Local Government: Funding

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I have to say that it is very difficult to take lessons from the Benches opposite about local government funding, particularly in relation to council house building. The noble Lord will be well aware of the steps we have already taken to increase overall funding for local government but also that we have taken big steps to alter right to buy so that local authorities can keep 100% of the receipts they get from right-to-buy properties. We are changing the position on new properties built by local councils so they do not have to sell them at less than they built them for. We are fixing the foundations of a very broken system that we inherited from 14 years of the noble Lord’s Government.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the last Tory Government spent 14 years taking money from the poorest local authorities and giving it to the richest ones. Will the Minister guarantee that the system that comes forward will be fair and be based on the need to spend?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right. The review that we are undertaking as part of the spending review in the spring will do just that. We made some steps forward in this year’s settlement; we need to take further steps in that regard, and the local government funding formula will be reset to take account of need.

National Insurance: Employer Contributions

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The denial of responsibility from that side of the House is quite astonishing. Public services were broken by neglect from the party opposite for 14 years. I am surprised that they do not see the irony in complaining about the measures we are having to take to sort out that mess, including our commitment to an additional £680 million for social care, further funding for local government and a real-terms boost for local government funding. I would rather hear some other ideas from that side of the House than complaints about what we are doing.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Following the Minister’s response, does she agree that the last Government left a massive deficit in the Budget and that, while they do not like the national insurance increases, they have no suggestions whatever on how to bridge the massive gap that they left us?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I agree with my noble friend. When we start to get some alternatives from the other side of the House, I might be more prepared to listen to their arguments about not putting NICs up.

Housebuilding: Regional Mayors

Lord Watts Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, we have done an extensive consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework. We reintroduced government housing targets, because we want to deliver 1.5 million homes over this Parliament. We are going to do that with the aggregate of targets from local plans, so we will consult local mayors as they develop their role in strategic plan making.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that, to increase the number of houses available, we will need to deal with the way housebuilders keep some of the stock off the record and land-bank? Will we do something about land-banking to make sure that, if developers do not develop land, someone else will?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We will take measures to deal with land-banking and the situation with long-term empty homes. Sometimes, homes are built but still not occupied. We will increase funding to make those affordable homes and remove tax incentives and informal approaches. If they do not work, local authorities can use enforced sale procedures or empty dwelling management orders to make sure that land and property are used for their intended purposes.

Shared Prosperity Fund: Wales

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, I politely disagree with the noble Baroness. The previous Government funded many local growth programmes, including the UK shared prosperity fund. However, they did not make adequate provision in the Budget to do so. This Government have been clear that they will take the difficult but responsible decisions to ensure we fix the foundations of our country’s finances and, more importantly, meet the commitment in our manifesto. From March 2026, we will work with our Welsh Government counterparts to ensure that the allocation of that money is decided by people in Wales.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the previous Government announced a levelling up fund, but we saw a lot of words but no funding. Will this Government’s attempt to level up be more successful in getting more resources to the regions that need them?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My noble friend raises an important point. Many aspects of levelling up did not work, not just in Wales but across the United Kingdom. The Government are having a transitional year, during which we will work with our Welsh Government counterparts to ensure what is best for local projects and local communities. As for the future, the answer is yes: we will ensure that the Welsh Government have enough time to plan and decide on structural funding so that they have the best ability to put the money into their local communities.

Social Housing: Awaab’s Law

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

I absolutely agree with my noble friend’s excellent and eloquent point. It is for us all to learn lessons from what happened. She talked about the wider societal issues and unfortunate challenges we have to deal with, and I hope that we can work together across government to address them.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, in 1997, the Labour Government inherited damp and cold houses, and they had years to try to fix them. This Government have inherited from the previous Government 13 years of neglect. I welcome the measures that the Government are taking. Can the Minister introduce them as quickly as possible?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

I note my noble friend’s point. There is a challenge ahead. There is a different set of economic circumstances in 2024 than there was in 1997, but we are equally focused to ensure that we can tackle this scourge in both the private and social rented sectors. We will work hard to ensure that, after the responses to the consultation, we can move on swiftly—which was the premise of the Question tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Scott.