Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Oral Answers to Questions

Tracy Brabin Excerpts
Monday 27th February 2017

(7 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Barwell Portrait Gavin Barwell
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Absolutely. Starter homes are an important part of the way in which the Government are going to try to help people to get into home ownership. There are a number of different schemes—[Interruption.] We are not proceeding with a statutory obligation because that reflects the view expressed to us by large numbers of people. Starter homes go alongside shared ownership and the Help to Buy scheme. None of these schemes existed when the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) was housing Minister and did nothing to reverse to the decline in home ownership.

Tracy Brabin Portrait Tracy Brabin (Batley and Spen) (Lab)
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8. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the effects of devolution deals are felt across England.

Andrew Percy Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Andrew Percy)
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Our devolution deals will support economic growth across the country by devolving powers and, more importantly, funding from this place so that they can be determined by local people. By May this year, 33% of England’s population will have gone to the polls to elect their directly elected Mayors.

Tracy Brabin Portrait Tracy Brabin
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As the Minister no doubt knows, two years ago West Yorkshire council agreed a devolution deal for the Leeds city region. Why has there been no progress? What plans does he have to give West Yorkshire the devolution deal it wants, and why the delay?

Andrew Percy Portrait Andrew Percy
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We have made good on the city deals we negotiated with the Leeds city region. The problem on broader Yorkshire devolution, given that this is a bottom-up approach, is that there has not been agreement across Yorkshire about what form it should take. Some of the hon. Lady’s colleagues have not helped in recent weeks by proposing solutions on a boundary of a nature not within the legal framework.