Draft Buckinghamshire Council, Surrey County Council and Warwickshire County Council (Housing and Regeneration Functions) Regulations 2025
Lincoln Jopp Excerpts(1 week ago)
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Jim McMahon
In a sense, these are legacy agreements made under the previous Government that we are keen to honour. We know that councils worked in good faith when preparing their devolution agreements with the previous Government, and we want to ensure that—notwithstanding the transition period following the English devolution and community empowerment Bill—we can honour those arrangements as much as possible. It is accepted that we are in a period of significant transition for local government in England, both in reorganisation and the creation of new combined authorities in these areas, but we do not think that is a reason in itself to hold back powers.
If the point comes when these areas receive a mayoral strategic authority, as it will be known under the new Bill—the Houses of Parliament need to go through the process of confirming that position—the powers will be conferred, alongside a range of other powers, which would be quite normal. I should say that nothing will be presented to Parliament in the English devolution Bill that cuts across what we now consider to be the foundational agreements that are in place. We would encourage willing local authorities to collaborate and come together, even if that is without a mayor being in place, so that further powers can be devolved to current local authorities.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
I declare an interest as a Surrey Member of Parliament, and my constituency of Spelthorne is the northernmost borough of Surrey. Can I just confirm whether the changes that we are making today still require Spelthorne borough council to give permission for compulsory purchase, when we have handed those powers to Surrey county council?
Jim McMahon
I can check that particular point about the role of district councils in authorising. It may be that we follow up with officials on that point. I would also add that areas in Surrey are part of the accelerated timetable for local reorganisation, and we are now out to consult on the final proposals that have met the statutory test that we set out. We are in that statutory process and that will move to shadow elections for the new unitary authorities as early as May next year. At that point, there will be a transfer of power and responsibilities across to the new unitary councils, and at that point we will consider new SIs that transfer the powers from the existing council structures to the new unitary councils as they come into force. It may well be that, later, there is a devolution agreement set across that bigger geography that we then return to as part of a second SI. We are in a period of transition, and it will take time. We did not believe that it would be right not to fulfil the agreement of the previous Government with the councils that have acted in good faith, notwithstanding those transitional arrangements.
That brings me back to the statutory tests. It is our belief that the economic, the social and environmental wellbeing of some or all of the people who live or work in the relevant areas will be met. I thank local leaders and their councils for their hard work in the Government’s critical mission to widen and deepen devolution in their areas. I commend these regulations to the Committee.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lincoln Jopp Excerpts(4 weeks ago)
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Dame Nia Griffith
There was a real range of questions there. We are bringing forward legislation that affects England and Wales, but I can assure the hon. Member that we are in talks with officials in the Scottish Parliament on that very issue. I also assure her that we will be bringing this legislation forward very soon, and that there will be a proper opportunity for that pre-legislative scrutiny, which I know she will want to take part in.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)
The Minister for Women and Equalities (Bridget Phillipson)
Attainment for boys is, on average, lower than for girls. This Government are determined to understand and address the drivers behind that. We are focused on driving educational excellence everywhere, for every child in every school, and my schools White Paper in the autumn will set out our vision for a system that delivers on excellence for everyone.
Lincoln Jopp
Recent research by the Centre for Social Justice showed that at key stage 1, key stage 2, GCSEs, A-levels and T-levels, boys are underperforming girls. We simply cannot allow half a generation not to be allowed to reach their full potential. As part of her approach, will the Secretary of State consider looking at whether boys might need to be taught somewhat differently from girls?
Bridget Phillipson
I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s interest in this area and the constructive way in which he is approaching an important topic. I, too, have looked at the research from the Centre for Social Justice, which provides some important pointers. Through the schools White Paper, we will consider all the ways we can better support boys and young men as one group. We know that the performance of free school meals-eligible white British boys is particularly low; that is something we inherited from the Conservatives.
Chinese Embassy Development
Lincoln Jopp Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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Matthew Pennycook
I will take the two aspects of the hon. Lady’s question in turn, if I may. We will be vigilant against the full range of hybrid, cyber, space and other threats from state and non-state actors, including those emanating from China. On her specific question about the planning application, all the representations made to the Planning Inspectorate as part of that public inquiry are publicly available for hon. Members to see. Ministers, when they come to make a decision on the basis of the inspector’s reports and recommendations, will do so taking into account material planning considerations.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
Is the planning officer who is considering this case cleared to receive top-secret information?
Matthew Pennycook
A planning inspector is assessing the case as part of a public inquiry. Although I recognise why the hon. Gentleman has asked the question, I am afraid it would not be appropriate for me to comment on national security matters.
Birmingham: Waste Collection
Lincoln Jopp Excerpts(2 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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Jim McMahon
I think I have covered this at least a couple of times. As I said, we are grateful to our colleagues in the Ministry of Defence for the logistical support they have provided. We had three members of staff on logistical planning; they have had a significant impact, and we and the council are grateful for that. There is no requirement for troops to be deployed on the streets to collect waste, because the council is getting on top of it. We do not take that for granted, and we do not want any disruption to that, but to be clear, the military are not needed on the streets of Birmingham. The council have the situation in hand, and workers are doing that work today.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
I have a genuine question for the Minister. I am a little bit confused about what these three supermen and women from the MOD or the military have done. One of the principles of mutual aid and military aid to a civil authority is that the people being helped must not have the capacity themselves, and it must be unreasonable to expect them to grow that capacity in a timely manner. What have those people done that Birmingham city council could not do itself?
Jim McMahon
I am usually a bit suspicious when somebody starts their question with “This is a genuine question”, but that was actually a proper question. Members could learn from it. [Interruption.] Calm down. On the added value that the MOD was able to provide, every council has rotas for getting bins collected from a given place. Birmingham had mutual aid offers from other councils, and it had to work out how best to use quite different offers of support—how to deploy trucks and available workers across the city, working in a different way. The logistical workers from the MOD supported the creation of new collection rounds to clear the accumulated waste.
Residential Estate Management Companies
Lincoln Jopp Excerpts(2 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
I congratulate the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) on securing this debate. I want to give the House a message of hope. FirstPort was responsible for Lendy Place, a development in Sunbury in my Spelthorne constituency some 10 minutes’ walk from where I live. I was contacted by Mr Saponaro, who set up the residents association there. The usual FirstPort management company rap sheet was at play there, with a constant change of account managers, service charge hikes, substandard accountancy and depletion of funds. The company was even at one stage proposing to charge an additional £40,000 to accommodate post-Grenfell regulations. When it was pointed out that Lendy Place was only three storeys high so those regulations did not apply, FirstPort simply said, “Whoops, sorry, we overlooked that,” and the bill went away.
The residents of Lendy Place were so disappointed with FirstPort’s performance that they did what the hon. Member for South Devon suggested, which can be a very tortuous process, and removed FirstPort as the managing agent. The residents are very happy with the new managing agent company, which, if I had texted a lot quicker, I would have a name for. I am meeting the residents of Lendy Place shortly and I look forward to reporting back to the House and similar forums how they went through the process of removing FirstPort. I can tell hon. Members with amazing tales of woe around this Chamber that there is hope. It can be done. With hon. Members’ support and no doubt their tenaciousness, Members’ residents can in future remove substandard management companies from their role.
Oral Answers to Questions
Lincoln Jopp Excerpts(3 months, 1 week ago)
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Alex Norris
I have been there. It is horrible in opposition. It gets to the point where, a couple of hours before orals, someone tells you that have to ask the clip question on council tax. All I will say to the hon. Gentleman is that I know that the people of our country are smart enough to decide which of us they would rather.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
The Government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising service charges are placing on leaseholders. That is why we intend to consult on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024’s provisions on service charges and bring them into force as quickly as possible thereafter. This year, we will also consult on strengthening the regulation of managing agents, including, as a minimum, introducing mandatory professional qualifications to set a new basic standard that managing agents will be required to meet.
Lincoln Jopp
On Friday, I met with Jacqui, Gary and Simon in Fairwater Drive in my Spelthorne constituency. Jacqui’s service charge is going up from £1,500 a year to £4,800. I sat down and had a look at the bills, and they are without any itemisation, so it is impossible to know where to start with the property manager. The Minister wrote in response to a recent written question:
“We will set out our full position on regulation of estate, letting and managing agents in due course.”
Can he give some reassurance to Jacqui, Gary and Simon that their interests will not be put on to the back-burner and suggest when “in due course” might be?