Local Government Financing

Debate between John Denham and Lord Barwell

Tuesday 29th June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

rose—

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

rose—

[Mr Denham]

I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne), and then I will give way to the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell).

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Denham]

If I may, I will just complete the point I was making by giving one last example.

We were told that there would be a 2% limit on cuts; however, Corby council faces a cut of 15% in one year, because the figures did not include the housing and planning delivery grant. Corby council did the right thing: it gave planning permission for houses and economic development—and now it has had to pay for that with a 15% cut. I now give way to the hon. Member for Croydon Central.

[Gavin Barwell]

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He is trying to make the point that the previous Government allocated money on the basis of need. Does he recognise that the result of the introduction in 2006-07 of the fourth block into the funding formula, according to the London Councils report, has been a shift in local authority funding

“from a relative needs basis towards a per capita basis, causing an arbitrary redistribution in funding between high-need and low-need authorities”?

That is the result of the policies his Government introduced, and he did nothing to correct those decisions.

[Mr Denham]

If what the hon. Gentleman says means anything, he is arguing that we should have shifted more priority towards the poorest and that we actually made a mistake back in 2006. That does not fit coherently with the approach of his hon. Friends.