Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new homes were provided for social rent by (1) councils, and (2) housing associations, in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing of a variety of tenures so that we can support a range of people in different circumstances and stages in their lives. We’re investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. Since 2010, we’ve delivered over 542,400 new affordable homes, including over 382,300 affordable homes for rent, of which over 149,400 homes for social rent.
The table below shows the number of new social rent homes delivered in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 by provider. The figures include both new build and acquisitions of existing dwellings for affordable housing.
| Local Authority | Private Registered Providers | Non-registered Providers | Unknown | All |
2017-18 | 1,457 | 4,599 | 284 | 402 | 6,742 |
2018-19 | 1,746 | 4,001 | 73 | 517 | 6,337 |
2019-20 | 1,765 | 4,231 | 73 | 575 | 6,644 |
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Liverpool City Council: Best Value inspection report by Max Caller CBE, published on 24 March, which recommended that single-member district council wards be implemented in Liverpool for 2023, whether they intend to proceed with the district council elections in that city in 2022 with the existing ward arrangements.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
On 10 June, the Secretary of State announced via a Written Ministerial Statement his intention to make an Order using his powers in the Local Government Act 2000 providing for whole council elections from 2023. He confirmed that the Order would postpone for one year the May 2022 elections of one third of Liverpool City Councillors and their extend terms of office accordingly. The announcement can be viewed (attached) here:https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-06-10/hcws84
In this announcement, the Secretary of State also clarified that he had directed the Council to consider and consult upon a new submission to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE), as part of the current boundary review, to include consideration of a proposal to reduce the number of Councillors to those consistent with elections on the basis of predominantly single member wards; that is single member wards across the whole Council area save where the LGBCE consider a multi member ward is essential to balance their statutory duties of delivering electoral equality, reflecting interests and identities of local communities, and of promoting effective and convenient local government. The new warding arrangements following the boundary review will be in place ahead of the 2023 elections.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the role and responsibilities of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England will be affected by the inspection of Liverpool City Council.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England, an independent Parliamentary body, is responsible for deciding, and implementing by order subject to a Parliamentary process, warding arrangements and council size as part of their electoral reviews of local government areas. The Commission, when undertaking their electoral review of Liverpool, will have an interest in the recommendations of the Best Value Inspection Report into Liverpool City Council that relate to warding and council size. These issues, however, are entirely a matter for the Commission to decide in accordance with their existing statutory responsibilities.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement that government-appointed commissioners will be introduced to oversee parts of Liverpool City Council, what relationship they expect the commissioners will have with elected city councillors.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
On 24 March 2021, the Secretary of State announced his proposed intervention package for Liverpool City Council, which includes the appointment of Commissioners.
The Secretary of State’s intention is for the Council to continue to take decisions with support from Commissioners, with elected city councillors continuing their essential role of community leadership and engagement through representing the ward for which they are elected, decision-making and scrutiny. However, the Secretary of State is ‘minded to’ empower Commissioners to take decisions on the Council’s behalf if necessary. He is clear that Commissioners’ powers should be used only as a last resort if the Council fails to deliver the necessary changes, at the necessary speed
The Secretary of State has invited Liverpool City Council to make representations on his proposed intervention package by 24 May 2021. This timetable allows the Council, including the new Liverpool City Mayor and her cabinet, to respond to his proposals following the local elections that took place on 6 May 2021. The Secretary of State will carefully consider all the representations submitted to him and update the House on his decision in due course.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the inspection into the governance of Liverpool City Council, what assessment they have made of the need to strengthen the (1) audit, and (2) scrutiny, arrangements for local councils.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Secretary of State published the Best Value Inspection report into Liverpool City Council on 24 March. He will take a final decision on his proposed response, following consideration of any representations received from the Council, after 24 May.
The Government remains committed to strengthening the local audit system. Our 17 December response to the Redmond review sets out how the Department, in partnership with key organisations, will act to strengthen and support the local audit market.
The Department updated the statutory guidance for local and combined authorities on overview and scrutiny in May 2019. Effective scrutiny is vital to ensure that councils can be properly held to account for their decisions, and councils running executive arrangements must put in place overview and scrutiny committees to ensure this takes place.
As with all government policy, we keep the audit and scrutiny arrangements for local government under review.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Liverpool City Council: Best Value inspection report, published on 24 March, what plans they have to strengthen the audit arrangements in place for local authorities.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Government is committed to strengthening the local audit system so that taxpayers and service users are better able to hold councils to account. Our response to the Redmond review, published on 17 December, set out how the Department, in partnership with key organisations, will act to strengthen and support the local audit market.
Action we are taking includes, subject to consultation, enabling audit firms, councils and Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd (PSAA) to agree fees that more closely match the actual costs of audit, and working with key stakeholders to review the entry requirements for Key Audit Partners and how best to improve auditor training, to strike an appropriate balance between ensuring audit quality and market sustainability.
We have also temporarily extended the deadline for the publication of auditor opinions on local authorities’ accounts, and are providing £15 million to support affected local authorities to both meet the growing cost pressures in the audit market and deliver Sir Tony’s recommendations, to be distributed later in the spring.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the arrest of the Mayor of Liverpool in December 2020, what discussions they have had with local government officials about ensuring probity and confidence in the city's administration.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Further to my answer on 23 December - UIN HL11323, Max Caller CBE continues to undertake his inspection of Liverpool City Council’s compliance with regard to its Best Value Duty in relation to the authority’s planning, highways, regeneration and property management functions and the strength of associated audit and governance arrangements. The Secretary of State has asked Max Caller to report his findings by 31 March 2021.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what, if any, conditions they have in place to require local councils to have completed audits of their accounts in order to receive central government funding; and what assessment they have made of whether Liverpool City Council is compliant with any such conditions.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Government does not require local authorities to complete audits of their accounts in order to receive central government funding. However, there may be other conditions attached to individual grants to ensure the funding is used for its intended purpose.
The Accounts and Audit regulations 2015 (SI 234/2015) require councils to submit their draft accounts for public inspection within certain deadlines and, once the public inspection period is completed to approve them. The regulations also require the final accounts to be published (currently by 30 November 2020) once signed off by the auditor as complete. If the authority is unable to publish the completed accounts within the specified deadline they are required to post a notice saying why they are not being published.
To help address the rising number of delayed audits and other concerns with the local audit framework, we commissioned Sir Tony Redmond to review arrangements supporting the effectiveness and quality of local authority financial reporting and external audit within the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. Sir Tony published the outcome of his Review on 8 September and I am pleased to report that we responded, accepting the majority of his recommendations on 17 December. The report can be accessed at the following (attached) link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-financial-reporting-and-external-audit-government-response-to-the-redmond-review
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Liverpool City Council about their process of awarding contracts to developers.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
It is a matter of public record that Merseyside Police have for many months been conducting an investigation which has resulted in a number of arrests made on suspicion of fraud, bribery, corruption and misconduct in public office, both in December 2019 and in September 2020. Further arrests were made on 4 December 2020 in connection with offences of bribery and witness intimidation. This investigation involves a significant connection to Liverpool City Council.
The Secretary of State met with Statutory Officers from Liverpool City Council at his request on Monday 7 December. He was given a range of assurances about the steps the council has taken to improve governance in the Council. Given the seriousness of the issues, the Secretary of State sought additional written assurances, including on any plans for further property disposals, and steps the authority has taken and proposes to take to secure effective governance. A copy of the letter that was sent to the council on Tuesday 8 December can be found (attached) here. Liverpool City Council submitted their response on Friday 11 December.
On 17 December the Secretary of State announced (attached) the appointment of?Max Caller CBE to carry out an inspection?of Liverpool City Council’s compliance with its Best Value Duty in relation to the authority’s planning, highways, regeneration and property management functions and the strength of associated audit and governance arrangements. The Secretary of State has asked Max Caller to report his findings by 31 March 2021.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of appointments of councillors who lack specialist knowledge being appointed to the boards of council-owned companies.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is clear that councillors serving on company boards need particular skills, experience and training, as identified, for example, in the Public Interest Report issued by Nottingham City Council’s external auditors on 11 August 2020. This Public Interest Report followed the identification of serious issues associated with the council’s private energy company Robin Hood Energy.
On 17 December the Secretary of State published a response to the rapid non-statutory review into Nottingham City Council commissioned on 2 November. In his response, the Secretary of State acknowledged the review’s recommendation that the Department publish sector guidance on council-owned companies. This is being considered and an announcement will be made in due course.
Nottingham City Council's non-statutory review report and Secretary of State response can be found (attached) here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nottingham-city-council-rapid-review