Steve Brine
Main Page: Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)Fourth Carbon Budget
Steve Brine Excerpts
Chris Huhne
The Transport Secretary has responsibility for these matters, and it is well above my pay grade.
Mr Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and welcome the Government’s ambition in this area. Given the critical role local authorities must surely play in delivering their goals, how does the Secretary of State intend to help local councils do their bit?
Chris Huhne
The most important way in which this Government can help local councils be innovative, creative and imaginative is to get away from telling them what to do from Westminster. We must remove ring-fencing and make sure local councils can take responsibility for their own decisions. As my hon. Friend knows, we have some robust debates about the priorities between different levels of government in Hampshire, and that is as it should be. Those priorities are determined by the councils—whether the county council at Winchester by the Conservatives, or the district council at Eastleigh by the Liberal Democrats. They make different decisions and it is proper that they should then be accountable to local people for those decisions.