Local Government Finance

I am really disappointed with the right hon. Gentleman’s tone. There was no sense of guilt or sha...

Order. As we progress through this statement, it would be really helpful if the Secretary of Stat...

Households across the country will be pleased that the Government are making funds available for ...

I congratulate Rugby borough council on its excellent work. I have been there myself and seen the...

The Minister said in his statement that no council will face a loss of more than 6.4% in its spen...

It is the lowest level of this Parliament. We can achieve that because we are in a far better eco...

Bury council constantly claims that it has not had a fair deal. Will the Minister please confirm ...

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The economy in the north is thriving and local authoriti...

Even a borough such as mine in Hackney, which is extremely well run by Mayor Jules Pipe, will fac...

Even the most deprived areas have an opportunity to grow the moneys they receive by promoting bus...

Will the Minister continue to address the grotesque divide in central Government funding of poore...

I recognise the problem. Despite the economic circumstances, we have sought to close that gap bet...

May I remind the Minister that as far as Walsall is concerned there has been an overall reduction...

In the few years I have been in this House, I have always held the hon. Gentleman in high respect...

On local welfare assistance schemes, will the Minister

clar...

There is no additional money in this. I said in the statement that if, during the consultation pr...

What this statement manages to combine is further savage cuts in spending to local authorities wi...

The cuts have had to be made as a consequence of the Labour Government’s failure to manage the ec...

I congratulate the Minister and his colleagues on the statement and urge them not to take any les...

I respect the wise words of my hon. Friend. He is right: the council tax has dropped 11% as a con...

What assessment has the Minister made of the likely impact on some of the most vulnerable people—...

As I have already said, the 10% of areas that are most deprived will receive 40% more than the le...

On the Government Benches, we understand why spending reductions need to be made, even if the Lab...

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and obviously I know the areas he is talking about. All t...

I was rather surprised that the Secretary of State did not make today’s statement, given that a q...

I wondered how long it would take for the bankers to come up in this conversation. The Minister r...

Cornwall, the poorest region in the country, is already doing more with less. Before the Conserva...

An extra £4 million is definitely an increase—it was £11.5 million and is now £15.5 million. The ...

Yesterday, on top of 1,400 police officers already gone, West Midlands police service suffered a ...

Birmingham is not being pursued in any greater way than anybody else, but it has its own challeng...

Labour-run Kirklees council has recently managed to find £200,000 to lend to the struggling Castl...

Being from west Yorkshire, I have seen some interesting responses from different leaders of Kirkl...

In his statement, the Minister said that local authorities continue to make a vital contribution ...

It is important that local government makes a contribution, as £114 billion is a huge amount of m...

I welcome the extra year's funding for council tax freezes. Will the Minister join me in urging A...

The public of Amber Valley will be watching what the Labour council does. We have given a signifi...

When the Government abolished the social fund and transferred responsibility to local authorities...

I have said already that it is important that local communities can understand what has been spen...

Will my hon. Friend agree to meet the leaders of Christchurch and East Dorset councils to discuss...

I would be absolutely delighted to meet my hon. Friend’s councils. They have done some exemplary ...

The Minister is right repeatedly to commend Newham council. The social fund, which my hon. Friend...

I was very complimentary earlier about Newham and the fact that it has managed to grow its base. ...

It has been reported that the Local Government Association said that public services would buckle...

Members of the House can feel vindicated that they made the right choices. Labour said that it wo...

Labour-led Redbridge council has re-introduced weekly refuse collections, brought in free bulk wa...

I was beginning to wonder which party was in if the council had introduced weekly bin collections...

Has the Minister had time to digest the findings of the survey of local government finance direct...

No, I have not read the CIPFA report, but I have listened to the public, who have said that they ...

Is the Minister aware of the damage he is doing to local government all over the country with mas...

I repeat that overall the budget will be reduced by 1.6%. Bearing in mind that the Government who...

Harrow local authority faces some £25 million in funding cuts next year, including the possible c...

All local authorities across the country are facing difficult decisions. What efficiencies has th...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I notice that on today’s Order Paper there are 32 writ...

I will take that as a rhetorical question, on the basis that it is not a point of order or a matt...