Oral Answers to Questions

Andy Slaughter Excerpts

Monday 20th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Grant Shapps]

I have no hesitation in congratulating Tamworth on its approach to the armed forces, or the Residential Landlords Association, which has done much to push this issue. I congratulate them, and I will go further when we draw up the social housing regulations after the Localism Bill has passed.

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

4. What recent assessment he has made of the effects of reductions in central Government funding for local authorities on levels of local authority service provision.

[Mrs Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

13. What recent assessment he has made of the effects of reductions in central Government funding for local authorities on levels of charges for local authority services.

[The Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark)]

I can tell the House that I have made a new assessment of the consequences for local authorities of paying down the deficit. Currently, the average reduction in spending power for councils this year is 4.4%. However, if VAT were reduced, as per a recent suggestion, the £13 billion a year needed to pay for it would require the average cut in council spending to be 29.1%. In my view, that would be to go too far and too fast.

[Mr Slaughter]

That is all very interesting, but from next month, nine Sure Start centres in Hammersmith and Fulham will lose more than 90% of their funding, and therefore will close. Parents at one of them—Cathnor Park—have got a judicial review going, but they are having to expedite it, because the council is going ahead with 50 redundancies and closing services, despite the fact that the courts have not yet considered these matters. Will the Minister at least go as far as advising that rogue council not to proceed with those closures until the courts and the parents have had their fair say?

[Greg Clark]

That is a superb council, and it certainly does not need any advice from me. In fact, I am astonished that the hon. Gentleman has not taken the opportunity to congratulate his council on saving every library in the borough, by merging the service with neighbouring boroughs, and on saving £1 million. When he was leader of the council, he doubled the council tax and his Labour administration was booted out at the election. The current, Conservative administration was returned with a healthy majority at the last council election.