Alison McGovern MP: speeches

Speeches

• 18 Dec 2025 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his response. I will do my best to respond to a couple of his substantive points. He said that the Opposition are supporting local leaders who are engaging in the process in good faith, and I thank him for that, despite his other comments where he indicated that perhaps his party is not supporting the move to towards unitary councils, which we know are more efficient and effective, as I said. On the hon. Gentleman’s important point about the Electoral Commission, the Secretary of State will take that under advisement, and will take any issues raised seriously. As I mentioned, we want to take an approach that puts local insights first. He mentioned councils that do not support a delay. As I said, that is fine; there is no problem with that at all. We want to support local leaders through what we are doing. The hon. Gentleman mentioned planning, which is extremely important, given the desperate need to build more homes; in fact, part of the motivation for moving to unitary authorities is to get that work done effectively and efficiently. He also asked about social care, which is an extremely important area. A lot of change is going on in social care, not least through the work in the Department for Health and Social Care on changing how NHS England works. I am working closely with colleagues in that Department on that, and I am happy to engage further with him on it. The position on elections is as it has always been. The starting point remains that elections go ahead unless there is a strong justification for them not going ahead. Today, we are writing to local leaders who have raised concerns and made justifications to us, to ask them to set those out, so that an informed decision can be taken.

• 18 Dec 2025 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  I have responded.

• 18 Dec 2025 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for her questions. I will not respond again to those to which I have already responded. As I mentioned, the majority of the English electorate will get to vote in the elections in 2026 that are not affected by reorganisation. There are other elections going on and, as I said, this does not apply to the majority of councils undergoing reorganisation, either. A number of councils have raised capacity issues, demand on limited resources and the challenge of getting the transition process right. They have shared details with us, which is why we are writing to them to ask their view formally. We will get on with this process as quickly as we can.

• 18 Dec 2025 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  Yes.

• 18 Dec 2025 · Local Government Reorganisation · Hansard source

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  As I said to the House yesterday, we need to set local authorities on a plan for financial sustainability, after 14 years during which the Tories decimated local government, and local government reorganisation is a part of that journey. Having layers of councils is both inefficient and ineffective. With one council in charge in each area, we will see quicker decisions to grow our towns and cities and to connect people to opportunity. Residents will see more preventive care; a family needing special educational needs support and help with housing, for instance, will need to contact only one council, rather than being passed between two. Residents will also benefit from more financially stable councils, with combined services delivering for a larger population, providing for efficiencies and better value. That is why reorganisation is a vital part of our change: stronger local councils equipped to generate economic growth will improve local public services and empower their communities. As we break for Christmas, I would like to thank colleagues in this place and councils across the country for working with the Government to deliver this process. We want to make these changes in this Parliament. We have already reached a number of key milestones, including the Secretary of State’s decision to implement two new unitary councils in Surrey. We have now received proposals from all 20 remaining invitation areas and a consultation is open on 17 of those proposals from six invitation areas. I expect to launch a consultation in early February on proposals for the remaining 14 areas that seek to meet the terms of the statutory invitation; that consultation would be for seven weeks. I remain committed to the indicative timetable that was published in July, which will see elections to new councils in May 2027 and those new councils going live in April 2028, subject to Parliament. Local government reorganisation is a complex process involving the rewiring of local services to bring housing, planning, public health and social care all under one roof. When councils have told us about the limits they are working within and the capacity required for reorganisation, my ministerial colleagues and I have heard them. In recent weeks, as final proposals have been submitted, the number of councils voicing such concerns have grown. Many councils across the country—and of all stripes—have expressed anxiety about their capacity to deliver a smooth and safe transition to new councils, alongside running resource-intensive elections to councils proposed to be abolished shortly. They have expressed concerns about the time and energy spent managing elections to bodies that will shortly not exist, only to run an election a year later. We have also heard from councils querying the value for taxpayers of spending tens of millions of pounds running elections to bodies that will not exist for much longer. Councils are telling us that where capacity is a problem, postponement would free up resources to be concentrated on local government reorganisation and the delivery of good services. This Government believe in devolution and local leadership. We do not wish to dictate local decisions from Whitehall without consultation; instead, we will listen to local leaders. It is right that the Secretary of State considers the concerns that have been raised with specific relevance to the areas they have come from. Capacity will vary between councils, and that is why the Secretary of State wants to hear from local leaders who know their areas best and understand their own local capacity. He is therefore today seeking the views of council leaders regarding their local capacity to deliver local government reorganisation alongside elections. To be clear, should a council say that it has no reason to delay its elections, there will be no delay. If a council voices genuine concerns, we will take these issues seriously, and would be minded to grant a delay in those areas. To that end, the Secretary of State is minded to make an order to postpone elections for one year only to the councils that raise capacity concerns. We have asked for representations from councils by no later than midnight on 15 January, and will then be in a position to make an informed decision. I will continue to update the House on this and other important milestones for reorganisation as we deliver on this vital agenda. I commend this statement to the House.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is not just a former deputy leader of Milton Keynes city council; she has become a fantastic champion of that great city since coming to this House. If she wants to meet to talk about fast-growing cities and building homes, I will be there all day.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I might be a proud northerner, but I was once a councillor in a London borough, so I do not need to be told what poverty in London looks like. In my statement, I mentioned the possibilities for raising income that some councils have access to, and we want to work with local authorities on that. I am determined that we will not make this about geographical division in our country; we will make it a journey for all councils back towards financial sustainability. That is the objective, and I will happily work with the hon. Lady on that if that is what she wants to do.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  My announcement today is a massive vote of confidence in the people of Shipley and of Bradford, and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend to make sure that every penny piece of that investment improves her constituents’ lives.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for being such a champion for his constituents, and for making sure that their voice is heard in the decisions we are taking. The situation he describes was chaotic and, as he said, people paid the price for that in their job security and in the services we all rely on. The difference is that we are taking a long-term approach, with a multi-year settlement, and funding according to deprivation means that where the need is greatest, the money will follow.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  Luton is an extremely important place, with great potential to grow our economy. Most importantly, we want to see those children in Luton thrive, because they are our future. Today’s announcement allocates significant investment in Luton, which I am really pleased to do, precisely because of that relinking to deprivation, and I have every faith in my hon. Friend and her colleagues in Luton to make that money work for our children’s future.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I have every confidence in the details that we are publishing today. We will be working with local authorities, as I have said, to make sure that they can set their budgets in the normal way and move towards financial sustainability.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady mentions multi-year settlements alone not being the answer—no, but they do help. That relates to her two other points on SEND and social care, because multi-year settlements allow councils to plan properly and undertake commissioning activities over a longer period of time. That was our objective, which we have achieved with this. She asked for more details on SEND. I mentioned in my statement that local authorities will not be expected to fund costs from general funds once the statutory override ends in 2028. We will have more to say on that throughout this settlement process. The hon. Lady asked about adult social care. Significant reform is needed there, but I do not think that anybody could say that we have not done anything. We are building a national care service, backed by about £4.5 billion of additional funding for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26, including £500 million for the first ever fair pay agreement. I will never forget visiting care homes after they had got through the hell of covid. All that we do on social care has to back those people who did the most when our country needed them.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers I have already given on rural areas. We have built that into this settlement, and I will work with colleagues in all rural areas to ensure that we can get services improved and make this work.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I have answered a number of questions on rural areas, so I refer the hon. Lady to the answers I have already given. I have real confidence in the latest indices of deprivation. The data quality is much better, so we are able to meet the challenge she sets.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I would first say to the people of Kettering that their MP has done a cracking job in making sure that their needs are represented in this place and in the decisions that the Government take. Their MP has spoken up for their future, their children, their council and their needs, and we are doing our best to meet those needs.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I most certainly agree. Having visited Hartlepool before—I hope to do so again—I know not just what it has been through, but what it has to offer. It has a fine champion in my hon. Friend as its MP, and I look forward to working with him and all my friends in Hartlepool to make good on the promise of the next generation in Hartlepool.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend, who chairs the Education Committee, will know that it is not just the cost of temporary accommodation to councils; it is also the cost of children’s schooling. Last week I set out our strategy to counteract that terrible phenomenon and I will talk in detail to councils in the weeks and months to come to do exactly as she asks.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for meeting me recently to discuss that issue, which was really helpful. As I said in my statement, decisions about financial support will be taken in the usual way, and I will of course work with her and other Shropshire MPs to make sure that her area is on a journey towards sustainability.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I feel like a bit of an old lady in the House these days, having been here in 2010 at the beginning of austerity. I saw the effects of it—

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I think I answered that question in my statement. I am just as concerned about the cost as the hon. Member is.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  It is excellent to hear that Anna Coles has done so well in providing local services. I do not recognise the figures mentioned by the hon. Gentleman and I would be happy to discuss them with him. Our objective is to get all councils back on their feet, particularly through the Pride in Place programme, in which Torbay is participating.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is extremely experienced in these matters and remembers, as I do, the impossible situation that councils, particularly in the poorest areas, were put in under the Tory Government. He is right to point out that the Lib Dems did play a small role in that, too. On his questions, I always read in detail the Select Committee’s reports, and I will do that with the ones he mentions. The Government have set out the pathway, making the immediate change that I said on social care and asking Baroness Casey to drive us towards that long-term vision that he points out. That is exactly what we need to do; we need to fix this for the long term.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I would be more than happy to do that.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  People have accused me of many things, but being in cahoots with Reform is not one of them. I am very, very definitely not in cahoots with Reform. I have heard what the hon. Gentleman has said. I made some remarks in my speech about the steps that we will take, particularly if people are already paying an average amount of council tax. I am more than aware about the situation that people are facing with the cost of living, so if he wants to write to me with some more details about what he has read in The Times , I will happily respond to him formally.

• 17 Dec 2025 · Local Government Finance · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend, who is an impressive champion for his constituency; the people of Welwyn Hatfield should be proud of him. When we are thinking about deprivation, we are determined for it not to be a question of one part of the country against another. It is simply about being led by the evidence: identifying poverty and deprivation wherever it exists—including its cause, which, as my hon. Friend says, can be housing costs. We will keep doing that and take decisions on that basis.