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Category: Local Government

  • Paul Bristow – 2021 Speech on the Towns Fund

    Paul Bristow – 2021 Speech on the Towns Fund

    The speech made by Paul Bristow, the Conservative MP for Peterborough, in the House of Commons on 4 February 2021.

    I beg to move,

    That this House has considered the Towns Fund.

    I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing this debate. The United Kingdom is full of hard-working, innovative, entrepreneurial people. We are the fifth-biggest economy in the world, and we are a liberal, free, open and successful economy. A great number of my constituents have good jobs based in London, but lots do not, and many have been left behind, in a rich country like ours, even in good times of growth. It is therefore time to invest in our towns and cities that do not or cannot benefit from London. That is why all Members should welcome promises to level up and unleash the economic potential of towns, cities and rural places across the country. That is why all Members should welcome the towns fund.

    The fund will invest £3.6 billion into places like Peterborough, Blackpool, Barrow, Torquay, Darlington, Norwich and Warrington. It will more than pay for itself by stimulating economic growth with a focus on regeneration, improved transport, better broadband connectivity, skills and culture. The plan is to unleash the economic potential of 101 towns and cities across the UK. The towns fund has the potential to change lives.

    I want to illustrate the benefits of the towns fund by informing the House about how it will benefit Peterborough. The bid for investment in Peterborough is one of the first seven successful bids as part of phase 1. We have already had £1 million for a shovel-ready local growth project to support 14 parks across the city, but it will deliver nearly £23 million of investment for my city overall. Many other cities and bids are looking to Peterborough to see how we were successful. Where Peterborough leads, other towns and cities follow.

    I pay tribute to Matthew Bradbury of the Nene Park Trust, the chair of the towns fund bid, Andy Starnes of CityFibre, the vice-chair, and all those who served on the towns fund board. That board includes councillors and officers from Peterborough City Council and me. I also serve on the board, and that is what makes the towns fund different. It is different not only because this Government believe in the economic potential of these towns and cities, but because Members of this House have been invited to be personally involved in the projects and personally associated with their success or, indeed, failure. We are accountable to the electorate and can hold Ministers to account.

    Together with my hon. Friend the Member for North West Cambridgeshire (Mr Vara), who represents the southern part of Peterborough, we have lobbied for and supported the bid from day 1. I am sure that is true for many other Members. The funding will create a new library and a cultural hub on Bridge Street and a centre for lifelong learning, as well as feed into the new skills and the technical university that we are building, bringing highly paid jobs back to our city centre. It will give the impetus for the new developments of the station quarter and north Westgate. It will pump money into Lincoln Road, a vibrant high street in Peterborough that just needs focus, investment and, dare I say it, a little bit of love.

    In the words of one local restaurant owner, Zillur Hussain, the fund is a fresh start for Peterborough that builds on our natural advantages, as we are only 40 minutes from London on the main road and rail arteries. We have a history of manufacturing, engineering, science and technology, and we have a wonderful, hard-working, skilful population. This fund is the shot in the arm that will unleash our potential.

    The fund will benefit communities across the country and Members across this House. It should not be a partisan political issue. It is a shame that some Opposition Members have sought to make it political, instead of welcoming investment in their constituencies, and I hope that does not happen in this debate.

    Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab)

    Given that 60 of the 61 towns allocated funding were Conservative-held or Conservative target seats, surely it is the hon. Gentleman’s party that has made it party political.

    Paul Bristow

    As I understand it, 101 areas could benefit from that investment. If the Labour party had not ignored those towns and cities, perhaps it would still be representing them.

    This fund has happened when the Government are tackling an unprecedented public health crisis. Covid-19 is the biggest challenge this country has faced since world war two. Some might have forgiven the Government if they had paused the initiative while they focused on the pandemic, but rather than doing that, they have powered ahead, giving hope and optimism to places such as Peterborough and helping communities to build back better as we overcome the pandemic.

    This funding also includes the future high streets fund, which aims to renew town centres and high streets to make them more attractive places to visit, increasing footfall, driving growth and supporting local businesses. That is exactly what Lincoln Road, Westgate and other parts of Peterborough need. The pandemic has kept people away from the high street. People are eating takeaways and restaurant meals at home, and they are shopping online. My mobile phone boasts not just Deliveroo but, as a result of the pandemic and lockdown, Just Eat and Uber Eats. As convenient as that is, and as good as the hospitality in Peterborough has been at adapting, there is a real fear that hospitality and retail will suffer as we come out of the pandemic because people’s shopping and leisure habits have changed. That is why we need to think differently about town centres and high streets and make them a destination.

    We need to create new, innovative high streets offering different things, such as pop-up shops, entertainment, interactive experiences, culture, leisure and mixed use including residential, as well as fun, safe and changing nightlife and hospitality. The towns fund is the catalyst for change, because private sector money and investment will follow, unlocking the potential of our towns and cities.

    It is a message of hope, and it shows these communities that the Government and their local MPs have not forgotten them. Will the Minister remain committed to the plan? Will he confirm that there are chances for more towns and cities beyond the 101 already identified to submit bids for the future? Will he stress the importance of local MP engagement and ask all MPs from across the House to get on board with the towns fund and its potential to transform lives?

    To conclude, I am all pumped up for Peterborough in 2021, ’22, ’23 and beyond. We have a new university coming, Fletton Quays and a new Government hub; the station quarter, a new cinema and Queensgate expansion is planned; and the Embankment will become an all-year-round destination—and now we have £23 million through the towns fund. We are making the decisions now that will guarantee our future health, wealth and happiness in the future. I am so excited that we are going to unleash our potential, but I am just as excited about this country’s potential, and as we level up and build back better from this pandemic, this is what the towns fund can deliver.

  • Keir Starmer – 2021 Speech to the LGA Labour Conference

    Keir Starmer – 2021 Speech to the LGA Labour Conference

    The speech made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 6 February 2021.

    Thank you for that introduction, Nick.

    And for everything you’re doing for the people of Newcastle, for the Labour Party and for local government.

    Thanks also to the LGA Labour group and the ALC for making this conference such a success – even in the most difficult of circumstances.

    I have to say it’s a bit odd that I’m giving a speech on localism into a camera – rather than surrounded by you and our fantastic team of Labour councillors, mayors and candidates.

    I hope it gives you a sense of how important I think my relationship is with you that my first visit as Labour leader – just after the first lockdown – was to Stevenage with our amazing council leader, Sharon Taylor.

    When I was running to be Labour leader I said we needed to close the gap between the Labour Leadership in Westminster and the Labour Leadership across the country.

    That’s why over the last ten months we’ve worked so hard to strengthen the bond between you and me.

    I feel passionately about this – our party has a huge amount to learn from what you’re doing and we should champion much more than we do all of your achievements.

    And I’ll be out with you again – fighting for every seat in the elections in May.

    Those elections will be difficult – and given the pandemic they will be unique.

    But there is no doubting that they are incredibly important elections.

    Because every vote for Labour this May is a vote to secure our economy, to protect our NHS and to rebuild Britain.

    Every council seat we can win is a chance to support our local communities, to deliver social justice and to make a difference to people’s lives.

    That’s why I got into politics. Its why you did too: To change lives, to build stronger communities and to make this the country we know it can be.

    During this pandemic, the absence of good government in Westminster has reminded us how much it matters.

    And we’ve also seen that local government matters more than ever.

    Because it’s been you – in local government – who have kept our communities safe.

    Whether by pioneering local test and trace services – as Preston, Sandwell, Blackburn and many other Councils did.

    We all know that test and trace was really struggling until the Government finally accepted the argument to hand much more control to our local authorities.

    You also brought together local charities, volunteers and businesses to provide emergency food and support for those at risk – Gedling Borough Council and Nottingham City Council are examples of this, but there are many others I could choose.

    You also set up growth hubs and dedicated support for local businesses, as we’ve seen with Rossendale, Basildon and many other councils.

    And, of course, Mark Drakeford and the Welsh Council leaders have shown the huge benefits of working hand in hand to tackle the pandemic.

    You’ve held communities together. You’ve made a difference.

    So today I want to start simply by saying: thank you.

    And then I want to talk about what you’re owed in return.

    Because for too long, the work of local government has not been sufficiently recognised.

    For too long, the demand to our local leaders has been: do more, with less.

    For too long, Westminster has held onto powers that would be far better exercised closer to home.

    It’s time that changed.

    It’s time that power was pushed out from Westminster to the British people.

    This pandemic has exposed how hard governing locally has become.

    Budgets are tighter than they have ever been. The demand for services is greater.

    A national crisis on this scale should have been a time for central government to work with and empower local communities.

    But too often this Government’s approach has been to keep local government at arm’s length.

    To hold back services that would have been far better in local hands, such as track and trace.

    And to talk over local leaders on decisions that have huge consequences on people’s jobs and lives.

    This Government likes to talk the language of localism.

    But that rhetoric needs a reality check.

    Because over the last decade, councils in England have seen their core funding cut by £15 bn.

    Local government across the country is now facing a huge funding gap.

    It’s a shameful story – but sadly not a new one.

    In fact, we’re living through the latest chapter of a story that stretches back over a hundred years.

    That story is about the long retreat of local government power in this country.

    It’s a story of centralization and continuous cuts.

    It’s a story of a slow but steady erosion of local control.

    In the last decades of the 19th century, local authorities raised money and spent it locally.

    They built houses, parks, hospitals, museums, libraries and swimming pools.

    Think of the great monuments of civic pride.

    The great George Square in Huddersfield.

    The proud town halls of Bradford, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Wakefield.

    And, of course, local government has produced some of our great pioneers and public servants.

    Just as it does today.

    But for a century now, local government has been in retreat.

    Sometimes social justice required this.

    For example, the Lloyd George reforms and the response to The Great Depression of the 1930’s. Equally the two World Wars demanded it.

    And the Labour Governments of Attlee, Wilson and Blair carried out vital reforms on a national scale.

    But even the new Labour Government of 1997 – while delivering historic devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – made less progress in delivering devolution across England.

    And that’s as nothing when compared to the record of Conservative governments.

    Thatcher, of course, wanted to turn back the post-war welfare state – but she didn’t want to return any power to local authorities.

    On the contrary, she wanted to crush local government, and cut funding even further.

    That was bad enough.

    But it was just a prelude to the assault on local government that occurred after 2010.

    Central government grants to local councils were slashed by over a third.

    One by one, local institutions have disappeared.

    In the last decade, local spending on youth services in England fell by 73%.

    Nearly 800 youth centres closed.

    700 libraries.

    In 2010, there were around 3,600 Sure Start centres in the UK.

    1,000 of those have since closed.

    This government promised a new start.

    But what use is talk of levelling up, if our local services are shut down?

    The Government said it would do “whatever it takes” to support local government.

    But local budgets are under strain like never before.

    And as you know better than anyone: one of the main reasons is that despite years of promising to fix Social Care.

    The Tories have spent years cutting social care budgets.

    The way the Tories have neglected social care in this country and failed to protect our care homes is a national disgrace.

    We will never let them forget it.

    I know that the government’s failure to fund councils properly will leave many councils with no choice but to put council tax up.

    That’s why Labour forced a vote on this in the House of Commons two weeks ago.

    And we’ll keep pushing the Chancellor to provide the funding councils need – and were promised.

    But funding is only part of the story.

    It’s time for some new thinking too.

    To end the long retreat of local government.

    And to empower our local leaders and local communities like never before.

    Because I believe that power, resources and decision-making should lie as close to people as possible.

    My view is simple: power should be exercised locally unless it has to be exercised centrally.

    Lots of leaders say this.

    I actually mean it.

    Britain today is one of the most centralised countries in Europe.

    And it’s holding us back.

    Economic devolution, done right, reduces regional inequalities and delivers social justice

    Push power down, and you spread prosperity out.

    Empower local leaders…. and local communities thrive.

    For over a century, successive governments have failed to understand this….

    It is time to rebalance. To deliver real devolution and real social justice. To ensure that local people are in charge of the resources – and the opportunities – to improve their own communities.

    And to push power out beyond our town halls and city centres

    That’s what we aim to achieve with our constitutional commission.

    Now, I know this can sound dry!

    But it is utterly central to the UK-wide project of empowerment and localism that I want the next Labour government to deliver.

    That won’t be about shifting powers from one place to another….or moving a few government departments or civil servants across the country.

    It will seek fundamentally to change the balance of power, wealth and opportunity across the United Kingdom.

    Because I believe there’s a desire across the country for politics and power to be much closer to people.

    And unless we answer that now – and finally deliver real devolution in England – we wont be able to deliver better services

    Build stronger communities

    Or realise the potential in all corners of the country.

    I want all of you – our councillors, mayors, the LGA and our local government leaders – to play a key role in the Commission

    To shape its thinking.

    Because there could be nothing worse than drawing up a blueprint for localism in a room in Westminster, We’ve had enough of that!

    This needs to be shaped by the experiences of those at the sharp-end of local government across England….and across the UK.

    In the last year local government has done so much for all of us.

    You deserve a government in Westminster that recognises that.

    But with Johnson and Jenrick, I suspect it’s going to get harder before it gets easier for local government.

    A story that started a hundred years ago has some time to run yet.

    But looking to the future, I believe that we can close the book on the long story of the retreat of local government….the tale of centralization and cuts.

    And that starts with the elections in May.

    It starts with you.

    We often hear that people don’t trust politicians.

    I think the bigger problem is that politicians don’t trust the people.

    I do.

    We do

    And when the people return Labour to power, Labour will return power to the people.

  • Robert Jenrick – 2021 Comments on Croydon Council

    Robert Jenrick – 2021 Comments on Croydon Council

    The comments made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 1 February 2021.

    The rapid review into Croydon Council found serious failings in governance, financial strategy and commercial investments which have led to taxpayers and residents being severely let down over a number of years.

    This must end now, and I have appointed an expert panel to help the council urgently address the issues they face and deliver a comprehensive recovery plan. I will be monitoring progress closely and will not hesitate to take further action if necessary.

  • Luke Hall – 2021 Comments on Devolution for West Yorkshire

    Luke Hall – 2021 Comments on Devolution for West Yorkshire

    The comments made by Luke Hall, the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, on 29 January 2021.

    Today represents a historic moment for West Yorkshire as we deliver a deal giving significant new powers and over a billion pounds of new funding to the region.

    It will deliver real benefits to Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield, putting decision-making in the hands of these communities, driving the regional economy and creating new jobs for local people.

    Getting this deal over the line is an important milestone in our ambitious levelling up agenda, moving power away from Whitehall empowering our regions to build back better.

  • Paula Barker – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    Paula Barker – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    The speech made by Paula Barker, the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, in the House of Commons on 25 January 2021.

    Before entering Parliament, I spent my entire working life in local government. Local government as an institution is one of the great pillars of our democracy. It is in every sense the frontline, providing the bread-and-butter services our communities and our people rely on day in, day out. I cannot be more earnest in delivering this message from the frontline: morale has never been more crushed or in such short supply within local government than it has for this last decade. Half a billion pounds has been slashed from my own council in Liverpool in the past 10 years and more than £10 billion from local government overall, with a postcode lottery where the Tory shires are cushioned from the devastation inflicted on councils across the north of England.

    The disturbing irony of it all is that the Conservatives claim to be no big believer in the central state, yet trash the very institutions that have the expertise and know-how to put local people in charge of their communities’ own destiny. They talk a good game on devolution, but we know in the north that the reality is quite the opposite. Meagre powers with little resource do not deliver real change, nor do they come anywhere close to levelling up. The Conservative party talks an even mightier game on tax and spend, but there is nothing to justify such assertions if the modus operandi is to shift the tax burden from progressive taxation to the most regressive of taxes, council tax. The most sinister swindle of them all is when local people receive their council tax bill. The top does not read “Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government” but “Liverpool City Council”, “Salford City Council” or “Leeds City Council”. I dare say that if the opposite were true and blame was directed where it truly belongs, to Whitehall, the Government would think twice about backing councils into a corner like this.

    Social care is a case in point. If this Government in all their delusions honestly believe the way to put adult social care on a truly sustainable financial footing is to pillage the pockets of local taxpayers with huge council tax hikes that let the wealthiest off the hook and allow the poorest to shoulder the greatest burden, they are in for a shock. Squeezing the tax base in areas of high deprivation to subsidise an inadequate adult social care business will never ever provide the solutions our people need as our population grows older and therefore more dependent on such services.

    This Government have abjectly failed to live up to their own mantra of “whatever it takes” when it comes to local government. Our councils are delivering despite the most difficult circumstances. Instead of forcing more of them into the humiliation of section 114 notices, let us restore essential government grants, cancel the council tax hike and keep the money in the pocket of working-class people.

  • Liam Byrne – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    Liam Byrne – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    The speech made by Liam Byrne, the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, in the House of Commons on 25 January 2021.

    Let me just start with a point that I think many of us will share: in these debates about numbers, statistics and finances, we must remember the lives that are at stake.

    Most of us will never forget the stories of love and loss that we have heard this year, stories such as those I heard from the family of Sarah Scully. Their mum, Sarah, went into hospital and said goodbye to her family at the hospital door. Sarah was pregnant. She had to be given a caesarean section, but was so ill she had to be put into an induced coma. Tragically, she died before she was ever able to hold her newborn baby in her arms. Or stories such as Monica’s. She had been married to her husband since she was a teenager. They both got covid, but went into different hospitals. She got the news from her husband that she had feared by text message: “Told just 24 to 48 hours to live.” Or stories such as Bishop Windsor’s, who buried so many people in his congregation that he did not know how that congregation would ever recover from their agony of loss. Now, after all that agony and pain, and after all the anxiety of the job losses, in Britain’s second city we are being handed a bill—a bill to make good on the underfunding of this Government.

    Last May, we wrote a cross-party letter to the Minister to warn that the costs of covid in our city would total some £282 million. That included the £92 million extra for social care, to cover the costs of PPE that never arrived or to ensure that there was a safe social care system after the protective ring around care homes failed, and £95 million in lost income, as well as business rates going down and council tax support going up. It is true that the Secretary of State provided some grants to make good on that, but as of last year, we were still £100 million short because our council, led by Councillor Ian Ward, decided to step up and help protect the people of our city where there were shortcomings from the Government. Now, what was the result of that? A 4.99% increase in council tax—£72 a year for a band D home.

    How on earth can it be right that council tax payers in places such as Surrey are being cushioned, when council tax payers in Birmingham and the west midlands are being punished? We took the Secretary of State at his word when he told us that he would ensure that there were the resources we needed to do the job. He has reneged on that. It is people—people who are going through hell on earth—who are now being asked to pick up a bill for Government underfunding. That is simply not right, and I, along with my colleagues, urge the Government to think again.

  • Steve Double – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    Steve Double – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    The speech made by Steve Double, the Conservative MP for St. Austell and Newquay, in the House of Commons on 25 January 2021.

    I was not informed that the time limit had been cut, but I will try to keep to three minutes.

    As a former councillor and cabinet member of Cornwall Council, I know at first hand the important role that local authorities play in the lives of our constituents. There can be no doubt of the important role played by Cornwall Council, and councils up and down the country, in supporting local communities as we have faced this pandemic. In particular, I place on record my thanks to town and parish councils for the incredible work they have put in to support their local communities.

    The Government have shown their recognition of the role that councils play with the support we have provided to local councils throughout this pandemic, amounting to billions of pounds. Cornwall Council alone has received more than £555 million to support the people of Cornwall. I am therefore pleased that this motion today gives us the opportunity to highlight the important work that councils do.

    I am not surprised, however, that the Labour party’s motion misses a number of important points. First, it misses the Labour party’s own record on council tax. I remember when the Labour party was in government, when council tax doubled. Even now, Labour-run councils cost the taxpayer £84 a year more and Liberal Democrat-run councils a staggering £132 a year more than the average Conservative-run council. If we want to know what a Labour Government would do with council tax, we only have to look to Wales.

    Secondly, the motion misses the point by saying that the Government should provide funding, but without saying where it should come from. It is all taxpayers’ money; whether raised centrally or locally, someone has to pay.

    Are the Opposition suggesting that tax rises should be put in place to fund local authorities across the country? That would mean taxpayers in Cornwall paying so that Sadiq Khan can subsidise travel for Londoners. I do not believe that would be right. Or are they saying that we should take money away from other essential public services to fund the council tax from other Government budgets? If so, they need to say where the money would come from.

    I am sure that the Liberal Democrats and independent councillors who run Cornwall Council would love to hide away their spending from local taxpayers, but the whole point of council tax is that councils are answerable to local taxpayers for the decisions that they make. In Cornwall, we have many examples of the Lib Dem-independent administration wasting money, such as funding an office in Brussels, even though we have now left the European Union—wanting to continue it at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds a year—or a £2 million failed IT system that hardly anyone has used.

    I believe it is right that local council tax is raised by local councillors who have to answer to their electorate for the decisions that they make.

  • Gill Furniss – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    Gill Furniss – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    The speech made by Gill Furniss, the Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, in the House of Commons on 25 January 2021.

    As a former councillor, I am glad that we are able to hold this debate today. Before entering this place, I was a councillor for 17 years and saw at first hand the impact that austerity has had on our city and its families. I also saw the challenges we faced in trying to prioritise budgets in the face of wave after wave of cuts. Since 2010, many local authorities across the country have had to grapple with devastating cuts. My council in Sheffield has lost almost 50% of its budget, with cuts amounting to £475 million. Throughout this period, the Labour council has made difficult decisions and been forced to adapt many services, but it always sought to protect the most vulnerable in our city.

    The Government’s proposals to allow councils to raise tax by up to 5% is absurd. It would not come close to addressing the funding crisis that many are experiencing. Next year’s costs for adult social care alone in Sheffield will be £31 million. A 3% increase would contribute only £6.6 million to that cost. The further 2% would contribute only £4.4 million. That does not come close enough to addressing the covid funding gap of £61 million that Sheffield City Council faces next year after the £92 million cost of responding to the pandemic.

    This policy flies in the face of the Government’s levelling-up agenda by benefiting wealthier areas. While a 5% increase in Sheffield would raise £9 million, Surrey County Council would raise £38 million with the same increase. Councils across the country will, of course, be reluctant to raise council tax by 5%, but the Government have given them no choice. They have done what they do best: they have shifted any responsibility away from themselves. No council faced with significant funding gaps would refuse even the slightest boost to funding during these challenging times. It is shameful to hold councils to ransom in this way.

    My constituency of Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough ranks as the 12th most deprived constituency in England. Over a third of children are eligible for free school meals. Very many of my constituents face tremendous hardships to make ends meet. Claims for universal credit have risen by 95% since March, with almost 14,000 families now receiving the payments—around half of these are in work. While the Government consider removing the uplift, they are also moving forward with this plan, which would add further strains to household budgets.

    Families in Brightside and Hillsborough have particularly felt the cost of covid-19. Funding this increase will be more difficult for many families in our community than in more prosperous areas. I am deeply concerned that pushing forward with this plan would only further the hardships that many of them face. Hundreds of thousands of families across the country are feeling similar pressures. The Prime Minister said he would do “whatever it takes”. It appears that this meant abandoning councils and pushing the burden of support for their strained finances on to local taxpayers.

    The Government are adept at performing U-turns, so I hope that they will do another and scrap this policy. The Chancellor must prioritise introducing a comprehensive funding settlement for local government to redress the budget imbalance that a decade of cuts and the covid-19 pandemic have caused.

  • Simon Clarke – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    Simon Clarke – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    The speech made by Simon Clarke, the Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, in the House of Commons on 25 January 2021.

    It was my great privilege to serve as the Local Government Minister for the first six months of our response to covid-19, and am I am grateful to have this opportunity to commend the whole sector for its response. I witnessed three things in my time at the Department that are particularly relevant to today’s debate. First, I witnessed the absolute sincerity of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, and all in the Department, in respect of the Government’s commitment to provide all the support that the sector needs throughout the pandemic.

    As we heard my right hon. Friend say in his speech, the gap between what many leaders say and what the sector then self-reports to the Department is often profound. Throughout the spring, we faced real concerns about the number of councils that might need to issue section 114 notices to declare themselves effectively bankrupt; as we have seen, that has not transpired. It has not transpired for a reason: namely, the effective and highly tailored support schemes that have been put in place alongside direct grant support. We should not underestimate the complexity of the local government landscape and the need to respond to the different challenges that face different types of council in different parts of the country. That response has been accomplished, and councils have worked admirably and been able to get on with delivering their important work.

    Secondly, I saw the exceptional knowledge and dedication of the local government finance team in the Department. The team’s staff live and breathe the work and the recommendations of Ministers reflect the hard work that they put in in direct conversation with council finance officers. We have struck a fair balance, apportioning the costs of our response to covid-19 between central and local government. Most reasonable people would accept that that is the only realistic route through the current situation.

    Thirdly, we need to recognise that local authorities clearly have important responsibilities, too. Some authorities have been hit hard over the past year by factors that are legitimately outside their control. Some, such as Bath and North East Somerset Council, have been affected by factors relating to covid; others have been affected by issues such as cyber-attacks—I know that Ministers are working hard to resolve the situation at my local authority, Redcar and Cleveland, at pace. Such authorities must, and will, be supported.

    However, other authorities have made seriously poor decisions for which they simply cannot attempt to blame central Government. The Secretary of State has already referred to the situation in Croydon and the reverse Robin Hood scenario that has played out in Nottingham. The sheer brass neck of the shadow Secretary of State in tabling today’s motion is genuinely astonishing, given that it is overwhelmingly Labour councils that have failed. I could go on: Bristol, Southampton and Brent, and the situation presided over by the Mayor of London, that master of evasion, which deserves to be punished by the electorate in May. It is of course the Labour group on the Local Government Association that is so keen to abolish the referendum lock, which is the only thing that in practice stands between ratepayers and exorbitant tax rises, so for the Opposition to initiate today’s debate is, I am afraid, pretty rich.

    The Government have put in place an unprecedented package of support. What councils do beyond that is, rightly, a matter for them. This Government and Conservative-led councils will focus on getting the basics right: prudent financial management, driving down costs and waste, delivering high collection rates and supporting the truly vulnerable. I would note in this regard the extra £670 million next year that the Government have allocated to address the council tax hardship, which follows the £500 million for the same purpose this year. We have local democracy in place for a good reason. Councils control important aspects of our lives and should be accountable for that. Central and local government together have to meet the costs of responding to the pandemic, and for that reason, the quality of local decision making matters enormously.

  • Peter Dowd – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    Peter Dowd – 2021 Speech on Council Tax Increases

    The speech made by Peter Dowd, the Labour MP for Bootle, in the House of Commons on 25 January 2021.

    Listening to the Secretary of State, it seems that everything is fine in local government, and local authorities have all the money and resources they need. Well, the Local Government Association does not say that, the Institute for Fiscal Studies does not say that, council leaders do not say that and Tory MPs—the ones who have a spine, anyway—do not say it. The Secretary of State consulted local government given the dire circumstances, and local government gave a view about council tax; it is entitled to do that.

    The year 2021 marks 40 years since I was elected as a Merseyside county councillor, and now we have the city regions. Those councils were abolished by Mrs Thatcher—mainly because they stood up to her—and the beginnings of the first stage of austerity began. It seems that nothing much changes in 40 years. I continue to see local government bear the brunt of cuts and policies of retrenchment in the light of the Government’s inability to see beyond the confines of Westminster and Whitehall. Not content with making a hash of virtually every policy decision and initiative in relation to covid—I use the words “policy” and “initiative” with a certain amount of caution—they continue to dump on local government.

    When I was the leader of Sefton Council, I often referred to the overall balance experienced and witnessed among local councils across the country. As early as 2010, my council had in-year cuts to funding—for example, for neighbourhood renewal funds— and things simply got worse that after that stage. As time went by, my authority had cut after cut after cut. When I first came to the House in 2015, five years into austerity, I heard one Conservative Member express surprise at and bemoan the fact that his local police authority was supposed to find savings that year—it was as though he was some sort of Rip Van Winkle who had just woken up. The shadow Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed), is a former council leader, like me, so has witnessed the impact of continued retrenchment in local council finance. That is the responsibility of the Government, not local government.

    Meanwhile, as the unprecedented crisis in local government goes into even deeper and darker places and councils struggle to provide the most basic of services, the Secretary of State should be concentrating on the wellbeing of the living, not on the wellbeing of inanimate objects and issues such as the removal of statues in various areas. It is a diversionary tactic; I am sure the Secretary of State could have come up with something a tad more imaginative than that.

    Allowing and expecting councils to increase council tax by 5% will mean very different things for households in different parts of the country. Although the percentage increase is uniform throughout the country, the starting point in absolute terms is very different. It is important to take that into account. If we follow the Chancellor’s assumption that councils increase tax by the maximum allowed, for band D householders in the Sefton Council area, the tax will go up in April by £99 for 2021, compared with £54 in Westminster and £55 in Wandsworth. Is that fair? No, it is not.

    I have a number of questions for the Secretary of State. With the UK having experienced the worst recession of any major economy, does he really think that now is the time to raise council tax? Does he recognise that most councils will simply have no choice but to raise council tax to preserve crucial services such as adult social care and children’s social care? What assessment has he made of the impact on the economic recovery of taking £90 out of the pockets of families? Frankly, is it not about time that, instead of bowing down to the Chancellor, the Secretary of State stood up for local government and said, “Enough is enough”?