Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government – in the House of Commons am 2:30 pm ar 21 Ebrill 2009.
John Howell
Ceidwadwyr, Henley
2:30,
21 Ebrill 2009
By how much band D council tax has increased in Henley in (a) absolute and (b) percentage terms since 1997-98.
Hazel Blears
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
Before I respond to the hon. Gentleman's question, I would like to take the opportunity to apologise to the House for inadvertently disclosing some information this morning, just a few minutes before it was contained in a written ministerial statement to the House. I have apologised to the Prime Minister. I take this matter very seriously indeed, and I would therefore like to apologise to the House.
The average band D council tax, including parish precepts, in south Oxfordshire—Henley—has increased by £830, or 129 per cent., since 1997-98. In England as a whole, the increases in the same period are £726 and 106 per cent.
John Howell
Ceidwadwyr, Henley
Given the higher rate of increase in my Constituency compared with the position nationally, will the Secretary of Secretary now apologise for the pressure that she has put on council tax by the below-inflation grant settlements given to my district and county councils, by the unfunded additional burdens that she has put on to them, and by the pressure on the funding of core services through the way she is dealing with ring-fenced grants?
Hazel Blears
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
I have made one apology today, Mr. Speaker, and I certainly do not propose to make another in the terms that the hon. Gentleman has requested. I am quite astounded by his question in many ways. I am sure that he will know that under this Government there has been a 39 per cent. real-terms increase in grants to local government, whereas under his party's Government there was a 7 per cent. real-terms cut in the last four years. He knows that in this current period there is almost an extra £9 billion for local authorities across this country to continue to provide support and help to their communities.
David Taylor
Llafur, North West Leicestershire
The Secretary of State mentioned the figures for England—an approximate doubling that is an average of 6 per cent. over the 12-year period. Is it not the case that during the period before we came into office, when council tax was still operating in the last days of the Conservative Government, the average annual increase was very much the same, at 6 per cent.? Does she think that perhaps Conservatives protest too much, or is it down to the fact that innumeracy is a prerequisite of being selected by a Conservative association?
Hazel Blears
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
My hon. Friend makes some very pertinent points about the funding of local government. Local authorities have to be aware of the costs of council tax to their residents, absolutely rightly, but they also provide a whole range of really important services, whether in adult social care, education, or recycling and the environment. This Government have enabled local authorities to continue to provide those services. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that it is still the case that in local authority terms, Labour costs you £204 less than Tory councils.
Bob Neill
Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government), Deputy Chair, Conservative Party
I am sure that the whole house will welcome the right hon. Lady's initial remarks. While she is in the vein of apology, will she continue that by apologising for her persistent habit of quoting figures and comparisons in terms of average council tax, given that that methodology has been dismissed by the Library as inappropriate—the different mix of dwelling values means there cannot be a like comparison—and has been described by the respected academic, Professor Tony Travers, as "not respectable"? Will the Minister resort to like-to-like comparisons of band D, which show that Conservative councils invariably cost less?
Hazel Blears
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
What people are really bothered about is what they pay. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware that in relation to band D council tax, Labour increases are 2.8 per cent., Tory increases are 3.3 per cent., and Liberal Democrat increases are 3.2 per cent. Labour certainly does cost people less.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
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