Housing: Accessibility
Debate between Lord Shipley and Baroness Stowell of Beeston
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
My Lords, I do not think that it is presumptuous to say on behalf of the whole House just how sorry we are to hear about the tragic accident that the noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, experienced. We all wish her a speedy recovery.
In response to the noble Lord’s question, it is important for me to say that this Government are going further than any previous Government in making new homes accessible because for the first time ever we are bringing two new access standards into building regulations. That has never happened before. Local authorities are best placed to decide the housing needs of older and disabled people in terms of applying those standards and having those national standards will now make it much simpler for developers to comply.
Lord Shipley (LD)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that we need a national campaign to build more bungalows to the lifetime homes standards because they are accessible and adaptable? Will she look at ways in which the community infrastructure levy could be adapted to encourage builders to build more homes to the lifetime standards?
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
We need a range of different types of housing to meet a range of needs. One of the things that the Government are doing is providing special funding for accessible homes that are aimed precisely at older people and adults with disabilities. We are expecting 3,500 of those homes to be delivered before 2018.
Combined Authorities (Consequential Amendments) Order 2014
Debate between Lord Shipley and Baroness Stowell of Beeston
Lord Shipley
Will the Minister give further guidance on the overview and scrutiny structure? She referred to good practice. Will she write to the councils that form combined authorities about what that good practice might entail? In particular, will she advise that having an opposition chair of scrutiny, which anyway is common practice in many councils for the overview and scrutiny process, might be recommended by the department? Will she also advise on whether all members who are appointed to serve on an overview and scrutiny panel are able to place items on the agenda? I am seeking to avoid a situation in which the majority party on the combined authority chairs the overview and scrutiny panel and then controls the items placed on the agenda. Good practice is what I would expect to happen, and I am sure that in the case of the combined authorities orders we have today, and get in the future, that would be deemed to be good practice, but it might help if the Minister defined clearly what good practice actually means so that everybody can be aware of it, including those authorities that are yet to put in their proposals.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
My noble friend raises some very important points. As a point of principle, I or one of my ministerial colleagues would be happy to write to the combined authorities, and I will discuss with them the precise detail to put in such a letter.
Local Audit and Accountability Bill [HL]
Debate between Lord Shipley and Baroness Stowell of Beeston
Baroness Stowell of Beeston
My Lords, I beg to move that this House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments 27 to 29 en bloc. I shall speak also to the other amendments in this group.
These amendments would provide advance certainty to local government over timings, so they can be confident that any delay in Parliament will not impact on their budget-setting timetable.
Commons Amendments 27, 37, 39 and 40 provide that if the Bill is passed by 5 February, the likely date by which the referendum principles for 2014-15 must be laid before Parliament, the clause takes effect immediately. If not, the changes would take effect by order and relate to the financial year 2015-16. Commons Amendment 29 gives detail of the changes required if the clause was to be commenced by order and relate to 2015-16. This includes amending transitional provisions to ensure that council tax comparisons could be made on a like-for-like basis between 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Commons Amendment 28 is a minor amendment to clarify that the current clause does not reduce the existing discretion of the Secretary of State when determining categories of authority for 2014-15.
These amendments were proposed at Report in the other place as a precautionary measure to remove a risk that local authority budgeting could be adversely impacted in the event of any delay to the Bill. The Bill has not been delayed to date and, subject to the decisions of your Lordships’ House today, is on track to reach Royal Assent well before local authorities begin setting their budgets. If this remains the case, barring the minor clarification of Amendment 28, this group of amendments would not alter the operation of the clause from the version first introduced into this House.
With this explanation, I hope noble Lords will see fit to accept the amendments.
Lord Shipley (LD)
My Lords, could I make a brief point about Amendment 27 and the group as a whole? It relates to the issue of principle, which it is important that we restate. I do not like centrally imposed targets for increases in local taxation. The reason is simply this: there is a principle that localism means local decision-making, and those who are elected at local elections should make those decisions. We have various definitions now of what is seen to be relevant expenditure. Is it spending power? If you compare spending power to the amount of government grant, or to the amount of money paid on average by council tax payers or at band D by council tax payers, you get very different sums. In the end, we are reliant on the ballot box in each council area to decide who represents a ward, who then come together and make decisions about how that council is to be run. In my view, that includes the level of council tax.
I understand that we have debated that before and that debate has no doubt been held in the other place. I hope that somebody will decide to hold a referendum on the issue of council tax and the proposal that there should be a higher increase than the amount that the Secretary of State would prefer.
Therefore, this remains an issue of principle: local authorities are the people who should decide the level of council tax and they should be responsible to their electors, on the principle of localism. They will stand or fall at their ballot boxes by the decisions that they themselves take.