Contributions
2,215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI certainly can give the hon. Member that assurance, but equally, I would be more than happy to meet her and her right hon. Friend. She raises a number of different points. Her…17 Dec 2020HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementCan I thank my right hon. Friend for his hard work over the course of this year and for the campaigns we have worked on together? Not least of those is the decision he campaigned…17 Dec 2020HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementI am very alive to this issue. The Government’s position has not changed and the law remains as it has been, but as I said in answer to a previous question, we have done two…17 Dec 2020HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementEarlier in the year, I laid a written ministerial statement that set out the Government’s position with respect to local government reorganisation. It remains my view that, where…17 Dec 2020HANSARD Provisional Local Government Finance SettlementWe have provided exceptional resources both to the NHS and to local authorities over the course of the year, so the suggestion that public health has not been resourced this year…17 Dec 2020HANSARDHousingToday the Government are publishing the response to the consultation on the standard method for assessing local housing need and setting out further steps in our plan to increase…16 Dec 2020HANSARDHigh Streets: Rent Arrears MoratoriumI have today laid a statutory instrument that will extend the moratorium on commercial landlords’ right to forfeit a lease due to the non-payment of rent until 31 March 2021. This…09 Dec 2020HANSARDSpending Review: Local Government FinanceThe spending review, announced by the Chancellor on 25 November, contained significant announcements for local government. The Government confirmed that councils’ core spending…07 Dec 2020HANSARDRetail Opening Hours: Christmas and Covid-19I wish to update the House on relaxing local restrictions to enable retail opening hours to be extended in England for Christmas. On Monday 23 November, the Government published…30 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundOnce again, the hon. Gentleman seeks to sow discord where there is none. We followed a very clear and robust procedure. The permanent secretary of my Department made that very…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundI have to say that I do not recall my hon. Friend’s predecessor coming to me to lobby for investment in his community. What a refreshing difference it is to have a Conservative MP…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundI have already responded at departmental questions that the question of Barnettisation of the fund will be a matter for the spending review. The hon. Gentleman, I think, said…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundMy hon. Friend has been a champion of this for some time, and his brilliant report published earlier in the year made the case once again. One of the ideas behind the town deal…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundMy hon. Friend makes a good point. If we are looking to the shadow Secretary of State as the guardian of value for money and the Exchequer, I think the public will be sorely…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundAll spending by the Department is approved, by definition, by the Department, through the accounting officer and the permanent secretary.18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundI welcome the fact that Workington has the opportunity to bid for the funding. It will make a difference. The communities that my hon. Friend represents are exactly the sorts of…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundAs I have already said, a fair and robust procedure was used to determine the places, and many places adjacent to the hon. Lady’s constituency have benefited. I think of Blyth,…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundI know that the hon. Gentleman is an experienced Member of the House, but I do not think he understands what accounting officer’s advice is and how it corresponds with advice from…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundThe hon. Gentleman is quite wrong. One only has to look at his neighbours to see good examples of that. I think of Birkenhead, for example, which I do not think was high on the…18 Nov 2020HANSARD Towns FundWe have actually included communities within larger cities in both the towns fund and the future high streets fund, because my hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that there…18 Nov 2020