John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)
Mr Pickles
My hon. Friend makes my point very well. As the Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for local government and planning announced, we are considering financial assessments. Often the kind of authority to which my hon. Friend referred could do with some help with procurement—we have seen a number of smaller districts get together—and we would certainly hope to deal with weekly collections in all their various forms.
Mr Speaker
Order. If the Secretary of State could face the Chamber, we will all benefit from hearing the full flow of his eloquence.
Caroline Flint (Don Valley) (Lab)
This money has been recycled many times over. At the Conservative party conference in October 2008, the Secretary of State promised:
“Under a Conservative Government, the weekly bin collection will be back.”
Since the election, eight Tory councils, including in the Prime Minister’s own constituency, have abandoned weekly bin collections, and the Secretary of State has been forced into a humiliating U-turn. Why can he not deliver on his promises?
Greg Clark
The problem with Birmingham is that it has a legacy of mismanagement and waste from the days of Labour control, which lasted quite a long time. If the hon. Gentleman is interested in the economies, as I am, will he tell us his position and that of the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint)? He is the Rasputin of the Labour party, the power behind the throne of Edward Miliband. I have to warn the Leader of the Opposition, however, that the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) is an acolyte of the shadow Chancellor. In Wimbledon fortnight, it would perhaps be appropriate to say that he is one of Balls’ boys. Is it the shadow Secretary of State’s policy to add an extra £13 billion of cuts? Yes or no? And would that come from borrowing, or would it yet again come from local government? Will she tell us what her policy is? In the week that—
Mr Speaker
Order. I am grateful to the Minister, but he must now resume his seat. In the name of utilising our time properly—I use the word “properly” advisedly—we must focus questions and answers on the policies of the Government.
Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Con)
5. How much funding his Department has allocated from the new homes bonus scheme (a) to Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency and (b) in total since the scheme’s inception.
Mr Pickles
My advice to the hon. Gentleman is to cancel the leaflet. If it has already gone, pull it back. There is no intention whatsoever, under any circumstances, that he should lose 34%—not in one lump, not in a series of lumps. He is going to have to trust me. We are producing a scheme that he will like. We are producing a scheme such that he might even consider crossing the Floor.
Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)
19. What steps he is taking to increase the fiscal autonomy of local authorities.
Grant Shapps
The simple answer is yes. I have visited the hon. Gentleman’s constituency and seen some of the problems for myself. I am very much in favour of the discretionary local licensing schemes, which can play an important part. I pledge that when I come back to see his Collyhurst estate, which is about to have its decent homes funding get under way and have work done on that, I will be very happy to visit one of those licensing schemes.
Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell) (Con)
Will my right hon. Friend visit my constituency so that I can show him at first hand the greenfield land that is being developed, while thousands of units neighbouring my constituency, which have been approved by Leeds city council for building on, are being completely ignored by housing developers, thereby totally undermining any regeneration the city would like to achieve?
Mr Pickles
We have delivered a good settlement for local government; we are looking to reduce our own Department, including reducing at the top and reducing numbers; and we are looking to extend that by offering help on growth, on enterprise zones and on local partnerships for growth. This Department has changed enormously over the past year by becoming pro-growth and helpful to local communities, offering power to local government and ensuring that ordinary people do not face a big increase in council tax.
Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)
In the Westminster city council area, 3,000 elderly and disabled people are losing social care, children’s centres are being cut, street cleansing is being cut and the youth service is being cut. In the light of that, does the Secretary of State think it is a good use of public money to run a summer roadshow
“to counter the messages that people are hearing about council services being reduced or withdrawn”?