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5.44 pm
Mr. Eric Illsley (Barnsley, Central): I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate, not least because it has been curtailed to two and three quarter hours, of which the two Front-Bench speakers took an hour, the Liberal Democrat spokesman took 15 minutes and I understand that 20 minutes will be taken up by winding-up speeches. Given that the Government no longer seek representations from Members of Parliament, someone should rethink the length of the debate. We should either reinstate representations from Members of Parliament or have a full-day's debate on local government finance.
I shall speak briefly about Barnsley's position under the local government settlement and then about the South Yorkshire fire and civil defence budget, which has particularly acute problems.
As the Government know, Barnsley is one of the authorities that consistently loses out under standard spending assessment methodology. I have complained about that methodology ever since its inception in 1990. We are impatiently waiting for a review of the system.
Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome):
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Illsley:
I am sorry, no. Time does not permit me to give way.
Despite the fact that we are using out-dated SSA methodology, Barnsley is one of the first councils to employ the new modernised council system. We have a cabinet system and commissioning. It has become a model for other authorities and Barnsley has been visited by the representatives of more than 100 other local authorities to examine the set up with a view to introducing it in their areas. It is a pity that SSA methodology is not as modern as Barnsley's cabinet system. It has been flawed since its inception in 1990, when Barnsley was one of 21 authorities to be capped, a third of which were coal- mining areas.
One of the keys to SSA methodology is that it is biased against coal-mining areas, especially in the north of England. Contrary to what the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Mr. Loughton) said, northern authorities are not spendthrifts. If he examined the performance indicators of any northern local authority, he would be pleasantly surprised.
I make a plea on behalf of former coalfield areas. Instead of giving us coalfield regeneration task forces, which are all very well in themselves, as is the money that goes with them, why not give the money to local authorities to enable them to pull themselves up and out of the problems that now beset them?
Barnsley metropolitan borough council is again facing a round of cuts. There will be a £5 million shortfall this time. That is to be added to the year-on-year cuts that we have suffered over the past 10 years.
Barnsley and other local authorities welcome the consistency of the settlement and the real increase in total standard spend of about 5.8 per cent. Welcome also is the predictability and stability of the comprehensive spending review, provided that there is predictability and provided that that works.
Barnsley does not welcome the fact that it takes 31st place among metropolitan authorities in terms of SSA per head. Why is it--I have been asking the question for the past 10 years--that schools in Barnsley at all levels receive hundreds of pounds less in SSA than schools in similar authorities, such as St. Helens? I can think of no reason other than political bias against Barnsley and South Yorkshire on the part of Governments of both parties.
We do not welcome data losses in Barnsley, but we have to use the present formula because the Government will not change it. As a consequence, we must cope with the losses. These are affected by the flow of SSA. Local authorities throughout the country are still using the 1991 census returns for general data. I appreciate that some data are updated. During 2000-01, Barnsley's data losses will amount to £180,000. That is a substantial sum for the authority and one that we cannot afford to lose. The loss will be about £58 million for all the metropolitan authorities.
We do not welcome capital finance control totals, which mean a loss for Barnsley of £700,000 this year. Similarly, we do not agree with capping. This year, the percentage rate of annual increase, before the loss of subsidy under the council tax limitation subsidy, has been reduced to 6.2 per cent. Again, local authorities are being capped. The cap squeezes year on year; as in previous years, this year's capping regime is worse than that which prevailed last year.
I shall make one or two pleas for the future. Let us get on with changes to the SSA methodology. Progress is desperately needed in areas such as Barnsley. I make a plea for the Government to consider extra damping to counter the data losses in education and to ensure the minimum SSA.
The Government must maintain the tax base. For example, since 1991, house prices in greater London have increased by 50 per cent. and in the south-east of England by 28 per cent. SSAs in the shire counties have increased by 4.7 per cent., in outer London by 4.5 per cent.; and in the metropolitan authorities by 3.8 per cent. Our house prices have increased by only 5.6 per cent., so we have lost grant and we have a lower capacity to fund our services. I am told that the effect is equivalent to a £50 reduction in band D council tax.
South Yorkshire's fire and civil defence service will get an increase in grant this year of 2.1 per cent. Previously, the figure was 1.7 per cent.--exactly half the average for other fire authorities. Why is South Yorkshire's settlement lower than that of most other fire authorities? There is no answer other than political bias against the north of England and South Yorkshire. Each year from 1990, the previous Government imposed cut after cut on South Yorkshire, until in 1995 the Home Office accepted that the South Yorkshire fire service was operating below the minimum standards drawn up by the chief fire officer. A delegation that met Home Office Ministers was told to break the capping regulations in force at the time, whereas the Department of the Environment would not permit the capping regulations to be breached. In the event, with the support of the chief fire officer, we breached the capping regulations and the Government recognised that we needed more money. We seem to be in the same situation as in 1995, because we are operating at minimum standards and face the prospect of falling below them if we accept the financial settlement that is to be imposed on us.
Conservative Members speak of spendthrift authorities. To illustrate what South Yorkshire fire service has gone through during the past 10 years, I draw their attention to the closure of Goldthorpe, Hoyland, High Green, Oaks Lane and Kiveton Park fire stations--five stations closed, and new ones opened at Tankersley and Aston Park.
There has been a reduction in the uniformed establishment from more than 1,200 to fewer than 1,000--a 25 per cent. reduction in manpower over the past 10 years. The number of pumping appliances on the run has been reduced from 43 to 33. The service has to contend with indifferent building stock, a decreasing fleet of appliances and equipment, an unfair SSA and low morale.
However, there have also been achievements in South Yorkshire. We have improved the image and the profile of the force. We have been praised by the district audit management. The service has achieved the Investors in People award and is awaiting the charter mark award. It has received the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents gold health and safety award. Those are the achievements of an authority running at minimum standards and on a very low budget.
South Yorkshire fire service is proud of having brought about a culture change towards the prevention of fires. An article that appeared in the local press last year stated:
The district auditor, Colin Earl, attended a meeting to present his annual management letter to the authority. He said that the authority had adopted a prudent financial approach in previous years, and that the announcement of the local government settlement was disappointing for the authority. He also stated that the settlement would present the authority,
The problem of declining populations has already been mentioned. Fire risk comprises categories A, B and C; it is not entirely down to population areas or residential matters. Fire risk is assessed on the type of building. Thousands of people visit the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield every day, although no one lives there. The nearby airport also constitutes a high risk, but the population has no effect on it. The M1 and M18 motorways run through South Yorkshire, and the fire authority has to service them. It is required to attend if there is an accident on those roads.
"The proposed new structure would free up resources and encourage a culture change from firemen fighting fires to educating the public how to prevent them."
3 Feb 2000 : Column 1291
The South Yorkshire force is penalised by the fact that it attends fewer fire calls than forces in other authorities, despite the fact that the authority has been trying to educate the public to call the service out less.
South Yorkshire fire authority faces a shortfall of £1.5 million, which will force it below minimum standards. Our fire brigade is one of the most cost-effective in the country. As a South Yorkshire ratepayer, I pay 53p a week for the fire service.
"which is already in a tight financial position"--
that is an understatement--
"with some difficult decisions to make."
Why is our settlement so low? When the Minister refused to meet a delegation of Members of Parliament to discuss the matter, she wrote me a letter in which she said that our calls had decreased compared with those of other authorities. Thus all the hard work that the authority has undertaken to increase fire prevention and reduce calls penalises it. Capital financing and the drop in interest rates have also penalised the authority.
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