Local Government Finance

John Slinger Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I have answered a number of questions on rural areas, so I refer the hon. Lady to the answers I have already given. I have real confidence in the latest indices of deprivation. The data quality is much better, so we are able to meet the challenge she sets.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the settlement, which puts fairness at the heart of local government funding. I thank the Minister for the increased funding for Warwickshire, which will benefit people across the county and in Rugby. Would she care to comment on the fact that there is not a single Reform UK MP in the Chamber? Does that not indicate that Reform does not take local government seriously?

[Alison McGovern]

It certainly does. Our first duties as Members of Parliament are to listen to our constituents and to be in this House. My hon. Friend always stands up for his constituents, unlike others who are not here.

Houses in Multiple Occupation: Planning Consent

John Slinger Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd.

I previously served as a councillor in the New Bilton ward on Rugby borough council, and I campaigned partly on a petition on HMOs. I called for an article 4 direction, and other councillors, including Councillor Richard Harrington, have since taken up the baton. Residents raised massive concerns with me about litter, antisocial behaviour, parking, the impact on house prices and the fundamental change in the nature of the community when family homes for two adults and two children are transformed into homes that house four, five, six, seven or more adults, each with a car.

I was a councillor on the planning committee, and although residents came before the committee to express their concerns, it did not count for anything because those concerns were not material planning concerns. I concluded that HMOs are a flawed, market-based solution to a flawed market, despite them being, in some cases, a good form of housing for some people. People feel powerless as their community is transformed. An article 4 direction does not prevent conversions; it just ensures that the applications come before the planning committee, which then has to apply the law, and that often means the application is approved.

The problem in Rugby was that the previous Conservative administration did not refer to HMOs in the local plan, which meant that everything defaulted to the national planning policy framework. The current Labour-led council has introduced an article 4 direction and has a radius-based approach in the current draft plan. That should help, but it will take time to be implemented.

Will Ministers take another look at the guidance and the powers that may be available to local authorities in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, in other legislation and in the national planning policy framework? This is about empowering local communities and enabling them to have pride in place, by controlling the over-concentration of HMOs in the urban areas of our communities.

Supporting High Streets

John Slinger Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Aphra Brandreth]

I will make progress.

In Malpas, the post office recently closed with no notice at all. After sustained community pressure, thanks to the dedication of our hard-working local councillor Rachel Williams, and through further discussions with Post Office Ltd, it has thankfully reopened, although at present it operates without cash services. I continue to work with it on restoring the full range of facilities, so that the many people who rely on them every day will again be able to access them.

I want to end on a positive note, supporting our Conservative vision of how we can restore and revitalise our high streets. Businesses in my constituency have welcomed the plan set out by the shadow Chancellor and the Leader of the Opposition, particularly our commitment to permanent, 100% business rates relief for the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Aphra Brandreth]

I am sorry; I need to make progress.

That policy would support around 250,000 businesses nationwide. As the Chancellor prepares her Budget for later this month, I say to her and her Ministers: “Step outside Westminster this Friday. Walk down your local high street. Speak to the shopkeepers, the publicans, the hairdressers and the café owners. Listen to their concerns, and put them at the centre of your Budget.” They should support this Conservative motion, which will deliver for our communities and our high streets.

Changing Places Toilets

John Slinger Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

I will take up that point in the same spirit. The intent of the original programme was to try to fill in the gaps, but clearly from my hon. Friend’s contribution there is more to do, so I will reflect on that and talk with colleagues.

These changes do not happen by accident, so I want to recognise the tireless campaigning of individuals, charities such as Muscular Dystrophy UK, and local authorities, which have been progressive in this space. I would like to personally thank a very good friend of mine in Nottingham, Martin Jackaman, who was at the very heart of this campaign at the beginning. It was he who introduced me to the importance of this issue was when I was a young portfolio holder on my council nearly 15 years ago. The action of such individuals has meant that progress has been made and that we can be confident of more progress to come.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is quite a large amount of ignorance among people who do not need to use these facilities, and that it is incumbent on all of us in this House, our councillor colleagues and others to raise awareness so that people do not just walk on by in towns, not realising the needs of others?

[Alex Norris]

It is so important that in our naturally busy lives we all do not cut corners, whether by parking in places or using toilets that are not designed for us. We must understand that, when we do so, what may seem a pretty harmless—I suspect it is thoughtless—act could have a profound impact on an individual who needs those spaces that affects not only their day but whether in future they will be willing to venture into that amenity. I do not think anybody would want to have that impact. We must all reflect on the impacts we have and, therefore, on how we might mitigate them in the future and stop these things from happening.

This has been an important debate. As we can see from the number of colleagues in the Chamber, we could have done with much longer—there is certainly much more I would like to have said on public toilets—but I know that we will have such opportunities in the future. The progress that has been made so far is a result of really heroic individuals, campaigners and charities, and has happened because people have shared what are often some of the worst experiences of their and their families’ lives. We are better for their willingness to do so. I want them to hear me say from the Dispatch Box that, yes, we want them to keep campaigning and fighting—that is what we will all do—and that in us they have a Government who understand the issues they are talking about and want to be their partner in improving them.

Question put and agreed to.

Strategy for Elections

John Slinger Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali]

The hon. Lady has a lot of questions. The Government have no plans to change the electoral system for UK parliamentary and local elections. Her party, in the coalition Government, had the opportunity, through a referendum, to campaign and institute the appropriate changes. Our focus is on ensuring we address the manifesto commitments we made, including a voting age of 16. I am grateful to her and her party for their support. We are also taking action to tackle illicit finance and foreign interference. I very much hope that she and her colleagues will work with us on that very important agenda.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

I declare an interest as a member of the Speaker’s Conference, which is looking at the security of MPs, candidates and elections. Does my hon. Friend agree that a wide number of behaviours in our democratic system are intimidating candidates and, indeed, Members of this House, and that that is detrimental to our values and democracy? Will she expand on the measures in the strategy that will seek to alleviate those very serious problems?

[Rushanara Ali]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. In the 15 years I have been a Member of Parliament, we have seen a rise in hatred and hostility towards candidates and elected officials, and have sadly faced the loss of our dear colleagues, Jo Cox and Sir David Amess. This Government are determined to ensure that elected representatives, candidates and election officials are protected, because this trend is having a devastating chilling effect on our democracy. We need to work together to protect our democracy while protecting freedom of speech. I would be happy to speak to my hon. Friend on the specific proposals as we proceed with their implementation.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Slinger Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

I entirely share my hon. Friend’s view. We want to see thriving high streets. We want to see full shops, but we want to see them trading fairly, properly and in a quality way, working well with their staff and being a good part of the community. When that is not happening, it is really important that action is taken—she raises some high-profile examples—and we of course stand ready to support local authorities in whatever way we can.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

15. What steps she is taking to build more social and affordable homes.

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)]

We announced a record £39 billion investment into the new social and affordable homes programme at the spending review, which will create around 300,000 new homes over 10 years. Earlier this month, we published a five step plan that sets out how we will deliver the biggest increase in social housing in a generation to transform the safety and quality of social housing. My priority as Deputy Prime Minister is to get more social rent homes built, and that is what this Labour Government are delivering.

[John Slinger]

Planning authorities such as Rugby borough council are working hard to ensure that new housing developments contain as much affordable and social housing as possible. They work in partnership with housing developers, Government bodies such as Homes England, and others to that end, though it is not always an easy process and it often takes far too long. Will my right hon. Friend outline how the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will enhance their work, so that we can build as many high-quality affordable and social homes as possible and ensure that more people, particularly young people, get the homes they deserve?

[Angela Rayner]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unlock a new scale of housing and infrastructure delivery across all tenures to help build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament. We are also taking action in the Bill to improve local decision making by modernising planning committees and ensuring that planning departments are well resourced by allowing local planning authorities to set their own planning fees.

Coalfields Regeneration Trust

John Slinger Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Adam Jogee]

My other constituency neighbour raises a very good point—

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

How many neighbours does my hon. Friend have?

[Adam Jogee]

I have seven neighbours—almost all Labour now, which is marvellous. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams) raises a powerful point and speaks to the CRT’s reach up and down the country, not least in north Staffordshire.

Plan for Neighbourhoods

John Slinger Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

For the final question, I call John Slinger.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

I know that the list of areas is the one the Minister inherited. He gave a truly brilliant statement, which spoke of a stronger community, of pride in place and of the need for thriving communities. I pay tribute to the Minister for visiting Rugby, where he did a walk-around and held a roundtable with me, and saw that our Labour borough councillors—my colleagues—are working hard to achieve all those things, as well as a vibrant community and business sector. I hope the Minister will work with them so that they can learn some of the lessons from this absolutely superb plan for neighbourhoods going forward.

[Alex Norris]

I greatly enjoyed my visit to Rugby. It took me more than an hour to realise that the great ovoid-shaped public art installations were rugby balls, hence the rugby pun. It was, perhaps, not my sharpest day. However, I really enjoyed the session we had with local business and community and the local authority. It was impossible not to come away with the sense that the community of Rugby really has a grip of where it wants to go in the future. As a Government and a Department, our job is to give that community the tools and resources to make that a reality.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Slinger Excerpts

Monday 3rd March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali]

We recognise that it is important to get the balance right. The Renters’ Rights Bill will put in place new regulations to protect tenants, and as I have said, there are schemes to support landlords who need support. Investment in a property is an important part of ownership, and improvements can lead to increases in property value, and in the attractiveness of lets to tenants.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

9. What steps she is taking to build more social housing.

[Mike Tapp (Dover and Deal) (Lab)]

21. What steps she is taking to build more social housing in Kent.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

The Government are committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation. In our first eight months in office, we have announced £800 million in new funding for the affordable homes programme. This top-up will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half being social rent homes. We will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-to-2026 programme at the spending review.

[John Slinger]

I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. What measures will his Department consider to support councils that find themselves in viability negotiations with developers, who sometimes push down the quota of social homes and, indeed, affordable homes?

[Matthew Pennycook]

I am aware of several schemes in my hon. Friend’s constituency that are having viability issues. Financial support is indeed available. While the £500 million of new in-year funding for the affordable homes programme announced at the Budget is already oversubscribed as a result of significant demand from housing providers across the country, the further allocation of £300 million, which we announced last month, will help ensure that more social and affordable homes are delivered. In the case that my hon. Friend describes, I would encourage both his local authority and local social housing providers to bid for that money.

Local Government Finance

John Slinger Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) (Lab)]

It is an honour to speak in this debate. The hon. Member for North Cotswolds (Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown) spoke about auditors, and we are all aware that auditors are spread pretty thinly, which may, in part, contribute to delays in getting accounts signed off.

Local authorities are complex environments. In my area, we have two unitary authorities with populations of less than 100,000 people, so I commend the Government for looking very seriously at a more sensible local government structure. We are fortunate to have a Local Government Minister with such experience and expertise. It is a real boon, especially as we embark on such an ambitious and radical programme.

I welcome this year’s local government finance settlement. Councils have been subject to steep funding cuts since 2010-11, and these cuts have had a disproportionate impact on the most deprived areas. Many authorities face effective bankruptcy, putting essential services and jobs at risk. By 2025-26, councils in England will have received a 15.9% real-terms cut in their core spending power compared with 2010-11. Councils in the special interest group of municipal authorities, like Middlesbrough, have seen an average cut of 19.9%. Middlesbrough itself has seen cuts worth 22%, which is a real-terms cut of £55 million per year that amounts to around £835 per household, so this year’s settlement of more than £69 billion in overall national funding is welcome. It represents a cash-terms increase of almost 7% and a more than four times real increase on the past year.

The Government are on the right track in redirecting funding to areas that are in the most need and have the greatest demand for services. Those areas are often less able to raise income locally, as much as the Conservatives sought to pass the buck to local council tax increases. In areas like mine, many households pay over £3,000 per annum more in council tax than is paid by Buckingham Palace, so this settlement is fairer for councils and will provide welcome relief to the most deprived areas.

In Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, we very much welcome the settlement announced by the Government and the long overdue reforms to council funding. Middlesbrough council is now in a position to invest more money in key services. I welcome the fact that Mayor Chris Cooke, the Labour council and the new chief executive, Erik Scollay, have established the Middlesbrough priorities fund, worth over £4 million, and initiatives such Middlesbrough’s empty homes strategy, which will use £6 million of Government funding to purchase and refurbish empty homes for emergency accommodation.

While the settlement is under way, many authorities continue to face a shortfall, and the Minister has been very candid that this is not a done deal. We look forward to the three-year settlement later this year, because councils will not be able to rely on the additional funding being repeated. As colleagues from across the House have said, the three-year settlement gives councils the ability to plan much further ahead. I hope we can extend our commitments to wider investment in our services on a longer-term basis, through a fairer funding system that delivers long-term financial stability across all council services.

The position of our wonderful councillors has been raised. They do a terrific job, with very little reward, and they are sometimes on the receiving end of the ire of members of the public—sometimes justly, but sometimes unfairly and unkindly—so we need to address that.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

I am a serving councillor at Rugby borough council. I agree with my hon. Friend that councillors and council officers go out of their way to serve the public, which is extremely difficult when councils have faced 30% to 40% cumulative cuts. We need to remember that they are often trying to deliver services with one or both hands tied behind their backs, which is why the reforms set out by the Minister are so important.

[Andy McDonald]

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. It is incumbent upon everyone in politics to recognise the work of our local councils and to treat them with the respect that they deserve. Some of the comments that I have heard in recent times run contrary to that. Councillors in my area have been put in harm’s way by careless and irresponsible comments made by people in this House who really ought to know better.

I will finish by talking about not only councillors, but the local government workforce and the issue of pay. The Minister will be aware that local government workers have missed out on the higher wage settlements paid out to workers in other parts of the public sector in the past year. Overall, they have seen 25% wiped from the value of their pay since 2010. In drawing the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, I note that Unison, the GMB and Unite have said that a substantial pay award for local government staff is essential. Will the Minister therefore take steps to address those concerns and look to the upcoming spending review to deliver the finances and provide a long-overdue £15 minimum hourly rate for those workers who served us so incredibly well—I think of the covid days of maintaining those public services—so that they are properly compensated for their work?