Business of the House

Matt Western Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I am sorry to hear about that and the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The Scottish Government should be prioritising nursery provision and ensuring that people in rural constituencies such as his have access to that vital provision. He will know that, as the consequence of the Budget, the Scottish Government received a boon of over 20% more per person than the rest of the UK, so they have no excuses for the actions they are taking.

[Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab)]

I am sure that everyone in the House is concerned about the use of public money. In my constituency, a council is employing leaf blowers to blow leaves around a redundant car park, and a county council has spent £11 million on levelling a field for a school playing field and £16 million on a bridge to nowhere, so may we have a debate on how we can better scrutinise the use of public money in local government?

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend raises a really important matter. Local people want to know that their council tax is going towards the services that they want to see in their communities. Nothing frustrates our constituents more than seeing things in their area and their community that they perceive to be, frankly, a waste of money. This Government are committed to bringing more accountability and audit into local government, and we will bring forward legislation on that soon.