Oral Answers to Questions

Jim McMahon Excerpts

Monday 7th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[David Davis (Goole and Pocklington) (Con)]

14. What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Education on the potential implications for her policies of councils becoming insolvent due to inadequate funding for SEND education.

[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

The Government recognise the impact that spending on special educational needs and disabilities is having on council finances. A £1 billion increase to SEND and alternative provision was announced for 2025-26 in the autumn statement. The Government intend to set out plans for reforming the SEND system in further detail this year. That will include details on how the Government will support local authorities to deal with their historical and accruing dedicated schools grant deficits.

[David Davis]

Next March, when local authorities can no longer exclude the high needs elements from their balance sheets, half of them will go bankrupt as it now stands. For the East Riding, it is estimated that this year’s education budget is £17 million in deficit. That is largely because of increased high needs spending on pupils with special education needs. Can the Minister give me an undertaking that we will not next year find ourselves either crushing the needs of special needs children or those of other needs in society?

[Jim McMahon]

First, we need to repair the system of SEND provision and deal with its impact on local authorities. The system is not sustainable in its current form, and we must reform it from the ground upwards. Secondly, deficits have been accruing and are still accruing, and that is a big issue. We certainly do not intend councils to be the victims of a system over which they have had no control, and we will work with them in our endeavour to prevent that.

[Jen Craft (Thurrock) (Lab)]

As a SEND parent, my view of my child’s needs is holistic: I do not believe that they simply stop where the responsibilities of a local authority lie. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that our SEND policy reflects such needs and the responsibilities of, for instance, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Treasury and the Department for Education, as well as local authorities?

[Jim McMahon]

As my hon. Friend says, this issue requires a whole-of-Government approach. When Governments work in silos, it is those who need support the most who fall through the gaps in the end. This Government do work across Departments, including our own and the Department for Education, to ensure that we have a single plan. Ultimately, of course, we have to deal with the financial impact on councils, but it is the young people going through the system who really matter.

[David Davis (Goole and Pocklington) (Con)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

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[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

T5. With rats as big as cats, over 17,000 tonnes of rubbish piled up in the streets of Birmingham, and stories of rubbish being set alight in some streets, the bin strike is a problem that needs to be sorted out by Labour-run Birmingham city council and this Government. Can the Minister reassure me that neighbouring authorities, such as Walsall borough council, will be reimbursed for any additional costs that we incur as a result of the strike?

[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

All of us understand how difficult things are in Birmingham, and it is the Government’s job to support Birmingham to recover and get services back to normal. There are three strands: regularising the negotiations with the trade unions to find a long-term solution, dealing with routine collections and getting more trucks out of the depot, and dealing with the clean-up of waste that has accumulated on the streets. We are supporting the council in doing that. On the question of mutual aid, any mutual aid that is provided by local authorities will be reimbursed.

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

T6. With the recent announcement that Goodman has bought Luton’s Vauxhall van plant site for redevelopment, does the Minister agree that local government has a key role to play in local business and regeneration plans to help drive economic growth?

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[Jim McMahon]

I pay tribute to local leaders in Essex and other places for the leadership they have shown to make sure that there is sustainable and accountable local government at the end of the devolution and reorganisation process. The right hon. Member has our absolute commitment that we will work through those issues with local leaders. As for the election question, elections have been postponed for a year, and it is our intention that routine elections will take place as planned.

[Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South and Walkden) (Lab)]

T7. Many of my constituents in Bolton South and Walkden are living in temporary accommodation. They cannot get a social house and they cannot buy a house, so they have to go into the private rental sector, where rents are sky high. What action are the Government taking to stop landlords exploiting this crisis and to give my constituents a way out of temporary homes?

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[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

This morning, firefighters in Birmingham made it plain that they will stand in solidarity with the bin strikers in Birmingham and not collect the rubbish. We know that there are only 17 workers, which means this is a drop in the ocean financially. Given that the Government have said they will do all they can to bring the strike to an end, will the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that they will force the council to make the payment, and that they will deploy the Army to assist the local charities and organisations that are helping to clear up and need extra support?

[Jim McMahon]

The hon. Gentleman does very well to go from zero to 100 pretty quickly on the issue, but let us step back from the immediacy of it. Clearly, we want all parties to be in the room negotiating the underlying pay, terms and conditions dispute that is at play. To be absolutely clear, there has to be a red line. This cannot stray into potentially compromising the equal pay settlement that has been agreed, so that that all begins to unravel. Bear in mind that that has already cost the local authority £1 billion. We support them, and we want people in the room. The deal has to be a sustainable one that will hold.

[Mr Speaker]

For the final question, I call Alice Macdonald.