Rushanara Ali
Main Page: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Mr Foster
We will certainly have a look at attendance at the exhibition, but already 1,803 green deal assessments have been lodged and 77 green deal assessor organisations are in place. We are making significant progress, but I will look at the point raised by the hon. Lady.
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab)
16. What representations he has received which support the privatisation of fire and rescue services.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)
The short answer is none. The Labour party’s claim that the Government are privatising, or seeking to privatise, the fire service is completely untrue. Rather, we are supporting locally led mutuals and co-operatives, which I would have thought the Labour party would have backed, given that its coalition partner is the Co-operative party.
Rushanara Ali
The fire service Minister has written to the Chair of the House of Commons Regulatory Reform Committee outlining plans that could lead to 112 fire stations across Greater London being run by a private company. Why is he planning to take such risks? I do not agree that there is no plan. We know already that companies such as AssetCo have cost taxpayers millions of pounds. Will he give a straight answer?
Brandon Lewis
I just did. The Labour party is giving out information that is simply not correct. We are looking to work with an area such as Cleveland, for example, where the Labour-led fire authority wants to mutualise. We think that mutualisation is good and the right thing to do, so I am disappointed that the Labour party seems to be turning away from co-operatives and mutuals. I would have thought it supported them, given the discussion in a recent publication by the Co-operative party containing a foreword endorsed by the leader of the Labour party.