Oral Answers to Questions

Edward Argar Excerpts

Monday 12th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

It is a good question, and probably one for a symposium with everyone from developers to planners. The reality is that we want to see a stabilisation in house prices. We need to build more homes and deal with some of the demand issues that have been raised. There is no single answer; we have to yank every lever at our disposal 20% or 30% harder.

[Edward Argar (Charnwood) (Con)]

14. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s support for local government.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Jake Berry)]

The 2018-19 settlement sees a real-terms increase in resources for local government over the next two years, increasing from £44.3 billion to £45.6 billion.

[Edward Argar]

My hon. Friend will be aware that under Governments of both parties, Leicestershire has had one of the lowest per head of population funding settlements in the country. Will he ensure that as the new funding system is consulted on and brought in, it addresses this issue and provides fair funding for Leicestershire, alongside his Department continuing to support our councils in driving further efficiencies and service improvements?

[Jake Berry]

In particular for Leicestershire but for all councils, there could be no better champion than my hon. Friend of fairer funding for the many councils, not the few. This evidence-based review will provide an opportunity for more accurate funding allocations for Leicestershire and other councils.