Teesworks Programme: Audit
Lord Scriven Excerpts(4 months ago)
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Lord Scriven
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to request the National Audit Office to carry out an inspection to the Teesworks programme, and if so when.
Lord Scriven (LD)
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and so doing draw the House’s attention to my interest set out in the register as a vice-president of the Local Government Association.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Lord Khan of Burnley) (Lab)
The previous Government asked the Tees Valley mayor to provide a progress update in September, following the recommendations of the independent review of Tees Valley Combined Authority’s oversight of the South Tees Development Corporation and Teesworks Joint Venture. Once we have received that update, we will consider whether the questions that need to be answered have been and whether any further action should be taken.
Lord Scriven (LD)
My Lords, many Teessiders’ jaws will drop on the floor when they hear that Answer from the Minister, as every Labour candidate in Teesside promised that a National Audit Office review would take place. In the light of half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money being used and two businessmen making multimillion pound profits without taking any liabilities or any risk to their money, does that constitute best value? Why leave the people who have created the mess to solve the mess without any enforceable action being taken by Government?
Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)
My Lords, I pay tribute to the work the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, does in local government, and I understand the deep emotions that he talks about, because there are outstanding questions to which the public deserve answers. We understand that this issue, like all local issues, is emotive. This is evidenced by it being raised in this House and in the other place several times. In fact, the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, has asked this question before. This Government believe that scrutiny and transparency are important. However, we must carefully consider the mayor’s response, due in September, and we will consider any further action to take when we receive it. We are not ruling out any options, and one option could be requesting the NAO to review.
Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)
That is absolutely the case. However, there are recommendations on decision-making, governance and scrutiny. I appreciate the noble Lord’s question.
Lord Scriven (LD)
My Lords, I appreciate that the Minister has said the Government have to wait for the mayor’s answers to the questions, which is different from what was being said before the Government were on the Government Benches. However, the review panel said in the report that the responses
“reduced our confidence that we have been given access to all relevant materials”.
The panel also said that it had
“not been able to pursue all lines of evidence or examine all transactions”.
Is that not why a full statutory audit is required: so that the Government convince themselves that Teessiders are getting value for money? With a response from the mayor, the report will have not seen all relevant information.
Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)
The noble Lord again makes an important point. I remind the House that it is not the normal role of the NAO to examine or to audit local bodies. However, I understand that the NAO previously stated that it is willing to work outside its usual scope to undertake a review about Teesworks. We cannot prejudge the response of the Mayor of Tees Valley. When we get that response, we will look at it. In relation to the noble Lord’s question, that is another issue for the combined authority and the Mayor of Tees Valley to look at. Whatever happens, once that response is back with the Government, we will look at it and take further action then.
King’s Speech
Lord Scriven Excerpts(4 months, 1 week ago)
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Lord Scriven (LD)
My Lords, I, too, welcome the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hermer, to his place and thank him for a very thoughtful and calm speech, which I am sure will set a good platform for how he wishes to go forward. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Khan of Burnley, to his place. I am sure his knowledge of local government will stand him in good stead. I am very sad that we will be hearing the valedictory speech of the noble Lord, Lord Warner, who I have admired over many years for his insight into health. I look forward to what he has to say.
The new Labour Government’s word is “change”, but what kind of change will we see? With the majority that they have in the House of Commons, will it be bold, radical change or some tinkering at the edges? On the two issues in the gracious Speech that I am going to speak about, I feel it is more tinkering than the bold change that is needed. My view on this House is based on a matter of principle, which is that it should be elected, not appointed. That is not to deflect from the great work that many, if not all, noble Lords do around this House, but as a matter of principle, I believe that this House should have legitimacy based on a democratic process. However, I realise that that is not going to happen under the new Labour Government, at least not in this Parliament, so what we are left with is not a wholesale reform but a piecemeal approach.
In that piecemeal approach, one group in your Lordships’ House seemed to be immune from questioning until the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen, and the noble Viscount, Lord Hailsham, spoke earlier. It is the 26 Church of England Bishops who are guaranteed a place in Parliament. In fact, the Church of England is only institution in the whole country that is by law guaranteed seats in the UK Parliament. In a modern democracy, no religious organisation should be guaranteed seats in a parliament, particularly when less than 1% of the population regularly attends a Church of England service and consistently only 15% to 16% of the population say that bishops should have an automatic place. I believe that in 2024 it is time to end the automatic rights of a particular church to have seats in this Parliament, and I would welcome the Minister’s views on this issue and on why the Government are silent on that.
I am a total advocate of a federal approach to governing the UK. Such an approach is successful throughout Europe, with fiscal and policy devolution, and not just the policy decentralisation that we have in the UK. I register my interest as a vice-president of the Local Government Association. Real devolution can be seen across Europe, whether in the Länder of Germany, the cantons of Switzerland or the regions of France. It allows local leaders to have their hands on the levers of both fiscal and policy devolution. I am interested in the direction of travel that the new Government have signalled on English devolution, but I worry that it will not have the maximum impact, as it seems to be just more of the same with a few extras added in. I feel that there may be a little bit of top-down pushing, and that the culture in Whitehall may not have changed. The Bill on English devolution will direct that each area must have a local growth plan. It will be interesting to see how prescriptive these plans are and whether they will be used to push the national Government’s agenda, rather than local priorities. Time and the detail of the Bill will tell.
What is missing from the Labour Party manifesto and the gracious Speech is fiscal devolution. That is the elephant in the room when it comes to English devolution—an opportunity missed, and one that needs to be addressed. I hope that the Government will pilot a tax assignment scheme in one area of England to examine the benefits that it could bring. They will not have to look far, as the Institute for Government has suggested a way of doing this. A small percentage of national insurance—it suggests 5% of local national insurance—could be retained to the local area, but the rates and bands still set by the Treasury. This would help stimulate growth through local initiative and help with investment pressures. Until we get some form of fiscal devolution in England, the grand words about unleashing the full potential and opportunities of the areas and regions of England will not be achieved. I hope the Minister will respond to this in a positive light.
Spending Commitments to Local Councils
Lord Scriven Excerpts(4 months, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
The noble Lord is a great champion of libraries, culture and arts in this Chamber. The severe pressure that local authority funding has come under in recent years has had a particular impact there. We will want to look closely at whether we can help alleviate those pressures. Libraries provide such a fantastic resource for our communities, as do the leisure facilities that local authorities provide.
Lord Scriven (LD)
My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-president to the Local Government Association. Will the Government support a pilot in one area, as laid out by the Institute for Government, for a small tax assignment scheme to test what it says will be the positive impact for local areas’ revenue? If not, why not?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I am sure that officials in my department are looking with great care at the report concerned. We will consider all the recommendations in it with due care, as we always would.