Rate Support Grant (Hansard, 24 October 1983)

§ Mr. Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the Secretary of State for the Environment's contempt for the House of Commons in announcing the rate support grant settlement four days before the resumption of Parliament, his contempt for the local authorities in failing to convene the consultative council on local government finance and, above all, his contempt for the ratepayers in imposing lower grant and higher penalties, which will force rates up to higher levels. The matter is specific because the rate support grant settlement and accompanying penalties were published last Thursday. It is important because the rate support grant affects the finances, and therefore the services, of every local authority in the country. The matter should have urgent consideration so that right hon. and hon. Members can express their views on the Secretary of State's behaviour towards the House, towards local authorities and, most of all, towards ratepayers.

The House has a right to pass judgment on the Secretary of State's decision to publish the settlement four days before the House reconvened instead of making a statement here today, as other Ministers have done. This follows the Secretary of State's contempt for the House when he published his rates White Paper and his local authority spending ceilings on the Monday after we went into recess. We are talking of a Minister who deliberately times difficult announcements in order to dodge and cheat Parliament.

The House has a right to pass judgment on the Secretary of State's distortion of section 1(3) of the Local Government Act 1974, which requires the Secretary of State to consult local authorities on the rate support grant settlement.

The Department of the Environment's announcement last Thursday began: Mr. Patrick Jenkin, the Secretary of State for the Environment, today consulted local government on the Government's proposals for English local authorities' 1984–85 current expenditure". That statement was the consultation. It is a farce. No meeting took place; no consultation took place. Local authorities read about the consultation in the newspapers. This is a scandalous abuse of a statute passed by Parliament.

The House has a right to pass judgment on the fiddling of the figures in the announcement and on the pretence that the grant will rise by £90 million, when it is being cut by £600 million. The House has a right to pass judgment on the pretence that expenditure is being allowed to rise when it, too, is being cut. Rates will be pushed up to record levels, services will be cut and jobs will go.

All those matters are specific and urgent. The House has a right to hold this overweening Minister to account and I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to rule accordingly.