Winter Floods
Debate between Clive Efford and Lord Pickles(10 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Pickles
My hon. Friend is a redoubtable campaigner for her constituents. I have no doubt that she will raise that issue with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he returns. We are looking for long-term solutions.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
On Christmas eve, 35 properties in my constituency were flooded, not because any flood defences were overwhelmed but because of the failure of the Environment Agency to keep a culvert clear. Its failure to accept responsibility for that has major implications for future insurance premiums for my constituents. In addition, it has altered the area of the floodplain. When my constituents renew their insurance, they are finding that it has gone up from an average of £500 a year to nearly £6,000 a year. Will the Secretary of State discuss those matters with the Environment Agency? Will he get it to accept responsibility for that event and discuss with it the implications of the floodplain for my constituents’ insurance policies?
Mr Pickles
The hon. Gentleman has a deserved reputation for dealing with his constituents’ problems assiduously. I will ensure that the specific case that he makes is raised with the agency.
Cost of Living
Debate between Clive Efford and Lord Pickles
Mr Pickles
No.
These measures will save taxpayers’ money, cut waste and help keep council tax down.
Mr Pickles
The Deregulation Bill will promote the right to buy by further extending eligibility and undoing John Prescott’s cuts. This complements our £20 billion affordable housing programme, our £10 billion programme for rented sector guarantees and our new help-to-buy scheme to help people up the housing ladder. By contrast, Labour’s alternative Queen’s Speech called for more red tape and would add costs to housing. The party that gave us home information packs now wants a £300 million a year tenants’ tax in the form of compulsory registration of all landlords. Those costs will be passed on to tenants in the form of higher rents.
This is the party whose Labour councils for years turned a blind eye to exploitation by rogue landlords building “beds in sheds”. It is a party that intentionally let immigration rip. Those buildings have been propped up overnight, with Labour councils such as Ealing and Newham doing nothing until it was too late to solve the problem. This Government have given councils clear guidance on the use of their already extensive legal powers to clamp down on rogue landlords, and have provided extra funding to target the problem areas.
What do we think of the alternate Queen’s Speech?
amendment of the law
Debate between Clive Efford and Lord Pickles(11 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Pickles
Of course they do, and it is a matter of regret that the number of affordable houses fell by 420,000-odd during Labour’s period in office, and we see a way in which we can achieve a number of affordable houses. As I said, we are well on track to deliver 170,000 and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will be pleased about that. I wish to make this contrast for him, because we have the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition’s remarks on Labour’s housing plans. He says:
“We didn’t do enough... I don’t have a solution for this, but in the end government has to invest in housing, and...it’s a massive challenge”.
I think we can all agree with that—we can all unite behind those principles—so where the last Administration wrung their hands, this Government are stepping in. In the past couple of years, we have made sure that first-time buyers and those looking to buy a brand-new property have been given a helping hand. We also reinvigorated the right to buy, building mixed communities, more affordable homes and giving social tenants a chance to move up the housing ladder. This Government believe in extending opportunity to everyone who works hard and wants to do so.
The Home Builders Federation has said:
“If people can’t buy, builders can’t build”.
It has also said that “people’s inability to buy” has been the biggest “constraint” on house building. That is why in the Budget we announced our help to buy scheme. It is here to help in two ways: it is offering an equitable loan and a mortgage guarantee.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
Given that 60% of homes built in central London are being sold to overseas buyers, how does the Secretary of State think that the help to buy scheme will affect the prices of those properties and people’s ability to enter the housing market if he does not deal with that problem?
Mr Pickles
This scheme will not be available for foreign buyers; this is a scheme to help people from this country. That situation did not happen overnight, and the hon. Gentleman’s own Government signally failed to do anything about it. It is perhaps apposite for me to raise the issues to do with social housing.
As well as rewarding those who want to get on, we are taking tough action to tackle those who want a free ride and who are abusing the housing system. We are announcing today new measures to stop rogue landlords cashing in from renting homes to illegal migrants and we are also ensuring fair play in the allocation of taxpayer-funded social housing. We are tackling the widespread perception that the way social housing is allocated is unfair and favours foreign migrants over local people and members of the armed services.
It is true that one in 10 of all the new social housing tenancies in England go to a foreign migrant whereas in London one in five social housing tenancies belong to a foreign migrant. That is not fair to people who have worked hard and paid their taxes in Britain, so new rules will ensure that councils give priority to local people and to the armed forces when allocating social housing. That tough action will tackle the pull factors that led to unsustainable immigration under Labour and it will help community cohesion by ensuring fair play and removing the perception of unfairness that extremists exploit.
Local Government Finance
Debate between Clive Efford and Lord Pickles(11 years, 4 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Pickles
The hon. Lady can read the written ministerial statement by the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis). Essentially, small authorities have in the past been capped at very small sums of money, so we will be introducing a de minimis sum of £5.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
When the Secretary of State reads out the spending capacity for my area, will he include the spending capacity of the 14,800 people who will become eligible to pay council tax next year under what has become known as the Pickles poll tax? What thought has he given to those people in the announcement that he has made today?
Mr Pickles
I am delighted to say that in order to protect those good folk from the excesses of a Labour council, we have found £10 million to ensure that nobody has to pay more than 8.5%. Perhaps I should give notice that if councils persist in charging the poor—it is only Labour councils that are doing so—I may take the necessary powers to prevent them from doing so. I am delighted to tell the hon. Gentleman, because he wants it to be read out, that his area receives £3,222 per household and has a loss of less than 0.9%.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Clive Efford and Lord Pickles(12 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Pickles
This is something very close to all our hearts in this Chamber. That, of course, is a matter for the Secretary of State for Justice, but to me this seems common sense. I have not come across many chief executives who do the count and organise the postal votes; that is often done by the deputy returning officer. I know that a number of returning officers ensure that the extra money is shared among staff. I think that that is the right course, but if chief executives are pocketing that money, they should feel ashamed.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
Local authority-run closed circuit television played a vital role in investigating many of the riots in our high streets only a month ago, yet the Protection of Freedoms Bill will make it more difficult and bureaucratic for local authorities to install CCTV. Will the Secretary of State take the opportunity to reflect on that, and consult local authorities and police before we go ahead with the measures in the Bill?
Mr Pickles
Of course we will reflect on those matters, but it is important that these important intrusions into people’s private lives are regulated, and the Bill intends to regulate them, but if the hon. Gentleman has a specific point, we will be happy to look into it.
Local Government Finance
Debate between Clive Efford and Lord Pickles
Mr Pickles
Fortunately for the fate of the VOA, it is not accountable to me. It is a constant source of amazement and entertainment, but I hope that it will see reason so far as my hon. Friend’s constituency is concerned.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
Can the Secretary of State tell us what local authorities will be doing to generate growth under the new scheme that they are not doing now?
Mr Pickles
God help us if the hon. Gentleman does not understand that. Local authorities work hard to bring new things into their areas and to ensure that there is a balance. The difference between this system and the existing system is that, at the moment, despite everything that the local authorities do, we take the money away from them and it goes back into a central pool. In future, they will keep that money, which will give them an incentive—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman clearly does not seem terribly familiar with the entrepreneurial system that exists. His counsel of despair is that we cannot do anything and should not do anything but continue to stand here with our hands out. That is not really a policy; it is a surrender.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Clive Efford and Lord Pickles(13 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Mr Pickles
We will use the most up-to-date information we have. I take the right hon. Gentleman’s point about front-loading; we did much to mitigate its main impacts in the settlement. We are continuing to examine all aspects of the settlement, and we will of course ensure that the most vulnerable are protected in the process.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
In answer to an earlier question, the Secretary of State said that he looked forward to a time when local authorities would be able to retain business rates raised in their areas. With that in mind, can he tell us what proportion of the money distributed to authorities through formula grant is raised through business rates?
Mr Pickles
Virtually all equalisation comes from business rates. The hon. Gentleman raises an important point and we will consider it carefully, but before we can move to a system of that kind we must be able to offer a degree of stability. Business rates are notorious for their movements during the economic cycle.