Council Tax
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts(1 year ago)
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Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
My Lords, we are more than aware of the issues in tackling adult social care funding; however, the best way to resolve them in the long term is make sure that we do the job properly by looking at what is needed. We recognise the important role that councils have in delivering those services. That is why we announced in the provisional settlement a further £200 million for adult and children’s social care, bringing the total additional funding to £3.7 billion.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, does the Minister think that this Government are generally finding it quite difficult to be progressive?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
Absolutely not. The range of legislation we have brought forward has shown just how progressive this Government are being in both fiscal and social policy.
Housebuilding: Regional Mayors
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb Excerpts(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord but will resist the temptation to explain why we have not delivered the number of homes we wanted to this year, as I think he knows the answer. On skills, the Government have committed to working with regional mayors and industry to ensure that we have high-quality training opportunities across the country and that we build a diverse workforce, fit for the future. The Minister for Housing and Planning held a round table in November and we welcomed the announcement then of £140 million of industry-funded investment in new construction training opportunities.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, it sounded from one of the Minister’s earlier answers that the Government are introducing particular measures to make it easier for councils to buy vacant properties and perhaps to build new social housing. There are such long waiting lists for council homes. Did I understand her correctly?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
The noble Baroness is quite correct: we want to do that. Despite the very difficult Budget round this time, the Secretary of State for my department was able to achieve further funding for affordable homes of £500 million. That brings the total for affordable housing up to £3.1 billion.