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19 Oral Answers 20 JUNE 2011 Oral Answers 20 Mr Pickles: Of course, that is because Bolton receives an enormous grant from the Government. T9. [60307] David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con): In the week of the anniversary of the emergency Budget, what additional steps is my right hon. Friend’s Department taking to help the Government to achieve their fiscal mandate? Mr Pickles: We have delivered a good settlement for local government; we are looking to reduce our own Department, including reducing at the top and reducing numbers; and we are looking to extend that by offering help on growth, on enterprise zones and on local partnerships for growth. This Department has changed enormously over the past year by becoming pro-growth and helpful to local communities, offering power to local government and ensuring that ordinary people do not face a big increase in council tax. Mr Speaker: I think the hon. Gentleman might want an Adjournment debate on the matter. Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab): In the Westminster city council area, 3,000 elderly and disabled people are losing social care, children’s centres are being cut, street cleansing is being cut and the youth service is being cut. In the light of that, does the Secretary of State think it is a good use of public money to run a summer roadshow “to counter the messages that people are hearing about council services being reduced or withdrawn”? Mr Pickles: We have been most careful to ensure that priority has been given to the most vulnerable. That is why we made sure that £6.5 billion went into the Supporting People programme, and £400 million into homeless programmes. We expect that to be reflected by local authorities prioritising the most vulnerable. Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD): It is a national scandal that wanted and profitable pubs are being closed against the wishes of the communities they serve and simply to serve the interests of greedy developers and pub companies. I was delighted to welcome the Minister with responsibility for community pubs to the launch of the all-party save the pub group’s new planning charter. Will he welcome that charter and work with the group to ensure that the Government do all they can to protect pubs? The <strong>Parliament</strong>ary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Robert Neill): Iam delighted to work with the hon. Gentleman and to discuss his charter—I should be delighted to join him in a pub, if need be. The Government are determined, through our planning reforms and the Localism Bill, to give communities an opportunity to acquire those assets that genuinely can be viable. Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab): Conservative-run Lancashire county council has increased day-care charges from £5 to £30 starting from this month. Does the Minister think that the residents and elderly of Lancashire will see a 600% improvement from that Conservative council? Mr Pickles: I dare say that, if Labour had been in control, we would have seen even bigger increases. After all, this is the year that Labour was going to impose pretty big front-loaded cuts on local authorities, and it was urging local authorities to increase their charges. A Labour MP should therefore not castigate a local authority that increases charges after listening to a Labour Government; he should be encouraging it. Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con): I have a council that is keen to transfer assets to community groups, and community groups are, encouragingly, interested in taking them on. However, there seem to be some barriers in terms of not only VAT and the complexity of the VAT system but community insurance policies, so will the Department put in place a working group to look at the barriers that are stopping people transferring assets to community groups? Mr Pickles: My hon. Friend makes some very important points, but such matters are way above my pay grade. With regard to charitable trusts and the like, however, it would be sensible for her to talk to members of my Department, and we will do our best to help her. Mr Nick Raynsford (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab): I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. On waste, will the Secretary of State confirm that his Department spent £1.3 million in the first four months of this year on legal advice and consultancy? How much of that was attributable to the consequences of his unlawful decision to try to abolish regional spatial strategies? Mr Pickles: I am delighted to tell the right hon. Gentleman that the bill has come down from what it was under Labour, and that quite a lot of that money was actually expended on decisions taken by my Labour predecessor. We have been using that money to unravel the mess that he and his friends left behind. Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con): The village of Braybrooke in my constituency is gradually being surrounded by unauthorised developments in open countryside as a result of applications from the Gypsy and Traveller community. What additional powers and guidance will the Secretary of State give to the local planning authority to ensure that the village is not completely encircled? The <strong>Parliament</strong>ary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Andrew Stunell): The current consultation on the planning guidelines is open for a few more days, and we will be interested to hear my hon. Friend’s views if he has not already submitted them. We are determined to tackle this problem, and the Localism Bill and the changes to the guidelines are designed to achieve just that. David Wright (Telford) (Lab): The 1% increase in mortgage activity over the past 12 months is largely focused on remortgages. Why is that? Grant Shapps: Because there was an enormous bank crash due to the fact that the debt in the British economy got out of all possible control, with Labour spending
21 Oral Answers 20 JUNE 2011 Oral Answers 22 money that this country simply did not have. We are in the process of unravelling that mess. I am pleased to report to the hon. Gentleman that for the first time for a very long time average lending to first-time buyers has dropped below 6%. Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD): Further to Question 2, do Ministers accept that in towns where there is a major garrison there is a significant impact on the rented housing sector, both public and private? That being the case, will the coalition Government provide additional resources over and above what they would provide for a town without a garrison so that our current and former service personnel can be housed? Grant Shapps: My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the additional pressures that arise when there is a garrison in a town. As I announced at the Dispatch Box an hour ago, this Government are determined not only to honour returning service personnel but to put them at an advantage by putting them right at the top of the list and for top consideration for such things as the Firstbuy scheme. We will send Firstbuy agents into the garrisons to ensure that they can help to get the right people into these new homes.
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