Local Government Finance Bill

Eric Ollerenshaw Excerpts

Wednesday 18th January 2012 Commons Chamber

I will cite another example given to the Communities and Local Government Committee when it considered the matter. When the mayor of Newham was challenged over this cycle of deprivation and investment, he said, “We’d love to be out of the cycle of deprivation. Just not yet. We need another 25 years of money coming in from the Government to enable Newham to grow and develop.” But despite the huge investment—because of the Olympics and investment from Governments of different persuasions—it remains one of the most deprived areas in London and the country. My hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw), who used to lead Hackney council, will attest to the fact that every year in Hackney the local authority was required to identify areas of deprivation and amplify them so that it could appeal to the Government for yet more funding.

[Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making an important point. Was not one problem that there was almost an incentive for a whole band of an officer class to prove deprivation rather than an incentive to prove and create success? That is how we ended up in this appalling game in London of trying to prove who was the poorest borough.

[Bob Blackman]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. I return to my central argument, which is that there was a perverse incentive for deprivation to continue. Here, in the Bill, we are taking the first step—it is not perfect by any means—towards saying, “Instead of failure, success will be rewarded.” That is the approach that we seek to take, and it is the right approach to take.

I ask the Minister to consider two final points. First, there is concern about how the scheme will be administered and about its fairness and transparency. It is right that we consider the elements of the scheme and undertake to conduct a review to ensure that it is working appropriately, fairly and transparently, so that not only the House but every local authority in the county can say, “Yes, this system works.”