Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Steve Rotheram
Brandon Lewis
I am afraid that the hon. Lady has got the planning process slightly wrong. Obviously local authorities in all circumstances have a say in planning, which is a quasi-judicial process. Planning applications go through local authorities. As I have said, there is no need for a statutory rule, because it is in authorities’ own best interests to have local plans, which mean local involvement and local decisions about what development should be allowed and where it should be allowed to take place. If there is no local plan, those matters will fall within the national planning policy framework.
Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
6. What assessment he has made of the effect of his Department’s demand for a repayment from Social Enterprise North West on local businesses and services in the North West of England.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Steve Rotheram
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.
Local Government Finance
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Steve RotheramUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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Brandon Lewis
I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s local authority will want to come to talk to me during the consultation process. If it looks at authorities such as Hammersmith and Fulham—and, indeed, the whole tri-borough area—it will see the hundreds of millions of pounds-worth of savings that can be made to ensure that it provides great front-line services.
Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)
It is farcical for the Minister to try to spin this as a good day for local government. There will certainly be no parties in the city of Liverpool today. We are struggling to meet our statutory duties, after the 62% cut that this Government have imposed on us, and there are no discretionary pots left. If the Minister and his Secretary of State do not believe me, I will offer them a first-class ticket to come to Liverpool and look at the books, and ask them to tell us where they believe we can cut further.
Brandon Lewis
I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s offer, but we do not tend to travel first class in our Department. We protect the taxpayer’s money. I have met the mayor of Liverpool, and obviously—
Mr Speaker
Order. The financial generosity of the hon. Gentleman is duly noted, but it is somewhat unparliamentary for him to chunter from a sedentary position—[Interruption.] Order. His point has been heard—[Interruption.] Order. I was being good-humoured towards the hon. Gentleman, but I am sorry that he is not showing good humour in the festive season. [Interruption.] Order. I am not debating the point with the hon. Gentleman; I am simply telling him what the situation is. He has asked his question, and he must now have the courtesy to listen to the response. He can make his own evaluation of that response, of course.
Local Government Funding
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Steve Rotheram
Steve Rotheram
I thank my hon. Friend for those comments. Having been a bricklayer and an apprentice, I know the construction sector all too well. I once described myself as the only bricklayer in Parliament; unfortunately, one of my colleagues, who is not present, also did an apprenticeship but he was not indentured, so I can still legitimately claim to be the only indentured bricklayer in the House of Commons.
In addition to the statistics I have quoted and the bodies I have mentioned, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies has noted that the areas most at risk are those with relatively few private sector jobs, high levels of unemployment, poor transport links and high vulnerability to national public sector job losses.
Brandon Lewis
The hon. Member for Blackpool South (Mr Marsden) made some comments about coastal towns, and my constituency fits that bill. When Labour came to power, Great Yarmouth had a couple of the most deprived wards in the country and they were still in the handful of most deprived wards when it left power. Surely the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Steve Rotheram) must agree that it is time to try something different.
Steve Rotheram
I would love to ask the people of Great Yarmouth whether they would like some money with strings or no money at all. I think they would rather have money with strings than what you are proposing—cuts across the board. [Interruption.] That is about local authority spending, not how much money you get. You cannot have it both ways.