John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)
Greg Clark
Of course, the hon. Lady never saw a piece of spending that she did not like. The hypocrisy is to complain about the inevitable consequences of the previous Government’s overspending. As she has the opportunity, perhaps she will just nod and agree that no council—for example, a Labour council looking to her for leadership—should cut disproportionately. It is a time for leadership from the Opposition Front-Bench team. If they want to hang around like ghouls, wailing and moaning from the sidelines, they can do so, but they should take a lead and give a message to Labour councils.
Mr Speaker
Order. To date there has been no breach of order from either the Opposition Front Bench or the Treasury Bench, but I remind hon. and right hon. Members that they should be very careful in their use of the word “hypocrisy”.
Mr Chuka Umunna (Streatham) (Lab)
5. What assessment he has made of the equity of the distribution of Government funding for local authorities.
Mr Umunna
Of course, the fact is that the most deprived single-tier local authorities are seeing their spending power reduced by nearly four times the amount of the least deprived local authorities. For example, Lambeth—the Minister omitted this point—is having to make just under £40 million-worth of cuts to services in my area, including to Lambeth senior citizens day centre in Brixton Hill. That centre provides food and a place to go for—[Interruption.]
Mr Speaker
Order. It seems to be contagious. Both sides are taking too long. We will have a quick question from Mr Umunna.
Grant Shapps
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that there are problems with the allocation policy at the moment. One thing that we plan to do through the Localism Bill is to provide much greater flexibility to allocations. For example, if somebody is seeking to move home within the sector, they should not have to join the back of the regular queue. In addition, by the end of this year we will have set up a mobility scheme, which will cover 90% of homes in this country.
Mr Speaker
David Morris is not here. The grouping therefore falls and Mr Ruffley’s question will follow later.
Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
12. What steps his Department is taking to protect green spaces from development.
Greg Clark
It would be an excellent time. My hon. Friend’s suggestion should apply to councils throughout the country.
Mr Speaker
I call Robert Halfon. He is not here. I therefore call David Rutley to ask Question 21.
Mr Speaker
Order. I apologise. The hon. Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon) has just entered the Chamber. He is only just in time, but he is here.
Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)
20. What recent estimate he has made of the average change to council tax bills for households in (a) Harlow, (b) Epping Forest and (c) Essex between 2010-11 and 2011-12.
David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)
21. What mechanisms his Department is using to achieve efficiency savings in its budget for 2011-12.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Eric Pickles)
I am sure the whole House would like to place on record its gratitude for the professionalism and commitment of the 60 firefighters who are deployed as part of the UK’s international search and rescue team assisting the victims of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. With the number of dead and missing growing daily, our thoughts are with the brave Japanese people.
The Budget revealed our plans to help support local enterprise and jobs, including the extension of the business rates holiday for small firms and small shops. The Department is the lead Department for enterprise zones, and we will make further announcements in the coming weeks. Letters detailing the first payments of the new homes bonus go out to local authorities today. The Department has published its plans for a future of local audit and delivery that is better value for money for taxpayers than the failed Audit Commission regime. The new rules to stop unfair competition from municipal newspapers are now in effect. I am sure that local press and the public noticed that Labour MPs voted en bloc to defend town hall Pravdas.
Annette Brooke
May I associate myself with the Secretary of State’s comments on those brave firefighters, and express sympathy for the people of Japan?
With reference to the review of the statutory duties placed on local authorities, the Secretary of State will be aware that there is a great deal of concern among families with disabled children and young people. Can he give us some clarity on this matter, and confirm that no changes will be made to statutory duties relating to that group without formal consultation and a full impact assessment?