Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Damian Hinds and Lord Pickles
Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)
9. What recent guidance he has given to councils on delivering savings in local government.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)
I published “50 ways to save”, a practical guide for councils, which describes how they can make the most of their budgets to deliver savings, protect front-line services and keep council tax down.
Damian Hinds
East Hampshire district council has saved more than £5 million since 2010 by joining forces with Havant borough council and establishing a joint senior management team. What other such opportunities might exist elsewhere and what guidance has been given?
Mr Pickles
I commend East Hampshire and Havant councils for their excellent work together. To be frank, this is the future, whether we are talking about a relatively small district, a county or a unitary authority. It makes sense to work together on joint procurement, joint use of offices and shared services. That is probably one of the reasons why the recent BBC ICM poll shows that in many areas resident satisfaction in services such as rubbish collection, schools and libraries is improving.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Damian Hinds and Lord Pickles
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)
I refer my hon. Friend to my earlier answer on the problems of Travellers. I certainly look forward to what he has to say.
Damian Hinds
My constituents believe that everyone should be treated equally before the law, and they will welcome the news that councils are to get greater freedom to move quickly to prevent long-drawn-out stalemates such as the one at Dale Farm. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that his policy will result in a return to fairness in the planning system, unlike the policies of the Labour Government, which turned a blind eye to unauthorised development?
Mr Pickles
My hon. Friend is right. Dale Farm was a stain against the reputation of the planning system. We must never allow something like that to happen again. We have gone about this in a systematic way, trying to get a good balance to ensure that funds are readily available for authorities that wish to provide or should provide Traveller sites, but that resources and laws are there to ensure that those who wish to defy the law can be dealt with expeditiously—unlike what happened at Dale Farm.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Damian Hinds and Lord Pickles(12 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)
19. What steps he plans to take to tackle the problems of the most troubled families.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)
In December, the Prime Minister announced a £448 million programme to turn around the lives of 120,000 troubled families. So far, more than 95% of upper-tier local authorities have engaged with the programme. Local authorities have begun to recruit a local troubled families co-ordinator, and to pull together their own list of local troubled families. We have also been able to offer each area £20,000 to help it to prepare for the programme.
Damian Hinds
Some 55,000 of the 120,000 most-troubled families have children with behavioural problems. How will the work being done to deal with problems such as serial truancy dovetail with other initiatives dealing with parenting and early intervention?
Mr Pickles
Probably about 65% of those 55,000 cases involve truancy issues, while others involve criminal convictions and special educational needs. The purpose of this initiative is to pull all the various interventions and programmes together so that we can, at last, tackle these issues. I have found from talking to council leaders of all political parties that we all recognise that we must solve these problems, and this is our big chance to work together to do so.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Damian Hinds and Lord Pickles
Mr Pickles
My own local authority is considering similar measures, and providing that that is done at a reasonable time, in the early hours of the morning, it is a sensible move towards greening our provision. However, in places where there are difficulties with crime, I would expect local consultation to take place.
Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)
T6. Can the Minister give an update on the expected timing of a further announcement on the proposed eco-town at Bordon, and does he agree that there should be a local referendum before any large-scale development there takes place?