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House of Commons

Tuesday 20 October 1998

The House met at half-past Two o'clock

PRAYERS

[Madam Speaker in the Chair]

Oral Answers to Questions

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS, RELATING TO ENVIRONMENT AND THE REGIONS

The Secretary of State was asked--

Wheel Clamping

1. Mr. Robin Corbett (Birmingham, Erdington): What proposals he has to regulate the use of wheel clamping on public land. [54325]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Ms Glenda Jackson): The Government understand the concern of those who have felt intimidated or tricked by unscrupulous wheel clampers looking to make easy money. Such behaviour should not be allowed to continue. In our transport White Paper, "A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone", we announced our intention to introduce regulation of wheel clamping as part of a package of statutory measures to regulate the private security industry as a whole. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary intends to introduce firm proposals to that end later this year.

Mr. Corbett: I thank my hon. Friend for that reply, but I urge her not to delay bringing to an end the harassment and intimidation of motorists by cowboy clampers. One woman was threatened that her three-year-old child would be held to ransom until she paid £60; another's gold tooth was demanded in payment; and a hearse was clamped with a body still inside it. Many people in the industry observe codes of practice, and I urge the Government to act quickly, unlike the Tory Government.

Ms Jackson: My hon. Friend listed only three activities which are utterly reprehensible and which, I am sure, the whole House abhors. Let me reassure him. The private security industry encompasses a wide range of activities and occupations that bring individuals into contact with the public, who can, as a result, be put at risk. The scope of the proposals to be contained in the White Paper will include any sector of the industry that places employees in positions of trust and the public at risk. Wheel clampers, whether employees of private security firms or operating independently, will be covered by the proposals.

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Standard Spending Assessments

2. Mr. Bill Michie (Sheffield, Heeley): What representations he has received from (a) local authorities and (b) other organisations in respect of future SSA levels. [54326]

The Minister for Local Government and Housing (Ms Hilary Armstrong): Since February, I have received many letters from local authorities and others about standard spending assessments. Last month, I also met groups of local authority representatives to hear their views on possible changes to SSAs.

Mr. Michie: I thank my hon. Friend for that reply, and the Government for last year's adjustment, which was most welcome. In considering the area cost adjustment, will she reject totally the Elliott general labour market approach, which in practice will shift resources from poor to rich areas, and instead go for something such as the AC18-AC19, or, if that is too radical, what about an AC14-AC16, or, if that is too narrow, what about an AC14-AC16 with an E4, an E5 and an E6? That way, perhaps some time we shall get rid of this crazy system.

Ms Armstrong: Now, Madam Speaker, you will understand the level of technicalities that people get into when talking about SSAs. In fact, we are considering 90 different options and about 25 of those are concerned with area cost adjustments. The subject arouses a great deal of excitement in various parts of the House. We are considering all the options and expect to report back to the House around the end of November or the beginning of December.

Mr. John Townend (East Yorkshire): Does the Minister accept that the present methodology for calculating SSAs favours urban areas at the expense of rural areas such as my constituency, which has done very badly compared with Hull, which includes the constituency of the Secretary of State? Does she accept that there is such a thing as rural poverty and that, with agriculture going the way it is, such poverty is getting worse by the month? What plans does she have to redress the unfairness in the system?

Ms Armstrong: I do not accept that the formula is biased towards any area. All areas face difficulties caused by the complexities of the system that the hon. Gentleman's Government left us, and we are considering a range of alternatives. I need no lectures about rural areas, because I live in and represent one of the most rural areas in the country. We are as determined to represent effectively people who live in rural areas, where poverty of course exists, as we are to represent people in urban areas. I remind the hon. Gentleman that more Labour Members represent rural areas than do those Conservatives who are left.

Mr. Bill O'Brien (Normanton): May I advise my hon. Friend that the Special Interest Group of Metropolitan Authorities welcomes the Government's move towards more accountability to the electorate? Given the three-year freeze on local government finances from central Government, it is important to get the standard spending assessments right. Contrary to the comments

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made by the hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Townend), there is a lot of poverty in urban areas, and especially in my authority area. The SSAs should be fairer to those communities that are suffering the most, and I appeal to my hon. Friend the Minister to ensure that that happens.

Ms Armstrong: The Government are committed to a fairer distribution of the grants to local authorities and we are seeking to introduce stability. Local authorities spend a lot of money and we want them to do so as responsibly as possible. We made it clear in the White Paper published in July that we want local authorities to plan their priorities effectively and to spend money on the priorities that the electorate have determined. The three-year freeze on methodology will give the stability that local government needs.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard (South-West Norfolk): Is the Minister aware of the report published by the County Councils Network last month? Does she agree with its conclusion that it costs more to deliver social services in rural areas than in urban ones?

Ms Armstrong: I read the report and I met the County Councils Network last month. I listened carefully to its representations, and to those of other groups, including the unitaries, the SIGOMA authorities and the Association of London Government. All those authorities have significant representations to make. The right hon. Lady will remember that her Government, when they examined the issue of sparsity, came to the conclusion that the formula was about right in its comparison of the costs created by sparsity and density. The working group--on which the County Councils Network is represented--has not undertaken specific work this year that advances the discussion of sparsity, but I am sure that the right hon. Lady will wish to put her mind to the problem during the three years of stability so that she can propose ideas in the future.

Mrs. Shephard: The point that the County Councils Network will have made to the Minister is not about the formula that existed, but about the fact that she distorted the formula this year by switching £100 million of funding from shire areas to urban ones. I am sure that it will also have made the point that the Minister would have done better not to exercise such a blatant anti-rural bias in the first place. What is she going to do about it?

Ms Armstrong: The right hon. Lady comments more on the actions of her Government than on those of this Government. I remind her that we did not meddle with the settlement on sparsity that her Government set out.

Mayors (Direct Elections)

3. Shona McIsaac (Cleethorpes): What assessment he has made of the level of public support for the direct election of mayors in English towns. [54327]

6. Mr. Graham Stringer (Manchester, Blackley): What assessment he has made of the level of public support for the direct election of mayors in English cities. [54330]

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The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Mr. John Prescott): On 7 May, the people of London gave a resounding 72 per cent. yes vote in favour of a directly elected mayor. Our local government White Paper proposals will give people everywhere the opportunity to say, in a referendum, whether they want a directly elected mayor.

Shona McIsaac: I welcome the proposals to have directly elected mayors in English towns and cities. Does my right hon. Friend have proposals that will go further towards supporting English towns and cities?

Mr. Prescott: As my hon. Friend knows, the Select Committee on the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs unanimously called on the Government to produce an urban White Paper. I intend to publish such a White Paper next year. It will describe how the Government will enable our towns and cities to prosper and to offer a better quality of life to all who live in them. In other words, it will facilitate more sustainable communities. Vibrant and attractive towns and cities complement thriving rural areas, but we shall pay separate attention to the specific issues affecting rural areas. I shall make an announcement on that shortly.

Mr. Stringer: My constituents and those who live in urban areas throughout the country will welcome my right hon. Friend's statement on an urban policy White Paper. They will also welcome the opportunity for communities to elect mayors, which will lead to direct improvements in those communities. That stands in stark contrast to virtually every announcement made by the previous Conservative Government, which led to life being worse in the inner cities and in urban areas. Will my right hon. Friend tell us how the urban policy White Paper will add to the initiatives already taken?

Mr. Prescott: The urban White Paper will take a more comprehensive view of the quality of life in towns and cities. It will show how the many initiatives that we have already taken will fit together, and will link with work on issues such as education, training, crime reduction, regional development agencies, planning, transport, housing and others. All these will contribute to ending social exclusion and to building sustainable communities.

In answer to a written question, I shall give more details later today, and the House will have an opportunity to debate these issues on Thursday.

Mr. Adrian Sanders (Torbay): All that has nothing to do with accountability, which is reduced if power is put in the hands of one person rather than being shared among a group of councillors. The idea of elected mayors does not address the fundamental question of public disengagement with local decision making. Only proportional representation could do that. What representations has the right hon. Gentleman received against the idea of elected mayors?

Mr. Prescott: "PR" also seems to stand for please return to the same old question. The hon. Gentleman must know that our proposals leave councils' budget and policy decisions totally with the councils. We have received very few representations against directly elected mayors.

Mr. Richard Ottaway (Croydon, South): While the debate on elected mayors continues, will the right

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hon. Gentleman encourage councils not to indulge in excesses like those of Labour-controlled Hammersmith and Fulham, whose newly created executive mayor has been declared unlawful? Under Conservative pressure, the mayor's £40,000 allowance has been halved. His efforts to streamline procedures have resulted in agendas of 250 pages, and in one case of 750 pages. The number of meetings has increased, not decreased. Is that an example of how to modernise local government?

Mr. Prescott: Our proposals for local authorities are clear. We want to give people the opportunity to have directly elected mayors. Our local authority White Paper makes clear exactly how we want to distribute decision making, budgets and accountability. The White Paper has been well received in the country, and we intend to implement it.

Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle): Elsewhere in the European Union, where there is experience of directly elected mayors, is it not the case that men seem to be disproportionately represented? Given that we shall not have a regional list system, because people will stand to be the directly elected mayor of Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh or wherever, what reassurance can the Secretary of State give that there will be even representation of the sexes when we move to having directly elected mayors?

Mr. Prescott: That is an important point, but, as democrats, we rely on the good sense of the electorate.


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