European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill

Debate between George Howarth and Brandon Lewis

Committee stage & Committee: 1st sitting: House of Commons & Committee: 1st sitting
Tuesday 7th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Sir George Howarth)]

Order. I draw Members’ attention to the fact that interventions should be brief and to the point. I am not necessarily saying the hon. Gentleman’s was not, but for further reference I think that advice should be taken.

[Brandon Lewis]

Thank you, Sir George. As my right hon. and hon. Friends will outline, we are working with our colleagues and friends around Europe, and they are all very happy with the scheme. In fact, as I will come to in a few moments, our scheme is far more generous than what many countries around Europe offer to UK citizens. I hope that will change, but this programme does deliver—I will come to some specifics in further clauses, but I am sticking to the clauses that are before us today. It is delivering a scheme that, as I say, has had over 2.8 million applications already, and nearly 2.5 million people have already been granted status. That is a success. EU citizens in the UK also have until the end of June 2021 to apply.

--- Later in debate ---

[Brandon Lewis]

Yes, absolutely.

I say to my right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne) that we are always reviewing the outreach work. The Home Secretary and I are particularly focused on this work to make sure that it is not just giving good value for money for the taxpayer but is also reaching the hardest-to-reach places and communities in the country. We are working with some 57 voluntary organisations around the country and with commercial and public sector organisations that employ large numbers of EU citizens, and we will be looking to continue that work and drive it further and further.

It is important that we encourage people to apply for this settled status. It is simple, quick and easy; it delivers on people’s rights; and it delivers on our promises. That is why we will not accept any amendments or new clauses this evening.

[The First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Sir George Howarth)]

Order. I say for the benefit of new Members in particular that although the Minister has responded to the debate, I am now going to call the mover of the lead amendment to conclude and respond to the debate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Howarth and Brandon Lewis

Monday 20th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

Obviously, there are several gateway schemes, including the Dublin regulation and the Dubs scheme. As I have just outlined, our own immigration rules also contain a route that people can use, and I would encourage them to look at that.

[Mr Howarth]

I welcome the Minister’s response, but the generosity and decency of the British people is such that they want the Government to do more. The £50 million raised by the BBC’s Children in Need charity last week is testament to that generosity of spirit. Will the Minister match the welcome rhetoric with deeds that will break the logjam of children waiting to be reunited with their families in the UK?

[Brandon Lewis]

The right hon. Gentleman is right that that is a good example of the great generosity across this country. We see it not only at events such as Friday night’s, but in the community sponsorship programmes and in communities wanting to do what they can to help some of the most vulnerable people in the world. We should all be proud of what we do as a country and of what the Government are doing to bring over children who need support and help. We are doing that, and our rules do allow for family reunion as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between George Howarth and Brandon Lewis

Monday 15th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

As my hon. Friend will no doubt appreciate, this Government ended the top-down approach adopted by the Labour Government, getting rid of the regional spatial strategies. It is now entirely for local authorities to make evidence-based assessments of local housing development needs, and then to consider how they can provide for them. Decisions should be locally driven, with local people in mind.

[Mr George Howarth (Knowsley) (Lab)]

If what the Minister has just said is correct, why did his own planning inspectors suggest to Knowsley council that it should consider using up green-belt land for future housing development as part of its local-plan process?

[Brandon Lewis]

I have not seen the details of that case, but if the right hon. Gentleman forwards them to me, I shall be happy to look at them. In my experience, planning inspectors tend to challenge local authorities about their evidence bases. The national planning policy framework makes it clear that green belt constitutes an environmental constraint, and local authorities can use such constraints as evidence bases when it comes to what they can actually provide. It is for them to do the research, build those evidence bases, and make their case.

Local Government: Combined Authority Orders

Debate between George Howarth and Brandon Lewis

Tuesday 18th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

If the right hon. Gentleman will bear with me, I will come back to him on that question later this afternoon.

[Mr George Howarth (Knowsley) (Lab)]

It is 1 April.

[Brandon Lewis]

Does the right hon. Gentleman wish to intervene?

[Mr Howarth]

The Minister is probably in a better position to know about this than I am, but I think that all these arrangements come into effect on 1 April.

[Brandon Lewis]

Yes, that is the intention. I was going to come to that in a few moments. I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention.

As I was saying, we are doing this on the basis of the information that we have about each proposed combined authority. That also includes the results of the consultations we have undertaken for each of the proposed combined authorities—again, as required by the 2009 Act—as well as detailed proposals from each group of councils on how they wish their combined authority to operate, to take decisions and, most importantly, to be open, transparent and accountable. I know that the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Corby (Andy Sawford) and I share a view on that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Brandon Lewis]

I can assure my hon. Friend of that. There will be a full process including consultation and, as has happened today, the input of Members here in the House.

My hon. Friend the Member for York Outer also asked whether the non-constituent authorities would have to contribute to the costs of the combined authorities. I can tell him that they are not required to do that. They will have to contribute only if and when they become constituent members. Funding will be based on an agreement between the constituent authorities themselves and I stress the word “constituent”—or on a default agreement relating to the populations of the constituent authorities.

The right hon. Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth) asked about the name of his combined authority. The names of the authorities have been agreed on and consented to by all the statutory consultees, but let me say in response to an issue that others have also raised that this is localism at its absolute purest. The authorities can choose whatever name they want, work under that name, brand it and “logo” it, and I wish them all the luck in the world.

[Mr George Howarth]

I think it would be more accurate to say that the authorities agreed to the new name reluctantly on the understanding that they would never have to use it, which rather makes my point. What was the point of the Secretary of State’s intervening in the first place?

[Brandon Lewis]

Coming up with a name on which every member of every combined authority agrees to be the one and only name—and a legal name—is not always that straightforward. Under the powers that we have introduced, combined authorities can now choose the brand name that they want to use, whatever it may be, and use it strongly and effectively to represent themselves.

[Mr Howarth]

I do not want to labour the point, but the fact is that all the authorities had previously agreed to the name “Liverpool city region”. It was only because the Secretary of State intervened that they eventually decided to give in rather than prolong things, by calling it what they had decided rather than what he had decided.

[Brandon Lewis]

I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman welcomes the fact that we have given authorities the power to do what they like, to brand their names, and to use them as they wish. I am sure that they will do so very successfully. I also noted what he said about what he thinks will be the future development of the process and the establishment of a non-elected mayor for the entire area. That touches on a point that he made about this being a first step for local authorities. I am happy to state clearly from the Dispatch Box that I agree that local government is evolving and changing, as it always does over time. That is one of the strengths and beauties of the way in which local government in our country works. I have no doubt that it will evolve and change further in many other ways, and the right hon. Gentleman has described one potential change in his own area.

The hon. Member for Southport (John Pugh) mentioned seaside towns, and I share the experience that he described. He was right to point out that such towns felt left behind in the past, which is one of the reasons for the coalition Government’s introduction of the coastal communities fund. I was delighted to announce the round 2 funding a couple of weeks ago, along with the opening of round 3, which will make much more money available to help seaside towns with their economic regeneration. New criteria will make it easier for them to grow their economic futures while protecting their coastlines from erosion.

The hon. Gentleman also raised an issue related to governance. I will give him more details in writing, but I can tell him that each constituent council will appoint at least one of its elected members to be a member of the combined authority. As I said earlier, we intend them also to have non-voting members and members representing minority parties.

The hon. Gentleman also mentioned the potential for dominance by the big players. The orders have specified the voting arrangements based on the scheme developed by the councils concerned and each member does have one vote and no member has a casting vote. That is why it is important that the scrutiny is run efficiently and effectively.

The hon. Gentleman also touched on West Lancashire. In response to the Government’s consultation, West Lancashire stated its support for the combined authority because of the expected improvements in transport and economic growth.

The right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne, in asking about VAT, also mentioned the powers to borrow. The combined authorities’ borrowing powers are limited to their transport function. They will inherit the levy-raising power of the integrated transport authority, hence the revenue-raising power exists only in relation to transport. The right hon. Gentleman also commented on my opening remarks.

Local Government Finance

Debate between George Howarth and Brandon Lewis

Tuesday 26th February 2013 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I thank the right hon. Member for Knowsley (Mr Howarth) for and congratulate him on raising an important issue. However, I was a little surprised by his choice of topic, because the settlement, as he will appreciate and other Members have commented, is for not only Knowsley, Liverpool, Merseyside, Manchester or even Great Yarmouth, but the whole of local government. It is a landmark in the sense that, after years of doffing their caps to Whitehall, all councils can now take charge of their own destiny.

I was particularly surprised that the right hon. Gentleman chose this debate and made the case he has tried to make about the situation in Knowsley, bearing in mind that Knowsley has not only been in line with the English average of changing spending power this year, but has a spending power of £3,122 per dwelling in 2013-14, compared with the average in this country of only £2,216, so credit to him for his ability to try to make a case that Knowsley is being treated in any way unfairly.

[Mr George Howarth]

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way so early in his speech. Does he not recognise that those resources were distributed on the basis of need? My case reflects the fact not that Knowsley is standing with its hand out waiting for the Government to dispense largesse, but that there are high levels of need there.

[Brandon Lewis]

That argument might hold more weight if such areas were not getting almost 50% more than the national average in the first place. Even a constituency such as my own, which has three of the most deprived wards in the country, gets around £2,200. I struggle to have sympathy with the right hon. Gentleman’s argument that getting almost 50% more than the national average is a hardship.

In all the deficit denial and doom mongering that some people have been engaged in, an important message is in danger of not being heard. However, the recent move by Moody’s has once again reminded us of that message. The size of the deficit and the simple fact that local government accounts for a quarter of public spending mean that local government cannot remain immune. It is one of the biggest players in the public sector and it has its part to play in reducing the deficit.

I want to make it clear to hon. Members that this settlement is a fair deal to both the north and the south. Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham and Newcastle all have higher spending power per dwelling than the national average. I have already commented on the fact that Knowlsey has the highest settlement in its area.

--- Later in debate ---

[Brandon Lewis]

I suggest to the mayor of Liverpool that some of his language has been extremely unhelpful and somewhat unfair, particularly when Liverpool starts with a per dwelling spending power of around £2,700. Many areas of the country, even deprived areas such as those in my constituency, would be keen to have such spending power. I am happy to come to Liverpool during the course of this year. In fact, I will be visiting the fire service soon, and so will be happy to visit the council as well. I suggest the council looks at the booklet, “50 ways to save money”. Part of taking that local power and being a locally directly elected mayor is about having responsibility. There is that old phrase, “With great power comes responsibility.” Instead of looking to everyone else to solve their own issues, councils should be looking at what they can do locally; that is what local accountability and local democracy are about. Through our community and neighbourhood budgets, we are rewiring the system and bringing people together from across the board—local authorities, the police and the health service. We are seeing such alignment with the whole place community budgets. Areas close to Liverpool and Manchester are finding local savings worth millions of pounds, and providing an opportunity to realign the public sector to make it more streamlined and efficient.

Thanks to the autumn statement, which exempted local government from another 1% top-slice, councils have time to put their house in order and put people first. They should start that process by freezing council tax, which rose exponentially under the previous Government—it more than doubled. We have now put money aside to put tax rises on ice for a third successive year. Already a huge number of councils are doing the right thing, including, I am glad to say, Knowsley, as well as Derby, Dorset, Northampton and Watford. Areas such as Lancashire are going further and actually cutting council tax by about 2%. In many cases, councils have far more in reserves than they are losing through cutbacks. Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds have reserves twice that of their spending power reductions. The local funding settlement used to be the end game, but now it is just the starting point.

[Mr George Howarth]

The Minister and the Government tend to treat reserves as some kind of luxury that local authorities can easily live without. Before I came to this place, I spent several years as the chair of the finance committee on Knowsley council. I am no accountant, but I do know that a council has to have reserves to hedge against unexpected areas of expenditure—perhaps a surge in inflation that they cannot cope with or pay settlements that they were not anticipating. It is prudential to have reserves, not in any way a flagrant abuse of the system.

[Brandon Lewis]

The right hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. It is right for a council to have reserves. However, it is also right to use those reserves at the right time and to keep only a prudent amount of reserves. Many people in this country cannot understand how local government can say that it is struggling when at the same time it has built itself up in the past couple of years, even under these changes and savings, to have the highest level of reserves it has ever had—they have increased to around £16 billion. When authorities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds have reserves roughly twice that of their spending power reductions, I suspect that most residents will have some lack of sympathy with their argument that there is not enough money to protect their services.

Furthermore, councils will be able to retain around £11 billion-worth of business rates, which will deliver £10 billion extra to the wider economy. In recent years, Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool all saw their business rates rise above the national average of 4.8%, but thanks to the old begging bowl system, they missed out on the opportunity of making the most of that money. That will not be the case in the future; they will get the benefit. It will be about what councils make and not what they take that counts. If they bring in more businesses and more jobs, they will be rewarded. With regard to the comment on the new homes bonus, with more than £650 million being allocated this year, the same applies. If councils build, they will get the money. It does not matter where they are in the country. If they build the houses, they will get the money.

In this settlement, we capture a new ethos in local government. We are looking to generate more income through the new homes bonus, business rates retention and the new transition challenge award where councils that are sharing services and management, and being innovative to ensure that they can spend money on the front-line services can make a pitch for that part of the bid.

The right hon. Gentleman mentioned reserves. What is also important for councillors and council officers to remember is that those reserves are not the council’s money to sit on and protect. The money that councils have is taxpayers’ money to be spent on services for taxpayers. If councils are willing to put people above political ponderance, to look to the future, and not in the rear-view mirror and do things because that is the way we have always done them, they have a once-in-a-generation chance to move forward, finance themselves in a new way, be genuinely local and deliver for their local residents.