Contributions
1,006 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI will make some progress, but to answer the right hon. Lady’s question on employer national insurance contributions directly, the funding is based on service expenditure costs.…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThis is not a perfect settlement, but it is my honest belief that it is a good settlement. We are keen to make sure that the money goes to local authorities in a way that is…05 Feb 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Local GovernmentToday, I am pleased to announce the list of places that have come forward to join the Government’s devolution priority programme, with a view to mayoral elections in May 2026. I…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI am only intervening given the hon. Gentleman’s position as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. I think that this is a common interest for the PAC, Parliament and the…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThat work is demonstrated by the Department being able to remove the best value notice. We know that Middlesbrough is not at the end of the improvement journey, and the council…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI beg to move, That the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2025–26 (HC 623), which was laid before this House on 3 February, be approved.05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThe hon. Gentleman has my commitment that we will review the submission that we have had in good faith and in the spirit of partnership. We recognise that the councils that have…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceAbsolutely. Deprivation is a key part of the funding settlement. This is the first settlement in a long time, and probably the first since the area-based grant in 2010-11, in…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceVery real pressures have built up, and I will not criticise any council from the Dispatch Box—the days of doing that have long gone. That is not to say that I agree with every…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThe £515 million of investment from the Treasury to help councils with the increase in employer national insurance contributions has been distributed on the basis of their net…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question, and assure him that it is an issue we are acutely aware of. The disproportionate burden that drainage places on small district…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThere are, understandably, many criticisms of council tax. It is accepted that it is a fairly regressive tax in terms of the relationship between the ability of a household to pay…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI cannot commit to that today. What I can do is to commit, from a political point of view, that the Government are willing to work cross-party and through APPGs to understand the…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI am going to make a bit of progress. I am mindful of time, and I believe we are guillotined at 7 pm. The Budget will deliver more than £5 billion of new funding for local…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThe hon. Member must accept that part of the difficulty we have in a two-tier system is the inability to move money around that system. It is correct to say that rural councils,…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI take my hon. Friend’s points entirely. I credit him for much of the work that was done when he chaired the Select Committee, which he did for a long time, and I attribute to his…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceThe Deputy Prime Minister and I, like many others in this House, have local government in our blood—we are proud public servants. We know what a difference the sector makes every…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceI thank my hon. Friend for that question and pay tribute to Salford for its leadership in the work it is doing in many areas of public sector reform in Salford and across Greater…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceJust to be clear, even rural councils will receive a near 6% increase in their core spending power. It is correct that £600 million through the recovery grant is targeted at…05 Feb 2025HANSARDLocal Government FinanceIn a way, there is commonality across the House in recognising that particular problems really ought to be taken into account when it comes to local government funding, and if it…05 Feb 2025