrated risk management planning. Thankfully, fire and rescue authorities now attend 46% fewer incidents than 10 years ago. They are certainly in the position to best allocate their resources according to local risk.
Tom Blenkinsop
The number of fire calls to Cleveland fire brigade has risen by more than 54% in the past year and the number of deliberate fires has increased by almost 60% from 1,390 in 2012-13 to more than 2,200 in 2013-14. Does the Minister agree that the Department’s cuts, with £4 million cut so far and a further £5.96 million to come, to one of the most high-risk fire authorities in England are hindering the brigade’s ability not only to respond, but to prevent fire-related incidents?
Brandon Lewis
I do not agree with that comment at all. Putting aside the fact that fire authorities were protected from cuts in the first couple of years, it is interesting that the hon. Gentleman makes that comment about Cleveland which, despite his claims, has managed to almost double its reserves over the past couple of years. Perhaps it should spend more of that money on front-line services.
Natascha Engel
The unfair local government funding formula means that counties such as Derbyshire are disproportionately affected by the Government’s cuts. Will the Minister look again at funding for rural authorities to ensure that Derbyshire’s excellent fire and rescue service will not be jeopardised, and can continue to save lives?
Brandon Lewis
The settlement this year was fair to rural and urban authorities, and we had a strong debate on that in the House. The Government have put an extra £11.5 million into supporting rural areas. The hon. Lady’s fire authority has managed to increase reserves by £3 million in the last couple of years, so clearly it is finding that it has enough funds.
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
The Minister will know of the disquiet about the decision of Cambridgeshire fire and rescue service to make its chief fire officer redundant and then to reappoint him almost immediately. Will he assure the House that he will issue robust guidelines to ensure that such practices are not repeated?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a fair point. As he knows, I have written to Cambridgeshire fire and rescue service. The road it has gone down is questionable with the level of cost for the chief fire officer, but it must make those decisions locally. The Government have made their position clear, and I will soon respond more widely to the issues as part of our response to the Knight review.
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD)
Two years ago, Wiltshire fire and rescue service was given the opportunity to raise an extra 10p per week per household in the local council tax and it was one of the lowest cost fire services to council tax payers. It is even proposing to merge its back office with that of Dorset fire service, such is its commitment. That being the case, can the Minister find a way to repeat the invitation to Wiltshire fire and rescue service so that it can protect front-line fire and rescue services, which have been hard at work during the recent floods?
Brandon Lewis
The fire authority, with many others, has done great work during the floods both locally and with mutual aid. We should all be grateful to them for that work. In terms of the de minimis, we did that last year. It was not put in place this year, but obviously we review such matters annually.
Lyn Brown (West Ham) (Lab)
Excluding London, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester fire and rescue services are experiencing the worst cuts despite having the highest number of incidents. Will the Minister assure me and the House that there will be no impact on response times?
Brandon Lewis
Local decisions on the application of budget usage are made by local fire chiefs. When the hon. Lady looks at those authorities, she should also look at their spending powers. We find that areas with most need have the highest spending power.
Lyn Brown
I note that the Minister did not answer the question. The Chief Fire Officers Association says that the cuts will have a profound impact on operational response. The Minister’s policy encourages a significant increase in the number of retained firefighters. He will know, as will the House, that despite the fact that retained firefighters do an excellent job, they do not sit in a fire station waiting for an emergency call. I will give the Minister another chance to answer and to tell the House what assessment he has made of the impact of his cuts and his policies on response times.
Brandon Lewis
I appreciate the hon. Lady’s comments about the retained fire service. She should be aware that they do a phenomenal service throughout the country. In many areas they are the bulk of the service, and during the recent strikes—I note that she did not ask the Fire Brigades Union not to strike, nor did she condemn it—they were the backbone of keeping this country safe. They have done a super job. We are all in the fortunate position of seeing fire response times reacting; call-outs are falling to their lowest level for 10 years because of the service’s great prevention work. The fire service’s key work is prevention so that it does not need to respond in the first place.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
Will the Government consider putting the flood and rescue work of fire crews on a statutory basis, and will he thank them for their excellent work in the recent winter floods? I recall the young man who died of hypothermia in the Hull floods in 2007 because none of the emergency services had the requisite cutting equipment to free him.
Brandon Lewis
The current legislation recognises the fire sector’s response to flood work. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and the 2012 fire and rescue national framework detail the role and powers of fire and rescue authorities in respect of emergency response and rescue, including flooding. My discussions with fire chiefs have revealed that that is what they are happy with; they like the current situation.
Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)
10. What guidance he has issued to local authorities on prioritising (a) members of the armed forces and (b) local residents for social housing; and if he will make a statement.
Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
12. What assessment he has made of the effect of the local government finance settlement on council services in Liverpool.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
Councils must continue to play their part in tackling Labour’s budget deficit. Liverpool will have a spending power per dwelling of £2,595 per household, some £500 more than the average for England.
Steve Rotheram
So no real assessment, and certainly no cumulative impact assessment. Has the Minister seen today’s Liverpool Echo, which highlights the human cost of the Government’s 52% cut to our city’s budget? With a further £156 million of savings to find, will the Minister say what exactly he believes will be left to cut?
Brandon Lewis
I suggest that the hon. Gentleman goes back to Mayor Anderson in Liverpool and reminds him that he should be using his £136.5 million of reserves properly, and collecting uncollected council tax that currently costs every tax-paying household in Liverpool £500. Perhaps the mayor should also address the fact that he spends a quarter of his net budget on cultural events, including £650 a day on a Labour spin doctor, a £90,000 car, and £2 million on Beatles memorabilia now worth £300,000.
Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)
14. What assessment he has made of the level of rent arrears in social housing.
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
T7. Residents, constituents and firefighters from across Newcastle are writing to me shocked and angered by the proposed closure of Gosforth fire station. Before the Prime Minister was elected to office, he promised that front-line services would not be impacted, but this Government are cutting Tyne and Wear fire authority’s budget by 23% by 2017. How on earth does the Secretary of State believe it can lose a quarter of its funding without that having an impact on front-line services?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
This body has had a cut of a couple of per cent. in spending power for each of the past couple of years, and has built up its reserves and been able to spend that on extra training facilities when the Government already have a training facility. The hon. Lady should put pressure on that fire chief to make sure he is making his decisions based on local risk. The local risk decision is one that only the local fire service can make.
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
My constituents in Shipley are sick to the back teeth of Labour-run Bradford council imposing decisions on them against their wishes and their interests, particularly in planning. It is perfectly clear that the council cares only about its heartlands in Bradford, rather than Shipley. My neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Kris Hopkins) is, helpfully, now a Minister in the Department. Not long ago, he said that we should look at having a local authority for just the Keighley and Shipley constituencies, thus taking us out of the Bradford district. I agree with that, and I am sure my constituents do wholeheartedly, so how can we make progress on that, particularly given his elevated position?
Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)
Does the Minister accept that a basis for funding fire services that does not take into account the specific risks in an area such as Cleveland, which has the highest concentration of COMAH—control of major accident hazards—sites, means that the funding settlement is neither fair nor safe?
Brandon Lewis
No, I would not agree with that. Local risk is something that local fire chiefs will base their budget plans on, and those will be approved by the fire authority. Again, I remind the hon. Gentleman that Cleveland’s fire authority cannot be short of money because it has managed to increase its reserves in the past couple of years.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
Residents in the village of Eastry in my constituency are concerned about an unauthorised Travellers’ development that has just appeared. What actions can councils take on the matter, and can their powers be strengthened?
Brandon Lewis
Obviously, the local council should be looking through its local plan, if it has one. The policies were published last August, with a guide to local authorities about their powers. I encourage them to use them, as they are simple and clear for both residents and councillors. I am also happy to meet my hon. Friend if he wishes to have a further conversation on this.