Written Question
Tuesday 20th June 2023
Asked by:
Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question
to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Local Government Association and (b) council leaders on Unite the Union's pay dispute in respect of the pay offer for local government employees.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Detailed employment matters such as pay are for local authorities, as independent employers, to determine through the usual processes. It is the responsibility of employers to make an assessment of what is affordable within the overall available resources. Ministers do not have a formal role in such matters.
Employers do of course have to pay the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage. We recognise that pay and wages are one of a number of inflationary pressures facing local government. The government made significant additional resources available for local government at the autumn statement. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24 made available substantial additional funding for local government in England. This boost in funding demonstrates how Government stands behind councils up and down the country.
As negotiations continue, the department continues to monitor the issue through regular engagement with the Local Government Association and routine engagement with councils.
Speech in General Committees - Wed 30 Nov 2022
Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
"I am pleased to serve under your leadership of the Committee, Mrs Murray. I rise briefly to raise a couple of points about the provisions.
These are quite ingenious ways of moving from one system of voting to another, and the details are extremely complicated to follow. However, there are …..."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
Speech in General Committees - Wed 30 Nov 2022
Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
"Let me just make the second point, and then the hon. Gentleman can come in.
I am not looking only at Labour Mayors; Andy Street in the West Midlands received 48% of the vote on a 31% turnout, but the truth is that, of the total number of people who …..."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
Speech in General Committees - Wed 30 Nov 2022
Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
"I will give way with pleasure...."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
Speech in General Committees - Wed 30 Nov 2022
Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
"I will come to precisely that point. I was the leader of a great council—Leeds City Council—for almost 10 years under Mrs Thatcher and then under John Major’s premiership. I was elected under first past the post, but we had a parliamentary system, as we do here. The Prime Minister …..."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022
Draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 23 Nov 2022
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
"I support the amendments in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Mrs Lewell-Buck). This debate has illustrated a central defect in the Bill, to which I will return when I address clause 1.
People going hungry is clearly a product of 10 to 12 years …..."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 23 Nov 2022
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
"rose—..."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 23 Nov 2022
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
"Why would someone not speak up for local communities against a Government making mistaken decisions? Why on earth should that be a bad thing?..."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 23 Nov 2022
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
"The Minister is making an interesting speech. I hope in due course she will come to the question that I raised about powers for parish and town councils...."Jon Trickett - View Speech
View all Jon Trickett (Lab - Normanton and Hemsworth) contributions to the debate on: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill
Written Question
Monday 21st November 2022
Asked by:
Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question
to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much his Department spent on first class train travel for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in (i) 2020, (i) 2021 and (iii) 2022.
Answered by Lee Rowley
There are important official reasons for ministers and civil servants to travel across the country. Reflecting this department’s responsibilities for local government, housing, planning, and communities across England, and our wider responsibilities across the whole of the United Kingdom, our work inevitably involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.
Further to a written answer given by this department in 2015, in 2009-10 this department spent over £216,000 on first class rail travel.
A yearly breakdown of first class train travel spend is below. There will be business cases for such travel, including on occasion security, but we have significantly reduced costs compared to the last Labour Government. For example the 2022 level was well below 10% of the 2009-10 level in cash terms.
2020 - Civil Servants £9,735
2020 - Ministers £1,135
2021 - Civil Servants £4,731
2021 - Ministers £1,132
2022 - Civil Servants £12,135
2022 - Ministers £3,119
Figures are likely reduced in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since 2010, the Department has taken on responsibility for residual functions of the Government Offices for the Regions, and other agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside London, this may have increased the business need for travel. Overall, we have still managed to reduce travel costs through better procurement and tighter management controls on costs, and reduced overall costs through closing unnecessary public bodies.