"I am pleased to say that this Bill has been addressed in a climate of co-operation, as has been said. The Bill irons out an anomaly in the business rate system highlighted by the Tunnel Tech case, as we heard from the hon. Member for Chichester (Gillian Keegan), and it …..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech
"I do agree with my hon. Friend on that. Indeed, this is not the first time the VOA has caused confusion. To see that, we have only to look at the combined premises Bill that had to be brought before the House to separate out the issue of whether premises …..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma.
I am grateful to my hon. Friends the Members for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) and for Blaydon (Liz Twist) and the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), and I bow to their superior experience as councillors. I …..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech
"I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend: it is a challenge, but it is one that we must look at. I am pleased that the Government are responding and will produce good practice.
I shall single out two or three of the recommendations. I feel that a statutory scrutiny officer …..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech
"This is a contentious merger. It was voted through very narrowly by the two Conservative councils and, as I am sure the Minister is aware, a judicial review has started that challenges his assertion that it meets the three-tier test.
"Will the Minister comment on the view that at least 80 redundancies will be necessary to achieve the savings that are predicted for the first year?..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech
"A recent survey, the first of its kind, into the working conditions of wellbeing and social workers, commissioned by the British Association of Social Workers, makes for sorry reading. Working conditions are described as extremely poor, and it is noted that nine out of 10 social workers work an average …..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech
"Any proposed borrowing is subject to the unanimous consent of all the constituent councils. If there is complete deadlock, is there any mechanism to allow an impartial person to step in and resolve any disagreement?..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech
"We obviously welcome the regulations, because they introduce the borrowing powers that will support the combined authorities to better deal with businesses and communities. Despite the positive progress made by the combined authorities in the first year, only two devolution deals have been announced in the past two years, and …..." Yvonne Fovargue - View Speech