Draft Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2022

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2022 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Non-domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2022.

This statutory instrument delivers a transitional relief scheme to protect properties from large increases in their business rates bill when new property valuations come into effect on 1 April next year. That will help about 700,000 businesses with about £1.6 billion of relief over the coming three years. The scheme, which is a significant part of the measures on business rates announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the autumn statement, will cap bill increases after the revaluation by a set percentage every year. That will give more certainty; and for the first time—and particularly importantly—it will ensure that 300,000 business rate payers with falls in rateable value will see a full and immediate fall in their bills on 1 April.

As the Chancellor set out in the autumn statement, a revaluation will take place. Such revaluations are a necessary part of the proper administration of the business rates system. By updating valuations, we ensure that they reflect market conditions. The new set of rateable values, which were published in draft last month, will be applied from 1 April. That revaluation will build on measures already in the system to help ratepayers. Hon. Members will likely be aware that there is already substantial support through, for example, small business rate relief, which ensures that about 700,000 of England’s 2 million properties pay nothing at all.

However, we recognise just how challenging conditions are, including on high streets. Without intervention at this revaluation, business rate bills in England would have increased by, on average, 20% in 2023-24. To avoid that, we are providing a further package of support, worth £13.6 billion of taxpayer subsidy over five years. That will include a freeze on the business rates multiplier, to protect ratepayers from the full effects of inflation. That is worth £9.3 billion of taxpayer subsidy.

Many ratepayers will see their property values either fall or increase moderately at a revaluation, but we recognise that inevitably some properties have much greater swings in rateable value, which can result in a significant change to the final bill. That is why, in addition to freezing the multiplier, and the additional support for high streets, we are putting in place a more generous transitional relief scheme. These regulations will implement that transitional relief scheme.

As I say, the scheme, at £1.6 billion of the total £13.6 billion package, will help about 700,000 ratepayers to transition to their new bills. Unlike previous schemes, it will not require ratepayers to wait years to see the benefits of falling valuations. The results of the Government’s recent transitional relief consultation were published alongside the autumn statement and clearly showed businesses’ preference for the type of scheme that we are putting in place. We have listened, and are delivering significant reform to transitional relief by removing the system of downward transition, under which caps on increases were funded by restricting falls in bills. We are scrapping that cap, and there will be a full and immediate fall from 1 April 2023.

Nevertheless, under current law—specifically, section 57A(10) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988—we are required, when making these regulations, to have regard to the object of ensuring that they are self-financing. In other words, until and unless section 57A(10) has been changed, the regulations must include provisions to fund the relief. To meet that legal requirement and to adhere to the spirit of what we intend to do here, we have included in the regulations a supplement of 3.3p on every £1 of rateable value to be paid by ratepayers in 2027-28. If, as we are currently required to do, we must include funding in the regulations, we consider that to be the fairest and most reasonable option, as it allows businesses five years to recover from current economic circumstances before having to meet the cost of transitional relief. It also allows those for whom there will be reductions the full benefit of the new valuations immediately.

However, the Government’s intention—subject to the will and approval of Parliament—is that no business will ever have to pay the supplement in 2027-28. We intend to bring forward primary legislation to reform transitional relief so that the Exchequer shoulders the cost of capping bill increases after a revaluation. As soon as parliamentary time allows, we propose removing section 57A(10) from the statute book forever and then cutting the supplement out of the regulations. This is a fundamental reform of the system that supports business. What we propose today will allow us to obtain immediate and important benefits for businesses from next year, while still being able to resolve the broader matter in the future, when parliamentary time allows.

The upward caps provided for by the scheme will support those ratepayers facing larger increases in their bill. For example, in the first year of the revaluation, the transitional relief scheme has caps on increases of 5% for small properties, 15% for medium properties and 30% for large properties. It is important to note, however, that the caps included in the draft regulations are before any changes in the bill from other reliefs and supplements, such as the 1.3p paid by larger properties on the higher multiplier and the 2p supplement to fund Crossrail in London. The caps will also rise with inflation in 2024-25 and 2025-26, and of course bills can change for other reasons unrelated to the revaluation—for example, because of property improvements.

The precise increase in bills next year and in future years will vary depending on the circumstances of each ratepayer and, in later years, inflation. The caps will ensure, however, that large increases are staggered, and that ratepayers have time to adjust to their new bill. Transitional relief will be calculated automatically by local government and applied to bills without ratepayers having to apply. Nevertheless, we have also included transitional relief in the gov.uk rates estimator, so that ratepayers can go online to check whether they will receive transitional relief ahead of receiving their bill next year.

As we might expect, properties of different sizes will get different caps to better protect those businesses that are less able to adapt. Overall, we estimate that the transitional relief scheme will support about 700,000 ratepayers as they transition from 1 April. That includes the more than half a million small properties that will benefit from transitional relief in the first year of the scheme.

Few people welcome revaluations, but they are a necessity. They rebalance the burden of business rates across the tax base, ensuring a fair distribution. Clearly, however, in this economic climate, some ratepayers need support to transition to their new bills. This statutory instrument, along with the wider support package announced by the Chancellor, provides the support that businesses need to manage the revaluation with greater certainty. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lee Rowley]

I am grateful for all the contributions. I will take each in turn, starting with the questions and comments of the hon. Member for Luton North, who spoke on behalf of the Opposition. It is perfectly clear that there is a difference of view on how to approach the issue, which we will debate both in this place and elsewhere. The Government are trying to make progress by moving from a five-year cycle to a three-year cycle, which is a step forward; by putting in significant support and taxpayer subsidy in acknowledgement of the fact that there have recently been real difficulties, given the economic circumstances; and by giving businesses certainty, based on the existing processes, models and business rate scheme that they are familiar with.

The hon. Lady said that the measure does not go far enough, but if nothing else, £13.6 billion of taxpayer support is being provided to ensure relief for the businesses and properties that need it most. She pointed out that there are significant challenges for small businesses. We have accepted that all the way through covid and beyond; it is one of the reasons why many small businesses do not pay rates today, and why this additional relief is being provided at the same time. I cannot concur that the measures are tinkering; there is substantial support and relief, and a substantial change with regard to downward relief, in the regulations, on which we must either agree or vote. There will be an immediate benefit to businesses and properties that will see business rate reductions from 1 April next year.

The hon. Lady talked about the structure of tax policy—a subject that was similarly highlighted by my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney. Although I am not speaking for the Government on tax policy—I will allow the Treasury to do that—my hon. Friend made a number of salient and important points about online businesses and the potential for tax policy to move in that direction. It is important to put on the record that as a result of the revaluation, the properties that most online businesses use—big warehouses—will attract a substantial increase in business rates; the average increase will be 27%. If that is the prospectus on which an evaluation is being made, it should go at least some way to alleviating concerns.

The hon. Member for Luton North asked about small and medium-sized enterprises. We obviously take into account all the impacts on all businesses, including SMEs, as best we can. We are particularly cognisant of the importance of SMEs not just on our high streets, but across the economy, and we have brought forward packages that try to reflect and recognise that. She also asked about councils’ staff time. As she will know, local councils are used to making changes such as this; they have great expertise in doing so. We are grateful for the work that they do, but there will also be a new burdens assessment, and additional staff, support and funding will be provided, should it be proportionate to do so.

My hon. Friend the Member for Waveney made a number of broad points. I look forward to the debate that he is leading tomorrow, in which he will give these matters greater scope. I accept the challenge that my hon. Friend issued on the date of revaluation; his point is understood, and it is one of the reasons why substantial relief is being brought forward. I am grateful for his welcome of the downward relief and its immediacy from April next year.

I am grateful for the comments of the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East. I will allow the party political broadcast to stand; all I say is that we do not agree. We in the Conservative party are bringing forward a substantial amount of relief and a substantial change; our party has always been on the side of businesses, and will continue to be, whenever it has the privilege to serve in government. I am grateful for your time, Mrs Murray, and for the opportunity to make the case for the Government. I commend the statutory instrument to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Electoral Commission: Performance Standards for Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Office

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Wednesday 7th December 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

In accordance with section 9A of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, I am laying before Parliament the Electoral Commission’s new performance standards for returning officers and updated performance standards for electoral registration officers.

The Electoral Administration Act 2006, through amendments to PPERA, gave the Electoral Commission powers to set and monitor performance standards for electoral services. Under these provisions, the commission can determine and publish standards of performance for relevant electoral officers in Great Britain.

Following a consultation, the Electoral Commission has established a new set of standards for returning officers and made updates to the existing standards for electoral registration officers. The new standards reflect changes made by the Elections Act 2022, including measures to strengthen electoral integrity and prevent electoral fraud and ensuring the accessibility of voting in polling stations.

I welcome the Electoral Commission’s updates to the performance standards to reflect the current legislative requirements, which will support the delivery of well-run electoral services and elections, and effective and consistent implementation of measures in the Elections Act 2022.

A copy of the performance standards will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

The attachments can be viewed online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electoral-commission-performance-standards.

[HCWS421]

Draft Architects Act 1997 (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Wednesday 7th December 2022 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Architects Act 1997 (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. The draft regulations were laid before both Houses of Parliament on 14 November this year. They are part of the new framework for the recognition of internationally qualified architects in the United Kingdom using powers under sections 4, 6 and 13 of the Professional Qualifications Act 2022.

I will provide a little context for the draft regulations. To provide businesses with confidence on the availability of international talent following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the Government chose to continue the recognition of EU architectural qualifications at the time, in the same way as we had been bound by the EU’s mutual recognition of professional qualifications directive. That allowed the architecture sector to continue to recruit EU-qualified architects, while the Government and the regulator, the Architects Registration Board, prepared for the recruitment of talent from elsewhere in the world.

In April 2022, the Professional Qualifications Act came into force. It introduced a new framework for the recognition of internationally qualified professionals in the UK, including supporting a new framework for this sector in the recognition of international architects. We are therefore ending the remaining alignment with EU law and allowing the Architects Registration Board to use its expertise to decide which qualifications it wishes to recognise.

The draft regulations can be considered in two parts. First, the regulations end the remaining alignment with EU law, as I indicated, under the Architects Act 1997. That means the law will no longer require the Architects Registration Board to recognise EU architectural qualifications automatically; instead, the regulator will be able to assess qualifications and decide whether it deems the recognition of those qualifications to be appropriate. The unilateral recognition of EU qualifications by the UK is intended to be replaced by a reciprocal agreement under the UK-EU trade and co-operation agreement. The Architects Registration Board and the Architects’ Council of Europe have submitted a joint recommendation to the Partnership Council to receive such agreement.

Secondly, the draft regulations will enable the Architects Registration Board to enter into regulator-led recognition agreements with its counterparts in other countries. The Government recognise that the required expertise for recognition agreements at this level sits with the regulators. It will therefore be for the Architects Registration Board to seek out suitable counterparts in individual countries, and to negotiate and conclude recognition agreements with them. The ARB has done a significant amount of work in that regard and has negotiated two such reciprocal agreements: one with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards in the United States; and a trilateral agreement with the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia and the New Zealand Registered Architects Board.

The provisions made by the draft regulations will enable the regulator to maintain a supply of international talent, while scrutinising individual qualifications. That will provide the public with the reassurance that only those who are suitably competent are allowed to practise in the United Kingdom. The regulations are key to ensuring that the UK maintains its reputation as a leader in the field of architecture, that it is able to continue to attract talent to the UK, and that it is easier for UK architects to export their services to other countries. I hope that hon. Members will join me in supporting the draft regulations, which I commend to the Committee.

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[Lee Rowley]

I am grateful to all hon. Members who contributed to the debate, and I will address the points raised. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Luton North for her confirmation that she will join us in supporting this initiative and will not seek to divide the Committee. I welcome the constructive spirit of her speech, and I am grateful to the Opposition for their acknowledgement that the regulations are a necessary and reasonable step forward.

The hon. Lady outlined broader points about Brexit and the economic circumstances we are in. My hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Billericay made important points about the context for those circumstances. With the Committee’s forgiveness, I will not engage in a long debate about macroeconomic or global financial policy here, as many colleagues debate those issues regularly on the Floor of the House. Instead, I will focus on the relatively narrow decision that we have to make today.

The hon. Member for Luton North asked about the numbers and the impact of the regulations. As the Architects Registration Board has indicated, the position with regards to EU access to the United Kingdom remains the same from a regulatory perspective, in that ARB will continue to acknowledge EU qualifications, and hopes that the application made to the European Union will be successful as soon as possible. The regulations extend opportunities for others to come and provide support for the United Kingdom’s economy in the future, which I hope will be welcomed.

Questions were raised about standards. There is a relatively narrow discussion to be had about ensuring we have the opportunity to bring people in, so if people want to come to this country, that can happen, and equivalent qualifications will be recognised. The issue of how the Government approach standards in the future is a broader question; as the hon. Lady said, it relates to a number of matters, including Grenfell, which we are considering, but that is not something to opine on in this Committee.

Finally, the hon. Lady asked broader questions about how the architectural sector across the world deals with recruitment and retention. While I understand the point the she is making, I gently say that that is a broader matter than the Question in front of us. There is also a genuine question for the Labour party to ask about where it thinks the role and responsibility of the state starts and stops.

[Sarah Owen]

I can hear that the Minister is getting to the end of his comments. Has he missed my question about the likely timeframe for the completion of negotiations with Australia, New Zealand and the US?

[Lee Rowley]

I will come to that question. To conclude my point on global recruitment and retention, we obviously want successful sectors, with good pipelines of people coming in and which allow people to build their careers and lives. At the same time, there has to room for individual agency and individual sector decisions, and some of the hon. Lady’s questions should probably be dealt with outside formal legislation, regulation and intervention from Government.

I turn to the question that the hon. Lady reminded me about. Ultimately, the decision in question is one for the Architects Registration Board. The board was set up in statute in 1997 for a purpose, and it will make decisions about who it wants to enter into discussions with, and how long it wants to continue those discussions for, and then it will seek to conclude them and to obtain mutual recognition as a consequence.

The hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran, who tempts me to relitigate Brexit, which I will refrain from doing, asked similar questions about the need to sign up to reciprocal arrangements with the European Union, and about ensuring that things move quickly, and I hope my answer to the hon. Member for Luton North has explained my view. I too would like a reciprocal agreement with the European Union signed, so I hope that the EU moves quickly; that would be in its interests.

The hon. Member for Hemsworth asked a series of technical questions about the consultation that was undertaken and its impacts. He asked why the preamble to the regulations states:

“In accordance with section 15 of the 2022 Act, the Secretary of State has consulted the Architects Registration Board”,

but does not reference the broader consultation. That is because section 15 of the 2022 Act requires us to consult with the relevant regulator. The preamble confirms that we have done that, so we are responding to the requirement in the 2022 Act, rather than making a broader point about consultation. As he rightly indicates, we have consulted on this matter. The consultation ran from late 2020 until early 2021. I believe that he referred to the consultation response that the Government provided on 8 June 2021. For the record, there were over 400 responses to the consultation, including from RIBA—he had concerns that it may not have been involved in the discussion. The consultation helped us to come to a set of conclusions about how we would bring forward the change and take things forward.

[Jon Trickett]

Does the Minister not accept that there is a wider public interest beyond the profession in how it is regulated, given his references to Grenfell and my points about architect-led system building, which was a disaster? Why has he failed to consult the wider public, and why did he consult only the architect profession?

[Lee Rowley]

I am not sure that I accept the premise of the question. The Government ran a consultation between 4 November 2020 and 22 July 2021. Anybody who wanted to respond to it was able to. That consultation was obviously written in a way that made it more likely that architects would respond to it, simply because architects were more likely to be interested in it, but anybody, including his constituents, could have got involved if they wished. If he had wished to do so, he would have been more than welcome.

The hon. Gentleman made a series of points about the ethnic make-up of certain boards in the ARB, which I am not going to debate here. Ultimately, the question in front of us is whether we want to open up the possibility of other countries supporting the bringing of architects to the United Kingdom, and I find some of the points made slightly random. The reason why the ARB had primacy in this discussion is not because we are supporting one group over another; it is simply because the ARB had statutory functions and was seeking to discharge them, so that we could bring forward regulations that adhere to the law and could create legislation and regulation that works in the long term. We welcome the involvement of all architects, trade bodies, membership bodies and individuals who want get involved in those consultations. That is one of the reasons why we got 400 responses back and could bring forward the proposals today. We hope that they have broad agreement; they demonstrate that the United Kingdom will make progress in this area in the coming months and years. hope the Committee will approve the regulations.

Question put and agreed to.

Assets of Community Value: Black Horse Pub

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Friday 2nd December 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

It is a pleasure to respond to the debate and I thank the hon. Member for Ealing North (James Murray) for securing it. He raises a number of important issues that are particularly pertinent to local communities when they see up front the challenges of protecting assets and community places, which are important. “Assets” is an impersonal word to use, but these places are the hearts of communities where people have come for many centuries to congregate, talk, and exchange ideas and views. That is why hon. Members on both sides of the House would agree that pubs, although we cannot protect them in all instances or support everything that people would like to do, are an important part of the community.

What the hon. Gentleman and his fellow committee members have done is to be commended. I put on record my thanks to Sarita, Brian, Sindy, Mel and James—I am not technically supposed to turn away from the Dispatch Box, but I can see them in the Gallery—and everybody who has worked hard to ensure that the Black Horse can be put on the register. I hope that gives some peace of mind to the community in Ealing North and Greenford that the asset is here to stay and will remain an important part of the community in the years and decades to come.

We have brought forward changes in the last decade or so to recognise exactly the kind of points that the hon. Gentleman has made: pubs are important, they make a difference to our community and they are valued. All right hon. and hon. Members receive regular communication directly from CAMRA to highlight the importance of this agenda and these protections. CAMRA is also good at ensuring that local residents get in touch with us on a regular basis, often in the lead up to the Budget, to highlight the importance of pubs. We wholeheartedly agree with that.

Pre-covid, the rate of pub closures had happily started to slow and it looked like a stabilisation was occurring within the sector, but obviously there is more work to be done. From my experience in North East Derbyshire, I know that it is immensely sad when we see pubs leaving. Some 10, 20 or 30 years ago, many communities had many more pubs, but the number of pubs has slowly reduced. We need to see what we can do and where it is reasonable and proportionate to protect them, if communities wish to do that.

I am glad to hear that, in this particular instance, the group was able to use the assets of community value scheme. That was introduced in England in the Localism Act 2011 and provides, as the hon. Gentleman said, communities with a route to nominate any building or land that furthers social wellbeing in the interests of the community. We accept that community assets play a vital role in creating thriving neighbourhoods. I am grateful for the feedback that he has provided through the debate today.

On the experiences that the hon. Gentleman and his fellow committee members had, the good ones included the fact that the pub was able to reach the register. Some were less positive, or more concerning. I am sorry to hear about the potential challenges that were caused by the document that was received from the owners. Although, obviously, I have not seen the document myself, that does not sound within the spirit of the intention of the 2011 rules. I would be happy, on behalf of the Department, to receive any further information on that, so that we can consider what happened in this instance and look at that for the future.

The hon. Gentleman, rightly, pushed the Government with regards to where to strike the right balance to ensure that individual owners of property—the basic principle of capital—can do as they wish with that, within the law and the boundaries of what is acceptable, while still recognising that there are certain assets, certain uses of capital, that are particularly important for the community. That is why the Localism Act introduced the assets of community value scheme in 2011. I accept that there is a valid discussion to be had about the length of time for consideration and, equally, about exactly where we draw the lines on what should be done, how it should be done and in what order. The general view is that what we did 10 years ago was a big step forward in making sure that we can protect assets such as this, or give the opportunity for assets such as this to be protected. We know that it does not work in all circumstances. A couple of years ago, there was a public house in Eckington in my constituency which we were unable to save despite the community looking into that in detail.

I will certainly pass back the comments of the hon. Gentleman and his fellow committee members with regards to potential changes to the Localism Act. It is about striking the right balance. It is a difficult one to take an absolute view on, but I thank him and his colleagues for their representations. I will ensure that they are considered in the future, as and when and if we look into this policy area again.

I wish to touch on the slightly broader context and some of the things that the Government are doing to help when these type of instances arise. We know that assets of community value are increasingly being used, not just in Ealing, but across the country. One way in which we are trying to augment the approach—the hon. Gentleman requested that we look again at the criteria—is through things such as the community ownership fund. I know that that is appropriate in some circumstances, but I accept that it will not be appropriate in all circumstances. None the less, that is £150 million over the course of the last few years and in the coming years, and it is explicitly to support communities in saving assets at risk.

Since July 2021, community groups have been able to bid for up to £250,000 of match funding to help to buy or take over local assets at risk of closure. Of course, the owner has to be willing to enter into those kinds of discussions, which I accept is a challenge the hon. Gentleman has posed. Equally, I hope that those who have an interest in the matter and are following this debate recognise that the Government have taken another step forward in trying to support local communities to be able to take ownership. In the first bidding round, we have awarded more than £10 million to 38 bids from across the UK, from community centres and heritage buildings to pubs and sports clubs. The community ownership fund has, for example, enabled the Old Forge Community Benefit Society to raise funds to buy the Old Forge pub on the Knoydart peninsula in northern Scotland. The Old Forge reopened in March and will be run by the local community.

Right at the other end of the UK, the fund has enabled the Friends of the Newtown St Martin Pub in Cornwall to raise funds to save the Prince of Wales pub after it closed during lockdown. The pub’s reopening party was just last month, and I am told that it attracted huge crowds and that the pub has been well supported since. There are options not just to protect through the asset register, but to raise funding should sales come up. There are many other excellent examples of successful bids and I wish them all the best of luck.

To conclude, I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the matter, which is an incredibly important part of the community discussion. Pubs are an incredibly important part of community life and I absolutely concur with him that we should protect them where we are able to do so. I am grateful for his feedback. I will absolutely look further into the letter and the statements that he highlighted. I wish him and all members of the Save the Black Horse committee all the best in ensuring that the Black Horse, which has been part of the community for the last 350 years, is saved for another 350 years.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Thank you, James, for the offer of a pint, but with a heavy heart, I have to rush for a train.

Question put and agreed to.

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council: Commissioners’ First Report.

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

On 22 March 2022, the then Minister for local government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden (Kemi Badenoch), updated the House that the Secretary of State had decided to intervene in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and had appointed two commissioners. Those commissioners submitted their first report to the Secretary of State on 20 June 2022 as part of the objective of ensuring that the residents of Sandwell have, as the statement by my right hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden indicated, what they need from their local council, including confidence in its governance and service delivery.

The first report provides an update on the work under way to make the authority functional again. The commissioners confirm that

“There are a lot of very tangible changes that need to be made in the council in the immediate term”

and that they

“are still at the early stages of this intervention”,

with a recognition that

“there are many challenges ahead.”

To do that, the report primarily focuses on two elements: first, the single improvement plan being implemented to address the issues raised in the reviews undertaken by Grant Thornton, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Local Government Association. Secondly, it provides a broader overview of the commissioners’ focus and early activities being undertaken as part of the long journey back from the unacceptable position into which the authority had fallen.

The report confirms that the authority has now adopted a single improvement plan which encompasses actions in relation to all of the recommendations in the aforementioned reviews. The commissioners have also provided the Secretary of State and me with a copy of that improvement plan. It has aggregated the many recommendations of those reviews, including a number which are serious and statutory. The commissioners have also developed twelve “proxies for success” which the commissioners intend to use to evaluate progress during this intervention period. Evaluation of those proxies will commence in future reports from the commissioners. In the meantime, the commissioners did point to a number of early indicators of welcome progress, including the arrival of new officers, the willingness of Sandwell’s cabinet and councillors to start to respond to the recommendations from the reviews and some very early signs of culture change. It is clear, however, that there is much more work to do, and any early indicators of progress must be sustained for a long period to give confidence of a real change in culture, behaviour, processes and governance.

The commissioners’ next report to the Secretary of State is expected in December 2022. A copy of the commissioners’ first report will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HSWS406]

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

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Wednesday 30th November 2022 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022.

[The Chair]

With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 and the draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections and Welsh Forms (Amendment) Order 2022.

[Lee Rowley]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Murray.

The three draft statutory instruments were laid before the House on 1 and 3 November. If approved and made, they will amend the forms, ballot papers and processes prescribed in existing legislation to take account of a change made by the Elections Act 2022. The Act brought in first-past-the-post voting for the elections of Mayors and police and crime commissioners, replacing the supplementary vote system that is currently used. The merits of individual voting systems have been debated at length in connection with the Elections Act, and Parliament has made a determination. Our activity in Committee today is to ensure that the regulations under the Act reflect what is in it.

Turning to the specificities before us, the draft statutory instruments will ensure that forms, ballot papers, provisions for counting votes, and other prescribed procedures are updated to reflect the fact that mayoral and PCC elections will in future be on a first-past-the-post basis. The provision in the Elections Act 2022 making that change is now in force, and the change will first apply to any mayoral or PCC elections or by-elections held on or after the ordinary election day in May 2023—in practical terms, that is 4 May 2023, being the first Thursday in that month.

Without the draft statutory instruments being approved and made, election officers would not be able effectively to deliver elections for local authority and combined authority Mayors and for police and crime commissioners held on or after the date I just mentioned. An instrument subject to the negative resolution procedure, making similar changes to elections for the Mayor of London, was made on 26 October and laid before Parliament on 31 October. As with the instruments before us, that instrument will apply first to any election or by-election held on or after 4 May 2023.

In drafting the instruments, the Department and the Home Office consulted the Electoral Commission on the text. We are grateful to it for its technical comments, which we have taken into account.

I will not delay the Committee any further. The draft instruments before us are essential to ensure that council officers can properly implement the move to first past the post for Mayors and PCCs. That change, which Parliament has already approved, will mean easier voting for those posts, with more straightforward counting of votes, and clearer and quicker results. I commend the draft orders and regulations to the Committee.

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[Lee Rowley]

I thank the hon. Members for Nottingham North and for Hemsworth for their contributions, both of which went slightly broader than the statutory instruments we are debating, although I am happy to try to respond to some of the points raised.

Let me first take the questions from the hon. Member for Hemsworth. He makes much of paragraph 10.3 of the explanatory memorandum to the Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (Amendment) Order 2022, but that should be taken with the totality of paragraphs 10.1 and 10.2, which 2 explains clearly why the Government took the approach they did to consultation.

On the hon. Gentleman’s broader points, what he said about Mayors not obtaining 50% of the vote is clearly not the case. My hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover indicated that it does not apply in the case of the Tees Valley mayoralty or of Labour individuals who have been successful in mayoral elections, including the former Member for Leigh in the Greater Manchester mayoral election of 2021.

The hon. Gentleman was also concerned about people making decisions having been elected by one in 10 voters, but under what I take from his comments to be the alternative, Mayors could still be elected by one in 10 voters; it is just that the person who came second could come first. None of today’s discussion is relevant to his broader concerns, which are legitimate, about the number of people taking part in our democratic systems and how we increase that number.

I gently say to the hon. Gentleman that one way to increase the numbers taking part would be to not slightly misrepresent what is in the explanatory memorandum. He has been in this place long enough—far longer than I have—to know that there is a requirement on the Government to understand the impact of changes; that is good government. It is appropriate that the Committee members here to debate these measures should understand their impact. The £7.3 million figure is a genuine attempt by the Government to set out their operational and financial impact—it happens to be positive, in this instance—over time. That is down to counts taking less time, and not needing to go to a second round in a number of instances. I hope those answers were helpful to the hon. Gentleman.

The hon. Member for Nottingham North is obviously setting out a broader prospectus with his discussion points today. He talks about applying the litmus test of going out and asking the average person what their top priorities are. I gently say to him that I think most Labour Members do not, week by week, talk in this place about what is important to people out there. I am very happy to test that in places such as North East Derbyshire in the months and years ahead.

We have committed to providing post-legislative scrutiny, and will continue to do that. There is a fundamental point on which we obviously have a difference of view: we said clearly in our manifesto in 2019 that we support first past the post. That debate was had in proceedings on the Elections Act 2022, and has been closed. Today it is important to ensure that the provisions behind elections legislation align, so that we can hold the kind of elections that we want—elections that are well run and well organised. For those reasons, I strongly encourage Committee members to support today’s instruments, and I commend them to the Committee.

Question put.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Simon Baynes (Clwyd South) (Con)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to provide (a) tools and (b) funding to help local leaders deliver services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

The Government hugely value the work of local authorities and make significant taxpayer subsidy available to ensure that the work they do is successful. Last week, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor confirmed that additional funding will be made available for local government in 2023-24, particularly with regard to adult social care, where we know there are pressures.

[James Morris]

The Conservative party 2019 manifesto said that we would seek to

“level up…across the whole United Kingdom.”

It went on to say:

“In the 21st century, we need to get away from the idea that ‘Whitehall knows best’…Because we as Conservatives believe you can and must trust people and communities to make the decisions that are right for them.”

Does the Minister agree that now is the time for us to take action on levelling up in places such as Halesowen and Rowley Regis, where communities are crying out for the prioritisation of projects across my constituency? The time has come to stop talking about levelling up and to take action. We need action this day.

[Lee Rowley]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that levelling up is hugely important not just for communities in the west midlands but for those all across the country, both in areas traditionally labelled as levelling-up areas and in those with high needs and high deprivation throughout the country as a whole. He is a huge advocate for the work that is being done across the west midlands and in his constituency. I know that it will be successful both there and wherever else we can do something across the country.

[Rob Butler]

Buckinghamshire Council successfully secured £170 million from the housing infrastructure fund in 2020, to enable the delivery of Aylesbury’s long-awaited and much needed link roads programme. It was met by much celebration locally, as the town has suffered traffic gridlock during rush hour for many years. With the costs of construction materials spiralling, it is essential that these roads are built as soon as possible. Will my hon. Friend work with me and the council to help us get a little bit of necessary flexibility on the precise way that the funding is deployed, to ensure that this vital new infrastructure is completed?

[Lee Rowley]

The Government are absolutely committed to ensuring that infrastructure is in place at the right time. My hon. Friend has worked incredibly hard in in this place in the period he has been here to make clear that the traffic challenges in Aylesbury are because of pressure from new housing, hence this grant. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for North West Durham (Mr Holden), who is responsible for this area, and I are happy discuss this issue further with him to help his constituency.

[Simon Baynes]

In Clwyd South, Wrexham and Denbighshire councils are enthusiastically embracing the opportunities provided by UK Government funding, including the councils’ central role in ensuring the success of the Clwyd South £13.3 million levelling-up fund bid. Can the Minister ensure that future UK Government funding always contains provision for councils to grow further their own project management skills and resources?

[Lee Rowley]

My hon. Friend makes an important point about capacity within local government and the opportunities this Government are making available for local councils to make decisions on how to make their area better over the long term. I know he is a huge champion of his area and I wish him every success in those applications.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)]

The Local Government Association has calculated that councils are facing extra inflation costs of £2.5 billion this year and extra costs of £3.5 billion next year. If we look at the autumn statement, apart from social care there was no mention of any extra money whatsoever for local government. All that will come is a potential £0.6 billion if councils put up their council taxes by the 3%, aside from the social care precept. Surely £3.5 billion versus £0.6 billion means significant cuts to council services or the prospect, as the LGA has said, of some councils going bankrupt next year?

[Lee Rowley]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who brings a huge amount of experience from his Select Committee perspective, but the combination of what the Government have offered, which is a substantial increase in funds from the financial year 2023-24, plus a recognition that local councils can make decisions about their council tax bases, plus the usual efficiency savings that every large organisation should be making—[Interruption.] The Labour party seems to have a problem with local councils being as effective and efficient as they can, but I know most councils will respond to that challenge as they see fit.

[Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)]

The Local Government Association has said that,

“Council Tax has never been the solution to meeting the long-term pressures facing services, particularly high-demand services like adult social care, child protection and homelessness prevention. It also raises different amounts of money in different parts of the country unrelated to need”.

Salford is the 18th most deprived local authority in the country. Increasing council tax and the levy by 5% is the equivalent of 1.8% of spending on public services there, whereas in Surrey an increase of 5% is equivalent to 3.1% of that spending. How will Salford pay for the high-demand services it needs when raising council tax seems to be the Government’s favoured solution to local government funding needs?

[Lee Rowley]

One of the services the hon. Lady highlights as being under pressure is adult social care. As the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) indicated, there is additional money going into adult social care—[Interruption.] The hon. Lady shakes her head, but it is absolutely the case that there is additional money going in. While acknowledging and understanding the principle and the underlying point that she is making, I struggle with the concept that local tax bases are not important within this discussion. They obviously are and they obviously should make a contribution. It is about trying to find a balance, and part of that balance is providing a lot of additional funds for next year, as we have done through last Thursday’s announcements.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

I invite the Minister to come to Bristol to sit down and talk to the council about what it has done over the years to try to ensure it can deliver services. We now face an £87.6 million shortfall over the next five years. We have done absolutely all we can in terms of efficiency savings. Will he come to Bristol to sit down with us and see what the true picture is on the ground?

[Lee Rowley]

I was going through Bristol’s documentation on the council website only yesterday; I am happy to talk to any local council to understand the pressures and challenges it faces and the concerns it has. By the same token, however, while local government does a hugely valuable job, one part of that valuable job has to be to ensure that it is providing the most efficient and effective services for ratepayers over the long term.

[Alberto Costa (South Leicestershire) (Con)]

Being able to raise council tax is a very welcome measure in the autumn statement. Leicestershire County Council is the lowest-funded upper-tier authority in England. Will the Minister meet me and representatives of the council to discuss its fairer funding situation?

[Lee Rowley]

My hon. Friends from Leicestershire have made that case repeatedly, and as a fellow east midlands MP, I understand the concerns about the challenges that individual councils face. I have already been in a meeting with representatives from Leicestershire County Council, who made their points known, and I would be happy to talk to my hon. Friend further about this matter.

[Kim Leadbeater (Batley and Spen) (Lab)]

I was pleased to submit a levelling-up bid earlier this year to transform Batley town centre. The proposal would create new shopping and leisure opportunities, support local businesses, attract new investment and reduce dangerous driving and parking through modernisation and pedestrianisation. I know the Secretary of State understands the importance of this bid to Batley, and I thank him for agreeing to visit the town centre with me in the near future. Does the Minister agree that long-overdue Government support is now more vital than ever, given the severe impact of inflation and rising costs on already overstretched local authority budgets?

[Lee Rowley]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on making the case for that important campaign and the important changes that she wants. We can already see a successful delivery of levelling-up funds and town funds all across the country. I know that further applications are coming forward, and I hope that they are successful and can make the most of the money as quickly as possible.

[Lia Nici (Great Grimsby) (Con)]

I am delighted to see the Secretary of State back in his Department, where I had a very brief summer job this year. I know that he is passionate about making sure that we can get councils where we need them for our funding. As he knows, Great Grimsby secured the first town deal, and we have also had future high streets funding, but we have had some of it for two and a half years now and things are not happening quickly enough on the ground. Will he commit to coming back to Grimsby to make sure we can push the council forward to get things happening on the ground?

[Lee Rowley]

My hon. Friend’s constituency is an excellent example of the transformation that is happening as a result of the support that the Department is giving. Although I cannot speak for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, I am sure that one of us will be very happy to come to Great Grimsby to support the work that she is doing.

[Stephen Flynn (Aberdeen South) (SNP)]

The Minister and the Secretary of State will be familiar with the fact that council leaders in Aberdeen are fairly supportive of the north-east of Scotland’s green freeport bid. Yet despite the bid being launched five months ago, we have had no decision whatever from the UK Government and, indeed, no indication of when that decision will be taken. Can the Minister provide clarity on that, and if he is unable to do so, will he and the Secretary of State meet me to discuss it?

[Lee Rowley]

We know that freeports have the opportunity to be transformative for many areas that are ultimately successful in their bids. We know that so many places, including those in Scotland, are looking forward to taking part in UK Government-led activities such as this. The hon. Gentleman has made a strong case for the north-east of Scotland, and I wish him well. We will make announcements in due course.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab)]

Before the Chancellor’s statement, the Conservative leaders of Kent County Council and Hampshire County Council wrote to the Prime Minister warning of their likely bankruptcy. Instead of hearing the concerns of local leaders across the country, the Government passed on responsibility to them by forcing councils to raise tax. Not only is that another unfair burden on the British taxpayer, but local government experts have estimated that the Tory plans to raise council tax will bring in more than £80 per household in Surrey but only £39 per household in Manchester and Hull. That sounds dangerously like another Tory failure in the making on levelling up. Does the Minister truly understand the financial emergency facing councils today? If so, how can he justify local residents and businesses having their council tax raised while the Government allow non-doms to avoid paying between £1 billion and £3 billion-worth of tax?

[Lee Rowley]

The hon. Lady highlights a number of things that she obviously wants to make a point about. The reality is that billions and billions of additional taxpayer subsidy was made available within the settlement last week. We will come forward with further information in due course. Ultimately, the Labour party’s position is fundamentally that there can be no contribution from local taxpayers. That is a very interesting place to be given that there ultimately has to be a link between services and taxation. That is something that the Government recognise while still providing billions in taxpayer subsidy from the centre to improve lives and services in the long run.

[Dame Angela Eagle (Wallasey) (Lab)]

4. What recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of increases in (a) interest rates and (b) inflation on regional inequality.

Draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections (Amendment) Order 2022 Draft Assistance with Voting for Persons with Disabilities (Amendments) Regulations 2022

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2022 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections (Amendment) Order 2022.

[The Chair]

With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Assistance with Voting for Persons with Disabilities (Amendments) Regulations 2022.

[Lee Rowley]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Cummins.

The statutory instruments are a key part of the implementation of the Elections Act 2022, which was debated at some length earlier this year. The Assistance with Voting for Persons with Disabilities (Amendments) Regulations are made in consequence of or to make provisions similar to section 9 of the Elections Act 2022. The intent of both section 9 of the Act and these consequential regulations is to improve the support available to disabled voters at polling stations, and they do that in two ways. First, they replace the existing requirements to provide a single prescribed device to assist blind and partially-sighted voters with a broader, better requirement that returning officers provide equipment to assist a wider range of disabled voters, so that they can cast their votes independently. They also revoke the reference to that device for UK parliamentary elections where its description is already included in the secondary legislation. Secondly, they remove the unnecessarily restrictive requirement that anyone assisting a disabled voter be either a close family member of that voter or an elector themselves with a requirement that the person assisting be 18 or over. That will allow people to more easily get support to cast their vote where the person is best placed to support them, and where that person may not have met either of the two previous criteria.

[Gareth Johnson (Dartford) (Con)]

I support the two SIs, and I hope that all colleagues and hon. Members support them. It is good that we are giving greater ability to blind and other disabled people to vote in an easier manner. I do question whether the Department considered still allowing candidates and agents to take blind people into polling stations to assist them to vote. I am sure that the Minister agrees that democracy and its processes need to not only be done properly, but be seen to be done properly. Could that arrangement not give rise to the perception, at least, that unfair persuasion was being placed on an individual?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lee Rowley]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question, and I understand the challenge that he makes. I will say two things. First, the part of the process that we are talking about is essentially a mechanical one; it is about ensuring that the people who are in need of support can get to the place where they can vote, and the part of the process where people are making decisions will likely be independent of that. There are a range of devices, talked about separately, which will be available so that the individual is able to vote and is supported in the way that they need. Secondly, I am happy to write to my hon. Friend with clarification on his specific point, if that would be helpful. A piece of draft guidance has already come out, which the Electoral Commission has put forward with regard to some elements of these orders, and further guidance will be coming forward. There will potentially be an opportunity, where my hon. Friend or others have concerns about the more intricate details, to clarify them through the Electoral Commission guidance in the future.

The changes are made to UK parliamentary elections by the Elections Act 2022, and the instrument makes equivalent changes across a range of other polls, including most mayoral elections, local authority governance referendums and neighbourhood planning referendums in England, along with police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales and MP recall petitions across the UK.

[Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)]

Can the Minister confirm it is the Government’s policy to have police and crime commissioner elections, particularly in the west midlands?

[Lee Rowley]

Police and crime commissioners have been an established part of the electoral landscape of the United Kingdom since 2012. I cannot comment on individual areas, but there is always a debate about how things are organised—Members should not read anything into that. The principle of police and crime commissioner elections is seeded. Those elections are utilised and are making differences on a daily basis across the country.

The proposed changes are being replicated at other polls, including at English local elections, Greater London Authority elections and London mayoral elections. Separate secondary legislation following a negative procedure will be laid before the House in due course to cover those. The instruments today are essential to ensure that improvements to support disabled voters in the polling stations introduced by the Elections Act are applied consistently across all polls reserved to the UK Government.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

On page 3 of the explanatory memorandum on assistance with voting, paragraph 10 refers to the consultation outcome’s 256 responses, which is fantastic. I think the most important outcome was that from local authority election teams, and we have very good election teams in Blaenau Gwent in south Wales, my home constituency. I just want to check that the proposals were consistent with the views of the local authority election teams. If they were not, what is the difference? I am interested in what their response was to the consultation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lee Rowley]

I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman on that specific point. As the Committee is aware, a range of views is expressed through consultations. There is an absolute desire on the part of the Government to take all of them into account. We will not be able to agree by default with everybody because of the difference of views, but on the specific points raised, I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman on the outcome.

The draft Police and Crime Commissioner Elections (Amendment) Order 2022 has two purposes. First, it amends the spending rules for police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales to replicate amendments already made by the Elections Act. The changes will bring clarity to candidates and their agents with regard to what they need to report in terms of benefits in kind—property, goods, and services or facilities that are provided for the use or benefit of the candidate at a discount or for free—relating to those that they have actually used or that they or their election agent have directed, authorised or encouraged someone else to use on their behalf.

In combination with expanded statutory guidance from the Electoral Commission, which is provided for by this order, the changes will support compliance with the rules and ensure that those wishing to participate in public life can feel confident in doing so and be more clear in their legal obligations.

Secondly, the order also inserts two additional welfare benefits into the list of qualifying benefits for proxy vote applications for police and crime commissioner elections. That will ensure that disabled people in receipt of new welfare benefits in Scotland, who have recently moved from Scotland, will be able to make a proxy vote application at a PCC election without the need for it to be attested while a decision is pending on an equivalent welfare benefit in the new jurisdiction where they now reside.

It is our view that it is important that the rules be updated in relation to police and crime commissioner elections to ensure consistency and fairness across the law, that candidates and agents can discharge their responsibilities with confidence, and that disabled electors get the support that they need in UK elections.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lee Rowley]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. Turning briefly to the points that he made, I welcome his support for the two SIs that we are debating, even if we have fundamental differences about the broader position with regards to the Elections Act, which can be debated in alternative places at alternative times.

On the hon. Gentleman’s two questions about how we will ensure that the changes being introduced through the SIs work and do the things that we hope, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is happy to commit to reviewing that in the future. We obviously need the opportunity for the legislation to work, and the focus in the coming months will be to make sure that the guidance is accurate and as helpful as possible. We will then review the output once the first elections have taken place, but I am happy to say that the Department will absolutely return to this issue in order to confirm that the SIs have worked in the way that was intended, and to look at whether any learnings can be made accordingly.

In terms of this being part of an ongoing process, we want to make sure that there is a continuous conversation about the integrity and appropriateness of our election processes, and we are happy to return to that in the months ahead and beyond. I am also very happy to do that from my perspective of having responsibility for elections in the Department. I hope that gives the hon. Gentleman some assurances that this will absolutely be a continuous conversation and that, as all good governance requires, there will be a continuous review of whether things are working appropriately, proportionately and properly.

On that basis, I hope that members of the Committee are willing to assent to both of the statutory instruments in front of them today. The first one will ensure that police and crime commissioner elections are aligned with the changes that have already been agreed for other elections in primary legislation, and the second will ensure that we offer a broader range of devices for people who have sight issues, or who are blind, when they rightly go to cast their votes at the ballot box in future elections. As a result, I hope that right hon. and hon. Members will join me in supporting the regulations.

Question put and agreed to.

DRAFT ASSISTANCE WITH VOTING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (AMENDMENTS) REGULATIONS 2022

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Assistance with Voting for Persons with Disabilities (Amendments) Regulations 2022.—(Lee Rowley.)

Levelling Up Rural Britain

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Wednesday 9th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

It is a pleasure to contribute to this important debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Selaine Saxby), as all my colleagues have, on securing this debate, given the importance and the salience of the issues that she and all colleagues have highlighted.

We have had a good debate that shows the breadth and depth of the discussion and the importance of levelling up to so many colleagues across the country. We have had contributions from the middle of Scotland all the way down to the bottom of the south-west, which demonstrates the importance of this subject to so many people and communities across the country.

The Government agree, and in February—I was not in the Department at the time—we published the levelling-up White Paper, the common consensus on which is that it is one of the deepest and most profound analyses of the challenges of improving communities across the country. The White Paper has been welcomed by most independent commentators as a serious piece of work on which serious policy can be and is being delivered for the long-term good of all our communities.

The White Paper’s central thesis accepts that talent is distributed equally across the communities of all hon. Members who have spoken today, and beyond, but that opportunity is not necessarily equally distributed. It is the role of Government to seek to rebalance that distribution reasonably and proportionately to offer opportunity, prosperity and pride across all communities.

We have been clear that change will not come overnight. This is a long-term issue that has been at the fore for many Governments, of all rosette colours, over many decades. The point of the levelling-up White Paper, and of all the work done before, during and after it, is to show that the Government are absolutely serious about making progress. The contributions of my hon. Friends demonstrate the seriousness of the work already being done on levelling up not only in rural communities but elsewhere. We will remain committed to that work. Within that paper, for rural communities and for others, we have committed by 2030 to improve living standards, research and development in all regions, transport infrastructure, digital connectivity, education and skills, health, wellbeing, pride in place—this is about the vital importance people place on and the attachment people feel to their communities—and housing, and to reduce crime and ensure there are devolution opportunities. So many of my colleagues have referred to that and it is so important.

This debate is also important to me as a representative of a semi-rural constituency. I understand many of the issues and the points highlighted by colleagues because I have the pleasure and privilege of representing so many colleagues in rural areas. The beauty that those areas offer and the challenges they face have been articulated by colleagues from across the House in the past few hours. I represent part of a national park, 41 different towns, villages and hamlets, and dozens of parish councils, so I understand the challenges and opportunities that rural areas offer—so many colleagues have articulated those so well. Let me continue my five-and-a-half-year quest to read into the Hansard record the names of all of my towns, villages and hamlets by saying that only on Saturday I visited the hamlet of Wigley, which has one of the smallest schools in Derbyshire, if not in the whole of the UK. It has just been successful, thanks to the headteacher and all the staff, in opening some additional space that will allow it to increase the number of pupils it supports every year going forward. I congratulate it on that.

This demonstrates that we must talk about levelling up not just in the traditional areas where there has been more discussion about it—places such as North East Derbyshire or areas northward—but, as has been highlighted by colleagues, in every part of the country. We need to have this discussion in rural areas, semi-rural areas and elsewhere, because there will be pockets of deprivation in every part of our communities and it is vital that we try to resolve, improve and mitigate those.

I could not disagree more profoundly with the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) when he seemed to be indicating that simply because colleagues come from an affluent geography they are unable to make any statements about this whatsoever. That could not be more wrong, and it shows a complete misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the distribution of the challenges in the UK. It also shows a lack of understanding of what the UK Government are trying to do through their levelling-up initiatives—this is something that the Scottish National party has failed to do repeatedly while it has been in government since 2007.

[Simon Hoare]

Will the Minister also confirm that nobody on our side of the House urged that we should be robbing Peter to pay Paul? It was not a question of taking money away from urban and giving it to rural areas; it was a cri de coeur for potentially more money or a more equitable and rurally sensitive funding rubric. It was not about taking money away; the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire has raised a most frightful slur.

[Lee Rowley]

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. What he said demonstrates the level of nuance and depth of the debate on our side of the House and the frankly cartoonish response put forward by the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire.

[Sir Bernard Jenkin]

I hope the Minister will also agree that the real problem with the Scottish nationalist party is that it does not want the British Government to have any relationship with the Scottish citizen and that the ability of the British Government to assist in levelling up in Scotland is why they have such resentment on this. It is because there are many people in Scotland who voted to be British citizens in the referendum, which we won and the SNP lost.

[Lee Rowley]

My hon. Friend makes a strong point.

I have only three and a half minutes left, so I will try to address a number of the points that have been highlighted by colleagues. My hon. Friend the Member for North Devon (Selaine Saxby), along with my hon. Friends the Members for Witney (Robert Courts), for Redditch (Rachel Maclean), for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates), for Penrith and The Border (Dr Hudson) and for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond), among others, raised the point about connectivity, be it of the physical kind, in terms of buses and public transport, or the virtual kind, in terms of broadband. They are absolutely right to advocate on the challenges that this brings. We all know that there have been challenges associated with buses in the past few years. When the level of decrease of passenger use is so profound as it has been with covid, of course we want to try to work through how we can support rural communities. That is no different in my constituency. We have to try to look at the innovative solutions that my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch highlighted with regards to a demand response to travel, while also ensuring that people have good quality bus services over the long term.

I had the pleasure of discussing many of these things with the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), along with the hon. Member for Nottingham North (Alex Norris)—the representative of that rural idyll—during the Committee stage of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. The hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale made some strong points about the importance of skills, which is the subject of one of the missions in our White Paper, demonstrating our commitment to that and highlighting the importance of trying to make progress on public transport connectivity and accessibility.

[Tim Farron]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Lee Rowley]

Sadly, I will not as I have further points to cover.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Philip Dunne) mentioned funding formulas. Although I am only 10 days into the job, I am very happy to talk to more colleagues about local government finance in general. I am keen to understand, to learn and to take the expertise that the all-party group and others have demonstrated over so many years to assist me in my role in the months ahead. He is absolutely right to raise the issue of park homes, as it is so important to many of us with rural and semi-rural constituencies.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) highlighted the importance of trying to get some of these points right both in terms of application processes to make applications for improvements and of making sure that central Government evaluate those in a way that works. His points on that were very strong. The triple tag team of my hon. Friends the Members for South Dorset (Richard Drax), for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) and for West Dorset (Chris Loder) made some very good points about the importance of enabling the input of the private sector, about ensuring that we have parish and town councils that work for the communities that they serve and also about negative revenue support grant. I have heard all of those points and would be happy to talk to my colleagues about them. My hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Dr Hudson), who is an important and doughty campaigner, made a strong point about trains in his area, particularly about the Avanti Service.

My hon. Friends the Members for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart), for Buckingham (Greg Smith), and for Devizes (Danny Kruger) demonstrated the importance of tourism and hospitality and the importance of consideration of communities when large infrastructure projects take place in local areas. My hon. Friend the Member for Devizes highlighted the immense importance from a rural perspective of remembering the long-term history and the reasons why these communities have developed in the way they have. As he said, the recollection and the acknowledgement of that history is so important in helping us to understand how we develop policy in the future.

In the moment that I have left, I thank all hon. and right hon. Members for their contributions today. It has been an incredibly interesting and important debate, which demonstrates our ability to have a nuanced, detailed and open conversation about the challenges and opportunities that face our rural communities. By doing that, we have the opportunity to make progress in the long-term to support these communities as we develop in the decades ahead.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

I call Selaine Saxby for her final words.

Impact of the Gas Explosion in Galpin’s Road, Pollards Hill

Lee Rowley Excerpts

Friday 21st October 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

The convention in debates such as this is to start by congratulating an hon. Member on securing the debate, but congratulations absolutely do not feel right at all. I am incredibly sorry —incredibly sorry—that the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) has had to bring this debate to the House today and for the awful and tragic events that have happened to her and her community. I thank everybody present for their time and their willingness to come to this place today. On behalf of the Government, let me say how sorry I am for all of the challenges that the hon. Lady and the community have experienced in recent weeks. It has been extremely difficult to hear about this matter—that is just in the few minutes that the hon. Lady has been highlighting the incident, quite rightly, and standing up for her constituents.

I am grateful to everybody present today and grateful to the hon. Lady for outlining the very tragic events of just a few weeks ago. I am sure that there are people in the Public Gallery who are very personally affected by this; by what happened on the day itself and, as the hon. Lady has outlined, by what has happened subsequently. I hope those issues are resolved as quickly as possible, and I will come to some of them in a moment. The hon. Lady was absolutely right to highlight the challenges, and I will try to address some of those.

I have been a Government Minister for just over a year now, and have stood at this Dispatch Box a number of times. All debates are important, but a debate such as this, which I have the opportunity to respond to today, is one of the more important ones because of the impact, as we have heard, on individuals’ lives and on individuals’ communities. This is about the families who were affected by the really tragic events of 8 August, and I completely appreciate the challenge that the hon. Lady has outlined.

The hon. Lady has eloquently described the events of the day in question and the circumstances that led to the explosion on Galpin’s Road. I wish to put it on record that the whole House, as you have said, Madam Deputy Speaker, sends its condolences to Sana and to the family of Sahara, who tragically lost her life. I understand that it would have been Sahara’s fifth birthday just a few weeks ago and she would have been starting school. I am incredibly sorry for what has happened, and I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for passing on so directly the message from Sana. I will absolutely take that away and we will see what the Government can do to assist in the challenges that the hon. Lady has raised on behalf of her constituents and on behalf of Sana’s family, and we will come back to her as soon as we are able to do so.

Such an incident impacts not just one family but entire streets and neighbourhoods, as the hon. Lady outlined. Anyone who walked into the centre at the time would have seen the impact that the explosion had on the local community—500 people, 200 evacuated homes. The hon. Lady eloquently outlined the real-life consequences beyond the most tragic ones. Lives were impacted: wedding dresses not accessible, school uniforms not available, people not able to use their taxis to make a living. Whenever we see a tragedy like this, one of the few good things that comes out of it is the community’s ability to come together. The hon. Lady eloquently outlined how that happened. I want to put on record my thanks, and the Government’s thanks, to everyone who stepped in and helped during these difficult times.

I also thank Merton Council. As a former local councillor elsewhere in London, I know that local authorities are at the absolute forefront in times of difficulty and trouble such as this, as are Members of Parliament. The work of Merton Council should be recognised. Every council has plans to set up emergency rest centres in times of need, but not every council has to implement them. Councils do not want to do that. I pass on my personal thanks to all those who helped support people at New Horizons Centre in Pollards Hill, whether to provide food, shelter, water, medicines, wash facilities or housing advice. In many ways, that help continues. I pay tribute to the emergency services. Firefighters worked tirelessly to carry out searches, tackle the explosion and make the area safe, and the paramedics and ambulance service personnel were there when people needed them.

The community pulled together in the aftermath of the explosion, but as the hon. Member rightly pointed out, it is time for action. The community wants answers. Why did this happen? Could it have been prevented? How can we stop such a tragedy from happening again? I hope that residents here today or watching online and the hon. Lady accept that there is a limit to what I can say about some of the specifics today, as she acknowledged in her speech. However, I will do my best to try to provide some answers where I am able to in the time left.

The Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully), met the leader of Merton Council and the council’s chief executive on 11 August. The Minister heard at first hand Councillor Garrod’s concerns about the adequacy of gas safe inspections before and after the tragedy took place, and the role of Southern Gas Networks in preventing the explosion. Discussions between the council and SGN are ongoing. Residents have, quite rightly and understandably, been anxious about the risk of future gas leaks. I am glad that SGN has arranged further safety checks with an independent gas safe registered company.

The gas companies involved in the transmission and distribution of gas must comply with the Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996—GSMR. The regulations are owned and enforced by the Health and Safety Executive. Under those provisions, where an escape is notified, the gas conveyor must attend the scene and prevent the gas escaping as soon as is reasonably practical, if that is judged to be the case. In the event of a fire or explosion, the gas conveyor must investigate the cause and source of the incident, notifying the Health and Safety Executive that such an investigation is underway.

The hon. Lady highlighted the gas replacement programme funding. As she indicated, that is a programme of work to replace the old and deteriorating metal mains and services with plastic pipes. The majority of that is done under the iron mains risk reduction programme, regulated by the Health and Safety Executive, to decommission those iron mains within the gas distribution network. Like all programmes and projects, it takes time, but I had heard the hon. Lady’s concerns and the questions that she rightly has about where things are. I will endeavour to speak to my hon. Friend the Minister, and either he or I will come back to her.

Under the Pipelines Safety Regulations 1996, pipeline operators have a duty to

“ensure that a pipeline is maintained…in efficient working order and in good repair.”

We need to understand what happened. I understand that the Metropolitan police continue to work closely with the Health and Safety Executive to work out why this tragedy occurred. We are keen to ensure that we understand what they find and what may or may not be needed subsequently.

In the few moments that I have left, let me turn to insurance. When the Minister of State met the leader of Merton Council, they discussed support for the families who had to leave things behind and the situation at the time. I know that the council has been supporting residents to contact insurance companies, but as the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden rightly outlined, some of them have been presented with large fees or are worried about facing large future premiums through no fault of their own. I know that Merton has been in touch with the Association of British Insurers to pass on its concerns; the ABI recognises that this has been a traumatic period for all concerned, with insurers wanting to ensure that claims are progressed, that repairs are carried out and that residents can be supported as much as possible.

For reasons that I hope are understandable, I cannot comment on individual cases, but let me say more broadly that in such challenging times I expect every insurance company to put its customers first. It will be very clear which companies do so and which do not, and we will be watching. I am grateful that the hon. Lady has had the opportunity to put further pressure on the ones that she has discussed today. Based on this debate, we will be speaking further to insurance companies about the matter, and subsequently I will be happy to talk to the hon. Lady.

The Minister of State has discussed with Councillor Garrod whether Merton Council’s response to the incident would be eligible under the Bellwin scheme, which leads me to the hon. Lady’s challenge about Government support. The Bellwin scheme enables the Government to consider a claim to help with some of the immediate costs following emergencies. It allows local authorities to receive help with the costs in the immediate phase of an emergency. We have been following the matter up with the council, and officials in the Department recently met a delegation from Merton to discuss a possible application under the scheme. I know that the council has a number of uninsurable costs that it incurred in the immediate response to the incident. I understand that work is under way, that Merton has formally registered its interest, and that officials in the Department stand ready to assist the council with its application.

I have only about a minute left, so I would like to take one final opportunity to pass on my condolences to the family of Sahara, to send my best wishes to Sana and her family through their recovery, to highlight more broadly the challenges that others have faced, and to say thank you again to all the residents today for coming at such a difficult time and after such an unexpected occurrence that will have changed so many people’s lives. I hope that the Metropolitan police and the Health and Safety Executive complete their investigation quickly, with clear conclusions that ensure that a tragedy like this can be avoided in the future and that, for those who have been affected, we can resolve the impact as quickly as we can.

Finally, I give my personal thanks and my thanks on behalf of the Government to the hon. Lady for raising the matter today. I am grateful to her for doing so. The Government will try to assist where we can. We hope that we can bring this matter to a conclusion after such tragic events, as soon as we are able to do so.

Question put and agreed to.