HC Deb 27 February 1980 vol 979 cc1340-3
10. Mr. Flannery

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received regarding cuts in local authority services.

Mr. King

Many members of the public, local authorities and other bodies have written to me about this. I am impressed by the widespread recognition of the need for economies.

Mr. Flannery

When will the Minister realise that the doctrinaire, monetarist policies pursued by his Government—that are splitting his own party wide open, according to The Times editorial yesterday—are bearing down so heavily on the most vulnerable sections of the public that some action will have to be taken if local councils are to avoid imposing 50 per cent. rate rises? As long as this policy continues, local council can no longer service the people. What do the Government intend to do?

Mr. King

If there were the slightest nuances of difference of view among my right hon. and hon. Friends, the rubbish put forward by the hon. Gentleman would have solidified our view. In a situation when we have called for a 1½ per cent. cut next year, it is possible for per cent. next year, it is possible for efficient and prudent authorities to make those economies without enormously damaging cuts such as some authorities seem to be choosing to make for the maximum political capital.

Mr. Robert Atkins

If my right hon. Friend receives any representations about cutting the cost of services, will he point them to the borough of Preston, Tory-controlled for the past four years, which has reduced its rates over that time from 32p in the pound to 8p in the pound and is maintaining that figure this year by cutting its costs carefully?

Mr. King

In local authorities, as in companies and other walks of life, there are some well-run authorities and others that have failed to match the same standards. What my hon. Friend says about the record of Preston is most interesting. I look forward to going there on Friday and seeing at first hand how these economies have been made. I am sure that for concerned authorities there are lessons to be learnt from the better run authorities.

Mr. Jay

Is the Minister aware that, whatever may happen in Preston, in the borough of Wandsworth the Government's policies have produced the worst housing situation since the war?

Mr. King

I am obviously not here to discuss every individual authority, but it is worth comparing the future rates performance of relavent adjacent authorities. I believe that the rate will rise in Wandsworth over two years by some 18 per cent. In an adjoining authority it will rise no less than 90 per cent. during that period. The effect on small businesses and the commercial economy of the area, and the general well-being of the residents of that area will clearly be far better in the hands of the first authority than in the hands of the second.

Mr. John Townend

Does my right hon. Friend agree that if the majority of local authorities had not acted responsibly and had not made reductions in expenditure, as advised by the Government, and had not cut waste, rates increases this year would have been intolerably high?

Mr. King

I can confirm that the first assessments that I made when we came into office indicated that if economies were not made at that time the rate increases that were inevitable and in the pipeline, stemming from all actions of the previous Government, would have been substantially higher than the rate increases now being advised.

Mr. Allan Roberts

Does the Minister agree that one of the most essential local authority services is the provision of housing? Will he ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to visit the Southend, East by-election and explain why his announced 21 per cent. cut in housing expenditure for local authorities is 40 per cent. in Southend? Will the Minister allow me to help the Secretary of State in explaining away that 40 per cent. cut by showing that the right hon. Gentleman is politically unbiased because he has cut local authority housing capital expenditure in the Prime Minister's constituency by 25 per cent?

Mr. King

I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman deliberately chose to put to me a question on housing since he knows that I do not have responsibility for that subject. I wonder, too, whether he was somewhat afraid of the straight answer that he would have got from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State or my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction.

Mr. McCrindle

Will my right hon. Friend note the new-found solicitude on the Labour Benches for the affairs of Essex? Is there a reason, which appears to be escaping me at the moment, as to why the home help service, instead of being cut back as it is in some areas, should not be passed on to some form of organisation combining the voluntary and the private sectors?

Mr. William Hamilton

The girl guides?

Mr. King

I am impressed by the widespread recognition throughout the country —much more widespread than is apparent to Labour Members—of the need for economies and for an intelligent approach to the difficulties we face. Many councils are finding alternative ways, such as joint funding and voluntary help, to provide services in the interests of all those who genuinely need help and whom we should now all be concerned to help.

Mr. Hattersley

If the Minister of State does not want to comment on individual authorities, will he agree, as a statistical fact, that the inner cities in general and inner London in particular will suffer most from the Government's cut-back in local authority expenditure?

Mr. King

In looking at the record of problems and the need for economies I do not single out individual parts of the country. There are problems right across the country in many areas. It is interesting to note the degree of resolution and intelligence being employed by different councils in facing those problems.