Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Monday 4th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

13. What steps his Department is taking to help ensure the financial sustainability of local authorities.

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Michael Gove)]

We have made available up to £64.7 billion for local authorities through the local government finance settlement for 2024-25—an above-inflation increase of up to £4.5 billion, or 7.5% in cash terms, on 2023-24. Of course, that includes an additional £600 million of funding, which was announced by my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government on 24 January.

[Nigel Mills]

Aside from potholes, the issue that has caused the most angst for Derbyshire County Council is the significant rise in the cost of residential placements for looked-after children. The council believes that the market for this is now completely out of control and that prices are excessive. Is there more that the Government can do to help councils financially to pay these bills or to find a better way to structure that market so that the bills are not so high?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We are spending £500 million additionally on adult and children’s social care, but he is right to say that the cost of residential homes for looked-after children is excessive, and a number of private equity firms are operating like bandits in this area. I have talked to the Minister responsible, the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (David Johnston), and action will be forthcoming.

Levelling Up

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Wednesday 2nd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I respectfully disagree. When I was recently visiting Merthyr and Pontypridd, I found that actually the investment we are making through the levelling-up fund was welcomed by Labour and independent councillors in south Wales. Obviously, we need to do more not just for south Wales but for north Wales, which is why there is a commitment in the White Paper to ensure more civil service jobs move to Wrexham.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I, too, welcome the investment in education and public transport in Derbyshire. While my right hon. Friend is negotiating county deals in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, will he perhaps give a little shove towards full proper devolution and a mayor for the east midlands?

[Michael Gove]

That is definitely worth exploring. I recognise that there are particular geographical—what is the word?—issues across the east midlands, but I think the success of Andy Street in the west midlands has meant that more options are opening.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Monday 25th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

5. What plans his Department has to increase devolution across the UK.

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Michael Gove)]

This Government plan to expand, augment and increase devolution across the United Kingdom, and we have already begun discussions with areas interested in county deals, and we will be setting out next steps in the levelling up White Paper.

[Nigel Mills]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. In the east midlands, we look with some envy at neighbouring regions that have elected mayors and have successfully attracted more investment. I urge him to make progress on an east midlands elected mayor. In the meantime, if he cannot do that, Derbyshire stands ready for a county deal and would appreciate being a pathfinder.

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Expanding the model of combined authority mayors and a greater level of devolution are at the heart of making sure that local communities have strong leaders who can make a decisive difference, not least in the economic sphere. I know that Derbyshire County Council is now under exemplary Conservative leadership and we hope to be able to build on that.

UK-EU Negotiations

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Tuesday 16th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

The last round of talks finished with Michel Barnier waving around the declaration from last year. Does the Minister agree that he should wave it towards EU leaders and ask them to refine his mandate so that he has more chance of making a deal on state aid and fishing?

[Michael Gove]

Yes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Monday 4th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking with UK manufacturers to increase the supply of personal protective equipment.

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Michael Gove)]

Every NHS and careworker must get the personal protective equipment they need. That is why we have appointed Lord Deighton to lead a national effort to boost PPE production and to support the scaling up of engineering efforts for small companies capable of contributing supplies.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Gove]

Again, I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the efforts that he and his constituents are making. It is the case that specifications of the type of personal protective equipment required in a health and social care setting have been shared by the NHS and by Public Health England, but it is also the case that companies are in a conversation with the Department of Health and Social Care about what more they might be able to do to augment those who are not necessarily operating in those settings.

[Nigel Mills]

I thank the businesses, and also John Flamsteed Community School in Amber Valley, who have been making PPE for healthcare providers. Does the Minister agree that we are going to need UK manufacturers to keep making this equipment for the long term, and will he therefore be able to relax procurement rules to allow these people to have some longer-term contracts so that they can get maximum efficiency in producing this equipment?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. We do need to show flexibility in the way in which procurement operates, particularly in order to ensure that we have domestic production in the future upon which we can rely. My right hon. Friend Lord Deighton is leading the work in this area.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am never surprised when I hear a kind word from the Chair. It is no more than I have come to expect.

Implicit in the hon. Gentleman’s question was the idea that we should reduce funding to extend early education to two-year-olds. I do not believe that is right. I believe it is right that we increase the amount we spend on early intervention from £2.2 billion to £2.3 billion, to £2.4 billion and then to £2.5 billion. That is an increase in anyone’s money.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

6. How many places he expects to be available in studio schools by 2015.

Exam Reform

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I looked at everything that had been written by the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Businesses, and in so doing, I could see the widespread view among business that we needed to reform GCSEs. I look forward to hearing from individual businesses about their views of specific aspects of the reform. However, among businesses, there was a universal view that examinations had been discredited and dumbed down under the previous Government and that, at last, the nettle was being grasped.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

I welcome the statement. What can my right hon. Friend do to ensure that students in the next five years also obtain qualifications that are well regarded by prospective employers?

[Michael Gove]

One thing that the coalition Government have done is allow schools that are concerned about the quality of GCSEs, particularly the modular nature of some GCSEs, to teach the IGCSE. I visited a state school in Hertfordshire on Friday, where a mathematics teacher told me that she hoped that we would adopt a system that was more similar to the IGCSE, because that would help inject greater rigour into the process. I was able to reassure her that we were learning from best international practice and that I would encourage all schools to consider how the IGCSE might be an appropriate preparation for the changes that we hope to introduce.

School Funding Reform

Debate between Nigel Mills and Michael Gove

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

Parents, pupils and teachers alike at the four schools in Swanwick and Alfreton in my constituency that lost their BSF funding will head into the summer in a much more optimistic mood following the announcement that there might be some funding coming their way. Will my right hon. Friend advise them on whether they should think about dusting off the radical BSF plans that were scrapped—or should they perhaps be looking for a simpler and more cost-effective approach to replace buildings that are in desperate need of rebuilding?

[Michael Gove]

Emphatically the latter.