Draft Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions) Order 2018

Jake Berry Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2018 General Committees

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

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions) Order 2018.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wilson. The draft order, which was laid before the House on 7 June, will confer on the Liverpool city region combined authority the power to raise a business rate supplement, to be exercised by the Mayor. This is a similar power to the mayoral infrastructure supplement included in the Government’s devolution agreement with Liverpool city region. I commend the order to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jake Berry]

I take the hon. Lady’s comments on board. I note that this is one of many powers that the Government have given, and as a Scouser born and bred—which I believe she is not, although she recently accused me in the papers of not knowing where Liverpool was, I think—I am happy with any Government policy that returns more power to the great people of Liverpool. The Mayor, of course, has the power to raise his own precept if he wants, to enable him to have more money to spend on exercising his function in the combined authority.

Question put and agreed to.

Draft Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Function) Order 2018

Jake Berry Excerpts

Tuesday 10th July 2018 General Committees

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

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions) Order 2018.

The draft order, which was laid before the House on 7 June, will confer powers on the Mayor to levy a business rate supplement in line with the devolution deal. I commend the draft order to the Committee.

[Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. We do not object to the draft statutory instrument. However, we want the Government to be more proactive in building strong relationships. We are aware of the letter that the Secretary of State sent last week, which put a question mark over the £400 million to be devolved as part of the next stage of investment. We really need to get people around the table and have a mature conversation about what is next for devolution.

Question put and agreed to.

Draft Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Function)

Jake Berry Excerpts

Tuesday 10th July 2018 General Committees

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

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions) Order 2018.

The draft order, which was laid before the House on 7 June, will confer powers on the Mayor to levy a business rate supplement in line with the devolution deal. I commend the draft order to the Committee.

[Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. We do not object to the draft statutory instrument. However, we want the Government to be more proactive in building strong relationships. We are aware of the letter that the Secretary of State sent last week, which put a question mark over the £400 million to be devolved as part of the next stage of investment. We really need to get people around the table and have a mature conversation about what is next for devolution.

Question put and agreed to.

Draft West Of England Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions) Order 2018

Jake Berry Excerpts

Monday 9th July 2018 General Committees

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

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft West of England Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions) Order 2018.

The order was laid before the House on 7 June. It will confer a power to raise business rate supplements on the West of England combined authority Mayor. The power is similar to that for a mayoral infrastructure supplement, which was included in the Government’s devolution agreement.

With the order having been laid just over a month ago, I think the House has had ample time to consider it. I therefore commend it to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jake Berry]

There is no supplement at the moment. The order seeks to confer a supplement power on the Mayor. If the Mayor seeks to use it, he has to come forward with a prospectus, and it has to be supported by a majority of the businesses entitled to vote. As proposed, that would mean that 87% of businesses in the combined authority would not have to pay.

In relation to the Mayor, he is of course answerable to his combined authority and, ultimately, to the electorate.

Question put and agreed to.

Draft West Midlands Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions and Amendment) Order 2018

Jake Berry Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd July 2018 General Committees

[The Chair]

If Members wish to remove their jackets, they may do so, because it is very warm in the Committee Room today.

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

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft West Midlands Combined Authority (Business Rate Supplements Functions and Amendment) Order 2018.

The draft order, which was laid before the House on 7 June, will confer on the West Midlands combined authority the power to raise a business rates supplement, to be exercised by the Mayor. The draft order also amends the list of roads comprising the West Midlands combined authority key route network. As the draft order was laid before the House on 7 June and Members have had ample time to scrutinise its contents, I commend it to the Committee.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jake Berry Excerpts

Monday 18th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow) (Lab)]

5. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government funding for local authorities in the north-east since 2010.

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

From 2015-16 to 2019-20, north-east councils will have access to £11.3 billion in core spending power. The 2018-19 settlement sees a 1.9% increase in the money available to north-east councils.

[Mr Hepburn]

The Minister will be aware that north-east councils have had a 50% cut in Government grant since 2010. At the same time, the richest individuals in this country have had a £10 billion tax cut. Does he think it is right that these needless tax cuts are paid for by local government jobs, pay cuts and the loss of local government services?

[Jake Berry]

On the subject of those who can afford it building up savings, I might point out to the hon. Gentleman that his local authority—I remind him, as I am sure he knows, that every seat except one is held by the Labour party—has increased its reserves by £7 million since 2010, so perhaps he should be addressing his questions on redundancies and closures to the local Labour party.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

The Minister knows that the slashing of funding for Newcastle City Council can be seen in the increased litter on our streets, increased crime rates as youth services are cut and reduced public services generally. What will he say to my constituents who want to know why central Government care so little for their wellbeing?

[Jake Berry]

On whether central Government care for people in Newcastle, I would say that surely they, like the hon. Lady, should welcome the £600 million of new money provided for the devolution deal; the Great Exhibition of the North, opening this Friday, which is set to boost her local economy by £184 million; the Budget announcement of £337 million for the Tyne and Wear Metro; north-east local enterprise partnerships having £379 million invested in them directly; and the north-east investment fund just announced, with £120 million. This is a golden era of Government investment in the north-east, but it takes the Conservative party to deliver it.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

6. What recent assessment he has made of the ability of local authorities to deliver their statutory duties for adult social care.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

9. What progress the Government have made on the delivery of the northern powerhouse.

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

We are delivering economic growth across the northern powerhouse by devolving more power and investing more than any Government in history in our transport infrastructure. That is why, since the northern powerhouse was launched, we have grown the northern economy by £20 billion.

[Mike Amesbury]

Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cheshire East Council, Warrington Borough Council, the local enterprise partnership and other stakeholders are determined in their quest to secure a devolution deal, yet increasingly frustrated. Will the Minister update the House on the timetable for the deal?

[Jake Berry]

As I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware, all the councils he mentions and the LEP have brought out what they refer to as the prospectus for growth, which is looking at how they can deliver real economic benefits for the people who live in Warrington and elsewhere in Cheshire. The Government remain open to ground-up locally supported devolution deals. I encourage the hon. Gentleman, the council leaders and the LEP to continue the discussions they have been having with me and my officials.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

Last Friday it was announced that Siemens had won the contract for the new Piccadilly line trains and will now invest £200 million in a new train factory in Goole, creating 700 jobs—so not all investment in the south turns out to be all that terrible. However, can we make sure that the Department and the Minister in particular work with Siemens to ensure that the supply chain benefits the north of England in particular?

[Jake Berry]

It takes a former northern powerhouse Minister to remind the current one that those new trains built in my hon. Friend’s constituency in Goole must benefit the entirety of the north of England. I will work with him to make sure that happens.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Should not the Government Front-Bench team learn this truth: that since the departure of the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, there has been no vision, no leadership and no result for the northern powerhouse? Can the Minister not provide some real leadership and let us catch up with some of these soft people in the south of England and London who get all the investment?

[Jake Berry]

I am torn: I find myself partially agreeing with the hon. Gentleman, although I certainly do not agree that there has been no vision or leadership on the northern powerhouse. Since I became Minister we have announced a “minded to” deal for a North of Tyne combined authority, we have reaffirmed the commitment to the north Wales growth deal, we have announced that we intend to do a growth deal in the borderlands and the last Budget included £1.8 billion of new money going to the north of England.

[Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to deliver economic growth through the midlands engine.

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

We recently launched the £250 million midlands engine investment fund and agreed a second devolution deal with the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street. We have also given £4 million to the midlands engine partnership to support a range of economic activity, including that of our very important ceramics sector.

[Jack Brereton]

I thank the Minister for that response. How best can we encourage new businesses into town centres in the midlands, like those in Longton and Fenton in my constituency, so we can see the revival of our high streets?

[Jake Berry]

The future health of our high streets is extremely important, which is why I am pleased to be able to announce today that my Department will launch a call for evidence over the summer looking at the future of our high street. We intend to establish an expert panel to diagnose the issues currently affecting the high street. I will be visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency shortly. I hope Longton and Fenton will make their voices heard.

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

11. What assessment he has made of the effect on the long-term financial viability of local authorities of the use of their reserves to fund children's services.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

T3. What is the timescale for putting cash on the table for the Ayrshire growth deal?

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

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Prime Minister recently announced a growth deal for Ayrshire, and I am delighted to tell him that the negotiations, led by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, are now under way, but it can only proceed as fast as the slowest actors, so I hope the hon. Gentleman will use his not inconsiderable influence to pressurise the Scottish Government to play their part in the negotiations.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

T2. Will my hon. Friend advise me on when Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire will get their business rates retention?

--- Later in debate ---

[Jake Berry]

Apart from doing ITV, Granada, the BBC and local papers, including the Manchester Evening News, I do not know where the hon. Lady has been looking, but we continue to work with Transport for the North to improve transport connections across the north of England. This Government have been absolutely clear that the performance of Northern has been unacceptable, but I offer Labour Members the opportunity to condemn the RMT strike action, which is going to make a bad situation worse, or are they too heavily in hock to the unions to do what is right for the northern powerhouse?

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Good public health is the best way of improving the wellbeing of the community, yet York City Council has slashed the public health budget by £1.3 million and we now have the highest level of in-service drug deaths in the country, so what is the Minister doing to protect public health, particularly given the removal of the public health grant?

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

We don’t want it.

[Jake Berry]

We are seeing peace and harmony across the House on Yorkshire.

I have been having discussions with the Secretary of State on Yorkshire devolution and with the recently elected Mayor of South Yorkshire. The Government have been absolutely clear that, before “One Yorkshire” can proceed, the South Yorkshire devolution deal must be fully implemented. It is up to the Labour party councils in South Yorkshire to get on with that. Nearly £1 billion in Government funding could flow to South Yorkshire. Why do they not seem to want it?

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

While the Minister is on his feet, could he tell me when he expects a spade to be in the ground for the North Wales growth deal—any project, any spade, anywhere?

[Jake Berry]

As the right hon. Gentleman is aware—because he, like me, attended a meeting at the Wales Office just before Christmas—the North Wales growth deal is proceeding well, but it can only go as fast as the slowest actors, so I say to him that he has power and influence over the North Wales local authorities. This Government have been clear: we would like to see concrete proposals come forward for the autumn Budget, but we cannot do this without the support of the North Wales authorities.

[Mr Speaker]

As I always like to welcome new young Members, I call, for the second time today, Mr Barry Sheerman.

Fire Safety Cladding: Heysmoor Heights

Jake Berry Excerpts

Wednesday 16th May 2018 Commons Chamber

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

I thank all hon. Members for their contributions, and I thank the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs Ellman)—Liverpool is my home city—for the extraordinary campaign she is fighting on behalf of the local residents she has the privilege to represent. She has asked written and oral parliamentary questions, and has now secured this important debate.

As the hon. Lady mentioned, my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing has arranged to speak to the agents of Heysmoor Heights’ freeholder, and I will certainly ask him to ask the agent who the freeholders are, because she has highlighted a very serious issue. We cannot have a situation in which the residents simply do not know who their superior landlord is. That would not have been acceptable to me in my old job as a property lawyer. I shall make sure that the Housing Minister presses very hard on that issue, and that if an answer is received, it is passed on to the hon. Lady so that she can forward it to her constituents.

[Mrs Ellman]

Does the Minister agree that it is outrageous that the residents are being asked to pay this bill but the private leaseholders do not know the freeholder’s identity? When the Housing Minister speaks to the freeholder’s agent, will he ask the freeholder to foot the bill?

[Jake Berry]

The ownership of property is of course subject to the public record. I suspect that the hon. Lady may be getting at the fact that even when the Land Registry has a name on the register, it is sometimes tied up with foreign companies in jurisdictions that do not have the same transparency rules that we have for our companies. I will absolutely ensure that my hon. Friend the Housing Minister presses for the answer to who the freehold owners are. On her point about asking the freehold owners to pay the bill, I hope that the hon. Lady will hear in the rest of my speech the approach the Government are going to take.

Before I deal specifically with the hugely important issue of the residents of Heysmoor Heights, I wish to discuss the wider debates we are having in Parliament this week about the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Tower, which the hon. Lady touched on. This is the first opportunity I have had to speak about those tragic events, and I wish to put on record my personal sorrow. The Government remain absolutely determined that this should never happen again. It should never have happened in the first place. I think everyone in the House would agree that we have a duty to work together to ensure that a tragedy on that scale is never repeated.

Following the fire, the Government’s first priority was quite rightly to help the families who were affected and enable them to rebuild their lives, while continuing to remember with great respect—as we have already today—the people who lost their lives in those tragic events.

The impact of the Grenfell fire is wide-reaching, and I can assure the House that the Government are absolutely determined to learn the lessons and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of residents now and in the future. Earlier today, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out how the Government continue to work with fire and rescue services, local authorities and landlords to identify high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding. That enables us to both ensure that interim measures are put in place with our partners and give building owners clear advice about what they need to do, over both short term and the longer term, to keep their residents safe.

To support that, we have appointed an expert panel to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of residents of high-rise buildings. Following its recommendations, the Government provided advice to building owners on the interim measures that they should put in place to ensure the safety of their residents. I note that the hon. Lady said that the ACM cladding has already been removed from the building as part of those interim measures. We swiftly identified social housing blocks and public buildings with unsafe cladding, and all the affected social sector buildings that we have identified now have these measures in place.

In parallel, we tested different combinations of cladding and insulation to see which of them meets the current building regulations guidance. We published consolidated advice in September confirming the results of those tests, together with further advice for building owners. At the same time, we asked Dame Judith Hackitt to undertake an independent review of building regulations, and we are taking forward all the recommendations for Government from her interim report and look forward to the statement tomorrow about the final report to which the hon. Lady referred.

We believe that we have identified all affected social housing blocks and public buildings. With regard to private sector buildings, which tonight’s debate is about, the Government have made their testing facilities available free of charge, and we continue to urge all building owners to submit samples for testing if they think that they may have unsafe cladding on their building.

In addition, we wrote to local authorities in August asking them to identify privately owned buildings in their area with potentially unsafe cladding and reminding them that that was in line with their statutory duty to ensure that residents are kept safe. The majority of local authorities have recognised the urgency of that work and have provided relevant information to the Government. I wish to put it on the record that we are grateful for all the hard work that local authorities have done in this regard.

We have been in constant and close collaboration with local authorities ever since the Grenfell fire tragedy, but this is not a straightforward task, particularly in cases such as the one referred to by the hon. Lady where building owners either cannot be traced or are proving unresponsive. To support local authorities in this work, we announced in March a financial support package of £1 million to assist the most affected local authorities.

Our measures will also help local authorities to take enforcement action to ensure that hazards in residential buildings in their areas are remediated as quickly as possible. I can assure hon. Members that, as soon as we are notified of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding, we will work with the relevant local authority and the National Fire Chiefs Council to ensure that interim measures are put in place.

[Mrs Ellman]

The Minister is giving some very important information, but he is not addressing the central issue of this debate. What will happen about the £18,000 bills that the private leaseholders at Heysmoor Heights are facing? What will the Government do about that?

[Jake Berry]

The hon. Lady referred to the announcement by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister today of £400 million of new Government funding to help local authorities and housing associations focus their efforts on removing ACM cladding. We have also provided other financial flexibilities for local authorities that need to undertake other essential fire safety work. As she has asked me very specifically to address the issue of the private sector, let me tell her that, in the private sector, we continue to urge those responsible to follow the lead set by the social sector and not to attempt to pass on the costs to residents. They can do that by meeting the costs themselves, or by looking at alternative routes such as insurance claim warranties and legal action.

Although I do not want to be drawn into the specifics of the insurance claim that is going on regarding Heysmoor Heights, I echo the hon. Lady’s call for Lloyd’s to get on and process that claim as quickly as possible. She mentioned the stage of the process that the claim has reached. As she correctly points out, it is the uncertainty—the £18,000 bill, albeit that it a potential bill at this point—hanging over the residents that is so unsettling for them. I commend Barratt for stepping into the breach and covering the remediation costs at Citiscape in Croydon. I am sure the Housing Minister will be making a point about the good behaviour of Barratt when he speaks to the agent of the Heysmoor Heights freeholder shortly.

Where building owners are seeking to pass on remediation costs to leaseholders, it is important that leaseholders can access specialist legal advice and understand their rights under leases, which are often long and complicated documents. It is absolutely correct that the Government have worked with the Leasehold Advisory Service—LEASE—to provide additional funding for independent, free, initial advice so that leaseholders are not only aware of their rights under the lease but are supported to understand the terms of these often complicated legal documents. LEASE continues to provide valuable support to affected leaseholders around the country. If the leaseholders at Heysmoor Heights have not done so already, I would encourage them to get in touch with the Leasehold Advisory Service to get some initial advice about their potential liability. The Secretary of State will also be holding a roundtable on the barriers to the remediation of buildings that have unsafe aluminium composite material cladding.

We are keeping the situation under review. I will specifically draw tonight’s debate to the attention of the Housing Minister. I will ask him to keep the residents of Heysmoor Heights informed, and to keep under review the progress not just of the insurance claim but of the wider question about where liability lies. We want to ensure that costs are not passed on to leaseholders, because they should not be. The hon. Lady quoted the Housing Minister, who said that there is a moral obligation not to pass those costs on to leaseholders. I absolutely agree with both him and the hon. Lady in that regard.

I hope that the points I have made this evening have reassured hon. Members just how seriously the Government are treating the issue of building safety. We will continue to make the case to building owners that we absolutely do not expect these costs to be passed on to the leaseholders of Heysmoor Heights or anywhere else. We will continue to provide support through LEASE to leaseholders who are faced with these unexpected bills, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that residents feel safe and secure in their homes. We will keep the situation under review. It is important to say that we have not ruled out any options at this stage.

As a proud son of Liverpool, I will finish by directly quoting the hon. Lady: what is good enough for Croydon is good enough for Liverpool and the residents of Heysmoor Heights.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jake Berry Excerpts

Monday 30th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[John Grogan (Keighley) (Lab)]

4. What assessment he has made of the potential merits of the proposal from 18 Yorkshire councils for a One Yorkshire devolution settlement.

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

Last month, high-level proposals were received from some councils in Yorkshire about the so-called One Yorkshire devolution deal. We are considering those proposals carefully and will respond to the authorities in due course.

[John Grogan]

Does the Minister accept that it is now the settled will of the vast majority of councils in Yorkshire, and the vast majority of the people there, that we move towards a One Yorkshire devolution settlement, and will he encourage the new Secretary of State to initiate talks with the Yorkshire councils so that he will be ever remembered as the man who delivered the first elected mayor to the white rose county?

[Jake Berry]

The hon. Gentleman is something of a Mystic Meg of the Labour party. Unlike him, I want the people of South Yorkshire to have their say in the elections next Thursday. The Conservative candidate, Ian Walker, has said:

“This is a golden opportunity to show what South Yorkshire can do.”

The Labour candidate thinks that it should be a part-time job, and the Labour authorities are fighting with each other so much that they cannot agree on what power or money the mayor of South Yorkshire should have.

[Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)]

As the Minister will know, Yorkshire is a massive county—by far the biggest in the country. What assessment has he made of the ability of one mayor to cover effectively the whole of such a big county? My dad had the privilege of being the Mayor of Doncaster for a while, and that was a pretty full-on job for him, so how on earth can one person do the job effectively and look after the interests of the whole of Yorkshire? What level of bureaucracy and cost would be incurred by a single mayoral office for the whole of Yorkshire?

[Jake Berry]

I would not like to be drawn on responding to the high-level proposals we have received, but I will say this: later this year, the city of Leeds will be the only core city in the north of England that has not benefited from devolution, and that is a terrible shame for everyone who lives in West Yorkshire.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Does the Minister recognise that the Humber economic area has to be included in any devolution deal for Yorkshire because of the energy estuary, which is vital to the northern powerhouse?

[Jake Berry]

All these devolution deals are ground-up, and if people from Hull and the Humber come to the Government with proposals for devolution for that area, the Government will of course look at them in the way that they do all devolution proposals.

[Sir David Amess (Southend West) (Con)]

6. What progress his Department has made on delivering more new homes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

14. What progress the Government have made on the delivery of the northern powerhouse.

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

Growing the whole north is crucial to the delivery of our northern powerhouse. Since the northern powerhouse strategy was launched, direct foreign investment in the north has increased at a rate double that of the national average, and unemployment throughout the north is now lower than the national average.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

I thank the Minister for his response and extend to the new Secretary of State an invitation to come to Shields and explain to my constituents why, when the Government launched the northern powerhouse four years ago, they promised increased growth and increased employment, yet in the time since, growth in Shields has been painfully slow and unemployment stubbornly remains higher than in the rest of the north-east.

[Jake Berry]

I am a bit more optimistic for the north-east than the hon. Lady, because we are now entering a new golden era for the north-east, which can be seen in the Government’s commitment of more than £300 million—[Interruption.] Does the hon. Lady want to hear about what we are doing for the north-east? That new golden era can be seen in the Government’s commitment of more than £300 million to the Tyne and Wear metro, which the hon. Lady campaigned for, and in the historic devolution deal north of the Tyne. On top of that, this summer the first great exhibition in this country for 160 years will take place in Newcastle-Gateshead, showing that the north-east is at the heart of our northern powerhouse.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

17. Although the people of northern Lincolnshire want nothing to do with the recreation of County Humberside or being linked into Yorkshire, they are very happy to be part of the northern powerhouse initiative. What specific proposals does the Minister have that would benefit my constituency?

[Jake Berry]

We are already investing some £67 million in the Humber and the Greater Lincolnshire local enterprise partnership, and I note that £20 million of that is going into my hon. Friend’s constituency. He will be aware that we committed in the industrial strategy to work on a business case for a Grimsby and Cleethorpes town deal. I hope that, in demonstrating that success, we can put our northern power towns at the heart of the northern powerhouse.

[Jim McMahon (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)]

There is no surprise that the lived experience of people in Shields is of growth not happening, because when the northern powerhouse was launched in 2014, Government capital spending per person was £543 higher in London than in the north-east. London has seen its investment increase to £1,352 per person but, instead of the Government’s closing the gap, the north-east saw a cut in capital spending that increased the gap by 17% to £634 per person. How can the Government credibly claim to be the champions of the northern powerhouse when the evidence says that the money has not followed?

[Jake Berry]

I am certainly not going to take any lectures on the northern powerhouse from the hon. Gentleman, because after his election he described it as the “northern poorhouse”. Unlike Opposition Members, the Government are behind the north, not least by investing £13 billion in northern transport—more than any Government in history, including the Labour Government.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

--- Later in debate ---

[David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

May I ask the Northern Powerhouse Minister when he expects to make a further announcement about the northern powerhouse commitment in relation to the growth deal in north Wales?

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

The north Wales growth deal is primarily the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Wales. I am happy to update the right hon. Gentleman by saying that we are making good progress in looking at the proposals from local authorities. Once we have completed that work, we will make an announcement shortly about the next steps for all local authorities involved.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

There are five district councils in Warwickshire. Four are Conservative-led and one—Nuneaton and Bedworth—is run by Labour. Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has the highest district council tax precept of the five, and one of the lowest satisfaction ratings. Does my right hon. Friend therefore agree that Conservative councils deliver better-quality services at a lower cost?

Draft Combined Authorities (Borrowing) Regulations 2018

Jake Berry Excerpts

Monday 23rd April 2018 General Committees

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

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Combined Authorities (Borrowing) Regulations 2018.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Ryan—I believe for the first time—and to learn just before this sitting that you were the northern powerhouse before it was even invented.

The regulations, which were laid before the House on 12 March 2018, will implement a commitment, made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to extend the borrowing powers of mayoral combined authorities that have agreed debt caps with Her Majesty’s Treasury. The extension of borrowing powers is an essential further step for mayoral combined authorities in England, which wish to be able to invest in economically productive infrastructure, giving local government the tools necessary to stimulate local economic growth and, crucially, productivity.

At present, primary legislation provides that mayoral combined authorities can borrow only for transport functions, with the exception of Greater Manchester, which inherited its predecessor organisations’ borrowing powers in relation to its fire, police and waste functions. In comparison, a local authority may borrow for any purpose relevant to its functions or for prudent management of its financial affairs.

The Chancellor announced in the 2016 autumn statement that he would extend mayoral combined authorities’ borrowing powers. That followed commitments made in the devolution deals with each mayoral combined authority, which consider that their limited borrowing powers could weaken their ability to drive and deliver growth for the people they have the privilege of representing.

The draft regulations confer additional borrowing powers on the six mayoral combined authorities to allow them to borrow in relation to all their existing functions. The six mayoral combined authorities include: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, under the leadership of its Mayor, James Palmer; Greater Manchester, under the leadership of Andy Burnham; Liverpool City Region, under the leadership of Steve Rotheram; Tees Valley, under the leadership of Ben Houchen; the West of England, under the leadership of Tim Bowles; and the West Midlands, under the leadership of Andy Street.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister and I both hope that there will be more elected Mayors in future, and certainly there will be one in Sheffield, and possibly others in Yorkshire. Will we have to come back here again, or will these regulations also cover the new authorities?

[Jake Berry]

I have a bottle of fizzy water on ice, ready for the outcome of the election of the Mayor in South Yorkshire—I hope it is a Conservative. If by some chance a Labour Mayor is elected, he will not be affected by these regulations. These regulations, if approved today, are the secondary step that Parliament will take to agree the additional borrowing powers if—and only if—they agree the debt cap with the Treasury.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

The Minister rightly mentioned Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, who I know will welcome these powers. I have no background in local government whatsoever, so I would like to know this: how will the interest rates for the borrowing be determined, and from whom will the combined authorities borrow? Will they borrow from the Treasury or from commercial organisations? What supervision will there be on the rates of interest?

[Jake Berry]

I was beginning to worry about my hon. Friend, because he did not jump up to intervene the moment I mentioned Andy Street. The Mayors are free to borrow the money, if it is under the borrowing cap, from anyone they choose. My guess is that they are most likely to borrow from the Public Loan Works Board, which at the moment has an interest rate of 1.91% for a five-year loan. My hon. Friend will understand that the rate changes over time—the Bank of England is rightly independent of Government and will set future rates. The borrowing powers are subject to an overall borrowing cap, to be agreed with the Treasury, for either two or three years, or perhaps for longer in future, and they are covered in the same way as every local authority is now by the prudential borrowing regulations. Not only will they have to remain within their borrowing cap, but they will have to comply with the prudential borrowing regime, if the Committee accepts these regulations.

[Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab)]

Any proposed borrowing is subject to the unanimous consent of all the constituent councils. If there is complete deadlock, is there any mechanism to allow an impartial person to step in and resolve any disagreement?

[Jake Berry]

These borrowing powers are intended to give effect to the desires and hopes that the Mayor will have set out in his manifesto, so it is up to the local authorities to agree and back their Mayor. There are currently no proposals on how to break a deadlock, although we would look to Mayors to provide local leadership. For example, Andy Burnham, who is the nearest Mayor to my constituency, covers both Conservative and Labour authorities, but he has been able—with some political skill, I think—to persuade them all, including Conservative-controlled Trafford Council, to back his plans to drive forward the economy of Greater Manchester. I fundamentally believe in democracy. I believe that Mayors have a huge mandate from the population they represent, and I think that local authorities should back that mandate. Of course, local authorities have their own democratic mandate, to ensure that the Mayor is not wasting money and is considering all parts of the combined authority when he makes decisions—I keep saying “he” because currently all of them are men, but I hope that will change shortly.

Each mayoral combined authority has a bespoke set of powers, depending on the devolution deal agreed with the Government and subsequently legislated for by Parliament. The regulations allow different borrowing powers for each mayoral combined authority, reflecting the fact that each of them has slightly different powers. Each has agreed a debt cap with the Treasury, and therefore we have the necessary assurance that the proposed borrowing powers will be used appropriately.

Under the Local Government Act 2003, local authority borrowing is regulated by the prudential borrowing regime, which stipulates that a local authority can borrow lawfully only if it can demonstrate that servicing and repaying the debt is affordable. As my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield suggested, we must be absolutely sure that any money borrowed is affordable, and the prudential borrowing regime will ensure that it is. As mayoral combined authorities are currently defined as local authorities for the purposes of legislation, they will be subject to the same rules, providing all necessary safeguards. The 2003 Act also provides that combined authorities have a power to borrow for transport purposes. The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 amended the 2003 Act to provide for the Secretary of State to make regulations extending a combined authority’s power to borrow for other specified functions in addition to transport.

In conclusion, these regulations extend borrowing powers to enable the six mayoral combined authorities to borrow in relation to all of their existing functions, as agreed in their devolution deals and announced in the 2016 autumn statement. The combined authorities have each agreed debt caps with the Treasury and are subject to the same prudential borrowing regime as all councils. We are therefore seeking parliamentary approval to make the regulations. As we approach the first anniversary of the election of the six Mayors for the combined authorities, I think this is a crucial next step towards ensuring that each Mayor has the powers they need to drive forward economic growth in their area. I therefore commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jake Berry]

I thank the hon. Lady for her comments. With regard to the two devolution deals that we have agreed, I am hugely excited that the South Yorkshire devolution deal will proceed. It means £1 billion of new money going to the people of South Yorkshire. Having spent three years of my life living in Sheffield, I know that the area will benefit hugely from that new Government investment. I am pleased that it has now been agreed, despite the local authorities being deadlocked for an extended period of time. It seems that agreement has now broken out.

I am also pleased that we are going to have a North of Tyne devolution deal, subject to all relevant legislation being passing in due course. That is a real opportunity for the north-east. I think that devolution represents a new golden age for the north-east of England, and a new golden age of relations and respect between Government and the region. As we look ahead towards Brexit, the north-east, which is the only net exporting area of England, carries a lot of hope for our country. I hope that businesses such as Nissan and the fantastic manufacturers in the north-east will play their part in creating a global Britain that can trade with the world.

With regard to further devolution deals, it is a Conservative manifesto commitment to bring forward a devolution framework for the rest of England. We continue to work on that, because determining what devolution should look like outside our metropolitan areas is extremely complicated. But I want to make it absolutely clear that we stand by our commitment that areas that are largely rural will be under no obligation to have a Mayor. That has often been the sticking point with other devolution deals that the Government have sought to negotiate, such as the one in Lincolnshire, where there was no common agreement. I hope that the change in Government policy, as set out in our manifesto, will enable us to unlock devolution in other areas.

Finally, I am very proud to be part of a Government who, for the first time ever, have taken significant power, influence and, yes, money from London and the centre here in Westminster and returned it to the people of our regions. We remain one of the most over-centralised countries in Europe. I hope that through this devolution agenda, and through the regulations we are discussing today, we can seek to reverse that trend. Over 60% of my constituents in Rossendale and Darwen voted for Brexit, and they did so because they believe that too much power is concentrated not only in Brussels, but here in Westminster. My own view is that the golden thread of Brexit is about people in Lancashire, Yorkshire and the north-east, and everywhere else in the country, taking back control of their lives. As we bring powers back from Brussels, they should not necessary stop here in Westminster.

[The Chair]

I think that I gave the Minister some leeway, after he wandered off-piste.

Question put and agreed to.

Local Infrastructure (East Midlands)

Jake Berry Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Westminster Hall

[Sir Patrick McLoughlin (Derbyshire Dales) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley) on securing the debate, moving the motion effectively and setting out clearly not just the problems facing his constituency but the solutions. Since he has been in this House, he has shown a positive way of working and of advocating for his constituency, which abuts mine.

I must admit that I do not quite recognise what the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) said about infrastructure spending. Infrastructure spending overall in the east midlands—in the whole country—has been very positive and very large indeed. At the moment, massive work is going on at Derby station. There is a £200 million investment, and a new platform and new signalling are being put in. That is real investment for the future of the east midlands. Likewise, there has been a lot of investment in Nottingham station. When I was Secretary of State for Transport, I closed the station for six weeks one summer and saw men working all hours to complete the job in that time. A fantastic job was done.

I want to talk about two other large infrastructure projects. One is the upgrading of the A38 around Derby, which is due to start in 2019. That will be another £250 million, to deal with the three islands around Derby, and it will significantly improve the infrastructure as far as the city is concerned. Secondly, I was pleased to be in Nottingham at the final opening of the dualling of the A453—long awaited but delivered by this Government —and the improvements to junction 24 of the M1. Those are big infrastructure projects that we have seen in the east midlands and I think they will make a big difference. There is no doubt that the upgrading of the M1 to a smart motorway, at the moment between junctions 23 and 25—it has already been done between junctions 25 and 28—causes a lot of disruption, but the long-term benefit is important, including for the region. So we can say that we have had a good share of the infrastructure investment made by the Government.

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

Does my right hon. Friend, who has vast experience of infrastructure spending, agree that it is not realistic to compare spending in a city with spending in a region? If the figures are conflated, a misleading balance is often produced.

[Sir Patrick McLoughlin]

I completely agree with the Minister. There is always talk about the investment that goes on in London. At the moment, there is Crossrail, which is a big investment. It is a project that has been wanted in the city for more than 40 years. I was a junior Transport Minister when Cecil Parkinson first announced he had the go-ahead, and it will be completed by the end of the year. Yes, it distorts the figures as far as the rest of the country is concerned, but we in the east midlands should be pleased about Crossrail, because the trains that will go on it are being built by Bombardier. Projects such as Crossrail and HS2 are national projects and the thing to do is ensure that we get investment in companies right across the country. The fact that the Crossrail carriages are being built in Derby and will, hopefully by the end of the year, run on the Elizabeth line—the name of the Crossrail line—is a fantastic achievement and, what is more, a fantastic engineering achievement for our country. I want to pay tribute, in this year of the engineer, to those people who have been progressing the build and the design of Crossrail.

It is misleading for people to confuse the investment in London, saying, “We’re not getting the same as London”. The investment in St Pancras station is beneficial to the east midlands. I remember going there 20 years ago and at that time no one would have wanted to spend more than five minutes there, instead arriving just as their train was leaving. Now, for those arriving half an hour early it is a fantastic place to be, almost a destination in its own right. I believe that St Pancras station is good news for the east midlands, because journeys to the region from London start from one of the finest stations in the country—likewise with King’s Cross. We need to get that right.

Earlier this year, the Government announced some money out of their marginal viability fund—something from the housing investment fund I understand—dedicating £55 million to the east midlands for various schemes. Here I want to come on to something that my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire said. I ask the Government to consider how they say to local authorities that money will be made available for schemes that lead to housing development. On the Staveley bypass, my hon. Friend said there would be housing development within the scheme. When I was Secretary of State for Transport, I had something called the local pinch point fund. It was £170 million in one year and was allocated on the basis of developers and local authorities coming forward with plans for road improvements of up to £10 million, which would lead to either more jobs or more housing. That seems a little like the marginal viability fund. I say to the Minister that sometimes such things are overcomplicated and should be much more straightforward and that future plans should be made available.

Seeing as we are all plugging our own schemes this morning, one scheme I would like to see—I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire will not mind me saying this—is the Ashbourne bypass. It would fit well into this particular project. It has already been partly bypassed on the A52, but the bit that links the A52 up to the A515 still needs to be done. If that scheme took place, that would lead to more housing development in the corridor where the new bypass would be.

It is important that we get the whole question of large-scale infrastructure investment right so that the region has the ability to attract business and companies. In the east midlands, we should not sell ourselves short. If we look at the Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire borders, we have world-class engineering in Bombardier, Rolls-Royce, JCB and Toyota. They are world leaders and world-beaters in engineering. There is no doubt that is important for the prosperity of the area.

I ask the Government to be more open about when the other funds will be available. Shovel-ready schemes are important so that work can be started and got under way very quickly. The annoying thing that people get really angry about is that plans for housing development seem to take forever before the houses get built. Also, having given planning permissions for schemes, I know that more attention should be given to what money goes locally, such as to local schools. Sometimes the funds available are kept a bit too quiet and not too public.

I take issue with the hon. Member for Chesterfield only in so far as in the 30 years I have been in the House of Commons, I have not seen infrastructure investment in the east midlands like that we have seen over the past few years and will see in the future.

--- Later in debate ---

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

It is a pleasure to respond to this debate. In line with tradition, I intend to leave my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Lee Rowley) a minute or two at the end to wind up.

I will rattle through some of the contributions. First, I congratulate my hon. Friend on introducing the debate, and on the elegant and forceful way he put the case for his constituents. He is the first Conservative Member of Parliament for his constituency since 1931 and, my goodness, he is doing a fantastic job. It was great to have a contribution from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), and I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Amanda Milling), as a Government Whip, has been champing at the bit to champion her constituency. She took the opportunity over the weekend to lobby me about Rugeley power station. In addition, the electrification of the Chase line—something I know that she has been a huge advocate for—is a great demonstration of the Government’s investment in infrastructure. My hon. Friend the Member for Charnwood (Edward Argar) made a great contribution, showing that the fox’s county still has a couple of wags left in its tail when correcting the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins), saying that he had forgotten Leicester. It is unfortunate that my hon. Friend has gone to wag his tail somewhere else for the conclusion of the debate.

The hon. Member for Chesterfield spent some time castigating the Government for the number of houses that we are building. I gently point out that we inherited a housing system in which we were building fewer houses than we were in the 1920s, because of the recession caused in part by the Labour party. Recently, we have seen figures showing that the number of house-starts in construction increased by more than three quarters between 2009 and 2016. Just a few weeks ago, the Halifax survey showed that the number of first-time buyers is at its highest for 10 years.

The hon. Gentleman also spent some time saying that we should address youth unemployment and skills. I am pleased that we now have more people in employment than at any time since the 1970s, particularly with the introduction of T-levels and the Government’s drive to create 3 million high-level apprenticeships. That will ensure that young men and women come through our education system with the necessary skills to build an economy fit for the future.

My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Andrew Lewer) talked about devolution. I would happily have an entire debate devoted to that subject. In my view, devolution should be the golden thread of Brexit. When more than 60% of my constituents voted to leave the European Union, they did not do so to bring more powers back to Whitehall; they wanted to bring more power back to themselves and, in my case, to east Lancashire. Of those areas that voted remain, the vast majority—London, Manchester, Liverpool, large parts of Wales and Scotland—already benefit from devolution, which shows that where people feel more connected with local government and government in general, they were, in my opinion, more likely to vote to remain in the European Union.

My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South also correctly pointed out that there is huge pent-up demand for devolution and for local government reorganisation. Eric Pickles famously said that he had a nickel-plated, pearl-handled revolver in his desk drawer for the first MP to come and ask him about local government reorganisation. Recent progress in that area shows that the Government’s position has changed and we would now welcome discussions from any area about local government reorganisation. That big change, led by Dorset, may be the trickle that leads to a torrent.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Sir Patrick McLoughlin) delivered a masterclass on transport and infrastructure. I was interested to hear how he has made himself massively popular by closing Nottingham station for six weeks—I am sure that was a pretty difficult thing to do. His point about housing infrastructure having to come before development, in order to support development, reflects a lot of the debate today. There are legitimate concerns about whether buses can take the capacity of new houses and whether local primary and secondary schools have the capacity. That is exactly why the Government set up the housing infrastructure fund; it is an acknowledgment that people want infrastructure first. That is what we are doing.

The announcement of the second phase of bids to the housing infrastructure fund is due to take place tomorrow. I say to all right hon. and hon. Members whose areas have submitted a bid that, even if the bid fails, Homes England has committed to continuing to work with areas to bring forward both the infrastructure and the housing development of the good bids.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales will of course be aware that our right hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Sir Oliver Letwin) is working on the Government’s plan to bring forward sites for development. It is a common problem across the country that people refer to anecdotally, saying that there are more planning permissions granted in their area than are being built out. Our right hon. Friend is looking at how we can tackle that issue.

I agree with comments from the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Rochdale (Tony Lloyd), about the idea of replacing housing. It is a very interesting area. Houses built in this day and age do not seem to last as long as the fantastic Victorian terraced houses that I have across my constituency. Of course, I remind the hon. Gentleman that when the Labour Government left office in 2010 there were 400,000 fewer social homes than there were when they took office. I would have hoped that they would spend a bit more time devoting themselves to delivering social homes, rather than removing them from our national housing stock.

The hon. Gentlemen used the issue of house prices in Derby interestingly and well to demonstrate the crisis in affordability. It neatly demonstrates that the housing crisis is a national crisis. When people talk about the focus that the Government are putting on tackling the housing crisis, all too often they talk about the housing crisis as being a problem in London. It clearly is not; it is as much a problem in the midlands engine or the northern powerhouse as in any other area of our country. Through the £5 billion in the housing infrastructure fund, the changes we are making to the national planning policy framework and other matters outlined in the housing White Paper and the Budget, we have set out an absolute determination to tackle the housing crisis not just for London and the south-east, which we have talked about a lot today in terms of spending, but for our entire nation and constituents all over the country.

With that in mind, on 1 February the Government announced the first wave of funding from the housing infrastructure fund: some £886 million for 133 local projects. I am delighted to say that £55.2 million of that went towards 49 projects in the east midlands, which shows how we are using housing infrastructure to drive development. It includes £2 million to Sleaford West to unlock 1,400 new homes, creating a new roundabout to unlock development; £3.6 million to the Desborough North project, creating 700 new homes, where the housing infrastructure paid for a school and community facilities; and £2 million to Hogshaw and the Granby Road sites in Buxton, which released 675 new homes by making new road junctions and improvements.

My hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire mentioned the A61 corridor. He raised specific concerns about that corridor. From the Ford Cortina traffic jam to the Secretary of State for Transport traffic jam, the problem is obviously ongoing. We are taking action and have given £1.9 billion to the midlands through the local growth fund, which includes support for transport connectivity, as well as skills and support to grow the local economy. Some £257 million of that funding was earmarked for the D2N2 local enterprise partnership, which has been putting that money to good use, including by investing £12.8 million in improvements to the A61 corridor into and through Chesterfield. That will improve infrastructure and unlock opportunities for major housing development, including some of the houses we have discussed today, and the growth of Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire over the months and years to come.

A good way of demonstrating that commitment is the Avenue project in North East Derbyshire, which my hon. Friend referred to. I will conclude with that example because it is a particularly pertinent example of good practice. The project is located in Wingerworth—I am sure my hon. Friend will tell me after the debate whether I have pronounced that correctly—on a former coking works, once described as the most polluted site in the entirety of England. A completion ceremony is taking place on the site this very morning to mark the end of remediation and the new chapter of building homes. With support from Homes England, the site has been transformed and will deliver 489 new homes, all starting in the spring, a new primary school, 2.8 hectares of employment land, road improvements, including new access to the A61, and a wildlife habitat and country park.

That example, one of many we have heard about today, is a demonstration of how this Government, together with Homes England, working in partnership with local authorities, are prioritising the delivery of homes. My hon. Friend started the debate by saying that it is still an ambition of people across this country to own their own homes. I absolutely agree. When I travel across the country, people will say that what they most desire to be able to afford is their own home. The Conservative party is the party of home ownership and this Government are on the side of all those aspirational young and old people who would like to own a home in the east midlands.