Local Government Finance Bill

I was actually the leader of Brent council, not Harrow, but I thank the hon. Lady for making that point. I was the chairman of a city challenge company that was part of the London borough of Brent, and for five years we had Government money flowing in. We retained every job that we had and expanded the number of jobs in the area, but by the end of the five years unemployment in the area had increased, not reduced. We had had huge amounts of money but, perversely, unemployment had risen, which meant that we could go back to the Government and say, ““We need more money.”” I will cite another example given to the Communities and Local Government Committee when it considered the matter. When the mayor of Newham was challenged over this cycle of deprivation and investment, he said, ““We'd love to be out of the cycle of deprivation. Just not yet. We need another 25 years of money coming in from the Government to enable Newham to grow and develop.”” But despite the huge investment—because of the Olympics and investment from Governments of different persuasions—it remains one of the most deprived areas in London and the country. My hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood (Eric Ollerenshaw), who used to lead Hackney council, will attest to the fact that every year in Hackney the local authority was required to identify areas of deprivation and amplify them so that it could appeal to the Government for yet more funding.