Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 10th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)]

Further to the coalition agreement—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think the right hon. Gentleman should have requested a grouping with questions 9 and 15.

[Mr Pickles]

You are absolutely right, Mr Speaker. I was just so happy to be here. I hope that I do not go on too long—[Hon. Members: “So do we.”] Well, I was not thinking of putting it to a vote.

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[Zac Goldsmith]

I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on his welcome return to the Communities and Local Government brief. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Minister, not only for his recent work in developing the Government’s ambitious low-carbon economy programme, but for his long-term battle to give communities the power they need to stand up for themselves against inappropriate development.

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for his answer, but will he reassure the House and my constituents that he intends to repeal perverse rules that prevent local councillors from standing up for their constituents—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but I must now cut off the hon. Gentleman. From now on, questions and answers must be briefer.

[Mr Pickles]

I think I got the gist; I think my hon. Friend was referring to predetermination and I am delighted to inform the House that it is our intention to repeal those regulations. That means we can give local councils the thing that Members of Parliament so desire—that councillors with opinions can actually vote on those opinions.

[Mr Speaker]

Matthew Offord is not here, so I call Bob Blackman.

[Bob Blackman]

In Harrow East, the decision to safeguard gardens will be warmly welcomed, but another problem remains: unscrupulous developers whose planning application is turned down by councillors at local level, but who then appeal. What proposals are there to prevent the overturning of local planning decisions on appeal?

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[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Can the Secretary of State confirm that the new regulations to stop having to build on gardens will also apply to local authority-owned gardens, not just to privately owned gardens—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I must very gently tell the hon. Gentleman that that was the subject of Question 1, but we have moved on to Question 2, and we will now move on to Question 3.

[Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

3. What plans he has for the future regulation of the private rented housing sector.

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[Grant Shapps]

I thank my hon. Friend for pointing out that many communities feel put upon due to the regional spatial strategies and many other centrally imposed items. We will ensure—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The right hon. Gentleman is seeking to respond to the question, but it is outwith the terms of that on the Order Paper.

[David Wright (Telford) (Lab)]

What discussions has the Minister held with landlord organisations about possible changes to the capital gains tax regime as it relates to private landlords?

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[Robert Neill]

I have no intention of taking lectures from a member of a Cabinet that left this country record levels of debt. Unless there are cuts, by 2014 we will be paying more in interest on the debt than we will in council tax, business rates, inheritance tax and stamp duty combined.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr John Denham.

[Mr Denham]

indicated dissent.

[Mr Speaker]

Not on this one. I therefore call Mr Clive Betts.

[Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)]

Regarding today’s written statement, does the Minister not accept that local authorities have been at the forefront of making efficiency savings—2% year on year—so to ask for a further 1% part way through the year, on top of the 2% to which they are already committed, will effectively mean cuts in local authority spending part way through the year of about 4% to 5%? Rather than being about efficiency savings, this is surely the first round of the savage cuts for local authorities that Ministers promised us.

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[Robert Neill]

Those in greatest need ultimately bear the burden of paying off the debt which this country has been left—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I know that these are high-octane exchanges, but the House must calm down, because people lower down the Order Paper deserve a chance to get in.

[Robert Neill]

I hope that the right hon. Gentleman recognises that, if we are to have sustainable, quality local government services, the first thing we have to do is get this country’s economic mess sorted out.

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[Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)]

8. What steps he is taking to improve the co-ordination of Government policy on homelessness.

[Mr Speaker]

We need a Minister at the Dispatch Box.

[The Minister for Housing (Grant Shapps)]

That will be me then.

The most important thing is that there is an honest street count, but there has not been such a count up to now. We will introduce measures to take street counts into account. The last street count said that there were just 468 people sleeping rough in the entire country: it is nonsense, and we are going to get it sorted.

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[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

May I start by congratulating the new Minister on being appointed to work in my old office? He has a great team of civil servants, and it was a privilege to work with them. I congratulate also the new Housing Minister on his promotion, but it is a real shame that he, along with the Prime Minister and, this week, the Chancellor, should choose to use their first appearances at the Dispatch Box to give such inaccurate information about the housing pledge that the previous Government announced two years ago. The Housing Minister knows full well that the costs were agreed with the Treasury and would have been met with £340 million from capital under-spends in other Departments and £540 million in greater departmental flexibilities. If that had not been the case, the Government’s accounting officer would have prevented us from making the announcement. If that pledge—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Gentleman should resume his seat. I think that we have got the thrust of it. We are pretty clear.

[Andrew Stunell]

Unfortunately, the hon. Gentleman is wrong, and, as it will become clear when statements are made in the emergency Budget and elsewhere, we are putting the financial package back together again.

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[The Minister for Housing (Grant Shapps)]

The national fiscal position is severe, and we have had to make some very difficult decisions on savings. That is why on 24 May we announced that the Government would be making £6.2 billion of savings this year. We have estimated that planned savings in the housing programme will reduce the number of affordable houses. That is why we brought forward another £170 million to ensure that 4,000 could be completed.

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mary Creagh.

[Mary Creagh]

Thank you, Mr Speaker; it is an honour finally to be called by you. [Hon. Members: “Oh!”]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. People should not be so unkind. I know that the hon. Lady was not criticising the Chair—she would not do that.

[Mary Creagh]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would never dare to criticise you, as you well know.

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his new role. The residents of the Lupset estate in Wakefield are anxiously scanning the horizon for the sounds of his private plane jetting in to tell them which of their homes are going to survive the cuts to the decent homes standard. We are also very concerned about what calculation is made as regards the impact on the construction sector of the net cut of £60 million in the affordable housing programme. How will that cut affect the 1.8 million families he is so concerned about who are languishing nationally on the council lists?

[Mr Speaker]

That was three questions, but we will have one answer from the Minister.

[Grant Shapps]

Those of us on the Government Benches who care about things such as homelessness and affordable housing provision do not need to take lectures from a Government who, during their 13 years in office, produced less affordable housing than the Thatcher and Major Governments. The simple fact is that we want this stuff to go ahead, and that is why the £170 million has been brought forward. The reality is that if one runs the country like the money is never going to run out, one ends up in exactly this position. Rather than blaming us for it, it would be good to look closer to home.

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[Claire Perry]

Will the Minister confirm that the plans we set out in our manifesto to make the funding formula more transparent—[Interruption.] Excuse me—I would like Opposition Members to listen. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Lady is entitled to be heard, and I want to hear her.

[Claire Perry]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will start again.

Will the Minister confirm that the plans to make the funding formula more transparent and independently audited are still intact? That is a matter of great concern in my constituency of Devizes and all the Wiltshire constituencies, because we receive the lowest amount of funding from central Government of any unitary authority.

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am sorry, but all good things come to an end. We must now move on.