Local Government Reorganisation Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Florence Eshalomi
Main Page: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)Department Debates - View all Florence Eshalomi's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Local Government Reorganisation
Florence Eshalomi Excerpts(4 weeks, 2 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Mr Speaker
Order. There is no point in taking everybody. This urgent question is going to be brief, because we are going to do this again on Thursday, when we will have all the facts before us. If I had been told this earlier, this would not have happened. I call the Chair of the Select Committee.
Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)
I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Braintree (Sir James Cleverly) for securing this urgent question. Local government reform is complex, involving more than 200 councils that deliver services to millions of residents right across the country. My hon. Friend the Minister is very capable, but local government is raising real concerns. Is she aware of the comments of the new chair of the Local Government Association, Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, who said that the LGA had
“not previously taken a position on LGR”,
but that it is
“hearing from…councils…about real delivery concerns”?
We have looked at this issue on the Select Committee, and have raised concerns about standards in the housing sector, ability to deliver measures, such as those rightly in the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and enforcement. The LGA raised six concerns. It said that the reforms were trying to do too much, too quickly, with too little. That poses a real challenge when it comes to the vital council services that residents need. Will the Minister ensure that the LGA’s concerns are heard across Government, and that reorganisation will never take resources away from the critical frontline services, including adult social care and children’s social care, that so many of our residents rely on?