Contributions
1,006 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementAgain, the hon. Lady’s council will see a core spending power increase of 5%, and that is only this part of the settlement—it does not include extended producer responsibility or…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementMost in the sector would agree that Oflog—the Office for Local Government—had a vague remit that was an expensive way of gathering data. In the end, if it were to be developed, we…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementThe Government were elected on a mandate of change, to deliver a new era of economic growth and national renewal, and reverse the years of failure and decline that we inherited.…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI agree about the importance and significance of the statutory override—that is felt very acutely in the Department and in the sector. We are consulting now on a number of…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementEither the hon. Gentleman does not know the status of the rural services delivery grant, or he is trying to mislead the House. A large share of large rural authorities should have…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementThat is the point: the previous Government knew just how bad the situation was, but they put off the tough decisions. For example, how many times in 14 years did the previous…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementYes, I can confirm that we are providing, with the support of the Department for Education, new funding of £1 billion to support the high needs block in SEND for the reasons that…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementThat is exactly right. We have approached this year as very much a recovery operation. We could see that councils were in the ditch and needed to be pulled out and taken home, and…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI have covered the rural services element before, so I will home in on the home to school transport issue, which I know is a huge issue in many county council areas, where…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementFirst, I pay tribute to the leaders in both Norfolk and Suffolk for the conversations we are having, particularly on devolution. We look forward to, I hope, making progress on…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementThat is completely right. By the way, I give credit to council officials, frontline workers and councillors, because it is local government that has led on innovation and reform…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI thank my hon. Friend for that question, and I join him in paying tribute to the council officers and council leadership in Stoke-on-Trent. As a direct cash payment—the down…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI thank the former Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee for that question. I can confirm that the core spending power of that element in this…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI probably have to be a bit careful not to stray into that, given that this is a statement about councils in England, but the premise of the hon. Member’s question about adequate…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementMy hon. Friend makes a good point. Where councils such as Calderdale are doing well and excelling, they are working hand in glove with the local community and voluntary…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementThat is precisely why we have provided an extra £233 million to meet the demand. We do not take any pleasure or pride in that, actually. It is a sign of a system that is not…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI congratulate my hon. Friend on her question to the Prime Minister earlier. The council’s overall core spending power will increase by 7.8%. Putting Portsmouth to one side,…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementThere is a legitimate question to ask the previous Government about why on earth some councils were allowed to borrow disproportionately to their revenue. In the end, some…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI thank my hon. Friend for the advocacy that she shows for Milton Keynes and for the local authority. Overall core spending power in Milton Keynes will increase by 6.1%, and that…18 Dec 2024HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI thank the hon. Member for coming to one of our surgeries to make representations on behalf of his council. I know that he cares about these issues. We need to be careful not to…18 Dec 2024