argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and she is also right that it should not be about urban versus rural, but that is what the Government have made the situation with their approach to local government finance over the last nine years—this perverse reverse redistribution. The facts speak for themselves, and they should shame each and every one of us in this House We have seen a shift away from spending based on need and deprivation. The Secretary of State can shake his head, but nine out of the 10 areas seeing the biggest cuts to spending power per household, in pounds sterling, are all Labour controlled. Between 2010 and 2019, Hackney has seen a spending power cut of £1,406 per household, Newham a cut of £1,302 per household, Tower Hamlets a cut of £1,264 per household, and Knowsley a cut of £1,057.06 per household. It is worth noting that Knowsley is the second most deprived area in the country and has received the fourth biggest cut of any council. Nine of the 10 most deprived councils in the country have seen cuts of almost three times the national average. Blackpool, the most deprived area in England, has seen a spending power cut of £680 per household. Then there is Knowsley, followed by Hull, with a cut of £710; Liverpool, with a cut of £924; and Manchester, the fifth most deprived area, with a cut of £902 per household.
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Social Welfare
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making a most powerful argument. Local authorities like Slough are currently housing 79,000 homeless families in temporary accommodation, including more than 120,000 children. Last year, there was the largest annual increase in children in care since 2010, and councils are now starting 500 child protection investigations every day. Does he not agree that that is a diabolical situation resulting from these harsh ideological cuts?
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Andrew John Gwynne (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I pay tribute to his council for all the hard work that it is doing in very difficult circumstances. Cuts do have consequences, and cuts that are outside the control of the local authority are now presenting themselves as spending problems for town and county halls across England. That is why we are so angry about what this Government are doing.
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Dennis Edward Skinner (Labour, Centre-left): It is even worse than that. This ever diminishing cake has now been subject to the Prime Minister—not the Secretary of State, the Prime Minister—offering bribes to people who are going to—[Interruption.] This is part of the system, and it can affect any area—
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Dennis Edward Skinner (Labour, Centre-left): This money will come out of local government—make no mistake—even though it is a bribe. That is why we on these Benches are not going to take it. We are not going to sully the amount of money going to local authorities that we understand—
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: International Affairs
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): I probably agree with most of the points about devolution made by the hon. Member for Carlisle (John Stevenson), but I strongly disagreed with his comments about the situation in 2010. It was clear that we had an international financial crisis, and Gordon Brown deserves a great deal of credit for mitigating its consequences on the international stage. That should be put firmly on record.
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Social Welfare
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): That is quite a good record. If the hon. Gentleman looks back, he will find that one of the problems was the lack of regulation of financial institutions, but the Conservatives criticised Labour for regulating too strongly throughout that period I will try to be charitable to the Government by saying that I can welcome some elements of the spending review, including an extra £650 million for social care. However, that has to be set against the LGA’s analysis of a £1 billion deficit in both children’s and adult social care, which will rise to £3 billion for each in 2025. I can welcome the fact that the spending power of councils as a whole will not fall in real terms—there is a 2.8% increase in cash terms—but that is spread differently across various authorities, and is cushioned by increases in council tax. Those increases bring in more money in richer areas, of course, and those are the areas that have received the smallest cuts to their grants since 2010. Those two things do not sit well together Sheffield has seen a 50% cut in grants since 2010 and major cuts to services. Social care services for both children and adults overspent by £15 million last year and will do so again this year. This is not a local authority out of financial control. It has not yet used its reserves, but next year, for the first time, it is planning to do so. Of course, that can be done for only a limited number of years. Many authorities across the political spectrum are in the same position Care is very important, but there are other services to consider. Sheffield and most authorities have done the right thing by concentrating on care, because they have statutory responsibilities to the elderly, children in care and people with disabilities, but National Audit Office figures for cuts to other services since 2010 show that private sector housing has been cut by 60%, that traffic management and road safety has been cut by 60%, that recreation and sport has been cut by 50%, that libraries have been cut by 30%, and that planning and development has been cut by 50%. Those cuts are hitting communities. In the end, it is not councils that are hit by such cuts; it is communities. It has happened in my city, where libraries are having to be staffed by volunteers, grass-cutting is done less often and private sector housing officers are not sufficient to bring selective licensing on the scale that we would like. There are cuts to funding for road safety, with bus routes scrapped, and children’s centres and youth centres closed. That is happening in the constituencies and local authorities of Conservative Members, too. What worries me is that as most people do not have family members in care, they see the other council services: parks, buses, libraries, road maintenance and refuse collection. Those are the services that matter to them, but they are the services that are subject to the biggest cuts of all.
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Government Operations
Clive James Charles Betts (Labour, Centre-left): Absolutely right. We hear people start to say, "What is my council doing for me? What am I getting from it? I’m paying a lot more as council tax rises by 6%, but I’m getting a lot less." We should all worry about the impact on and support for local democracy, and local councils as a whole, if that continues and people think that they are paying money into the system but getting nothing out. There was something very wrong with the announcement of another cut to the public health grant of £80 million in the very week in which the Government promoted their new long-term funding plan for the NHS and said that prevention would be more important in the future. Those two things just do not fit together There have been two clear facts since 2010: first, local government has been subject to bigger funding cuts than any other sector of the public realm; and, secondly, within those cuts to local government, the biggest have been in the poorest areas. Those two facts are absolutely clear. Looking ahead, how can we deal with that? First, there has to be a bigger pot of money for local councils in the spending review. The answer is very simple. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has welcomed 75% retention of business rates. It also said that that money should not be used to replace public health and other grants. The money needs to be kept in place and used to help to fund the gap in social care and to reverse some cuts to the other services I have just described. That money needs to be kept in local government, not used to mop up other grants that are going to be cancelled On the funding review, there is a question of not just the totality of the money, but how it is distributed. I accept that one area’s fairness will possibly be another area’s unfairness, and we will have different views, but taking deprivation out of the foundation element—taking money away from deprived areas and moving it to others—is very difficult to justify. I say to the Secretary of State that this is a serious exercise. I hope that in the end the Government do not get to a point where they use that mechanism as a way of financially manipulating money into Conservative areas, because that is the suspicion among Labour Members. I accept that this is a difficult and complicated job, but the Government need to be very careful that the process does not become seen as an exercise in financial gerrymandering. That would be very sad for local government, as well as for the people we represent There are two challenges for the period ahead. Let us all stand up for local government and ensure that it does better in the next spending review and has a better allocation of resources. Let us then make sure that those resources are fairly delivered. I am sure that we will have a lot more to say about that in the future, but those are the two tests by which I will judge next year’s spending review.
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Macroeconomics
James McMahon (Labour, Centre-left): We have not heard a great deal today. We expected, perhaps, a rabbit to be pulled out of a hat. Word had it that the Prime Minister had a few quid to give out, but we have not seen much of that today. It could have been used in a morally just way: it could have been sent to the areas that have suffered the biggest cuts although they also suffer the most significant deprivation. Those areas have been targeted by the Government, as has been set out today in the many excellent speeches made by Labour Members in particular My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) said that people now questioned why they were paying council tax at all, given that the neighbourhood services that they received were being reduced. My hon. Friends the Members for Liverpool, Riverside (Dame Louise Ellman), for City of Chester (Christian Matheson) and for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg) made the same points about the human cost of removing vital public services. My right hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr Jones), my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Liam Byrne) outlined the very real community impact of austerity and the Government’s targeting of our communities. Through to my hon. Friends the Members for Redcar (Anna Turley) and for High Peak (Ruth George), we heard story after story of the human and community cost of austerity What shift did we get from the Government? Absolutely none. Why? This has not happened by accident, and the Government will not suddenly wake up and realise that they have made a horrible mistake. The policy has been deliberate and targeted from day one. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said: "In England, cuts have been much larger for poorer, more grant-dependent councils than their richer neighbours." Why "This pattern arose directly from the way central Government allocated grants." That was deliberate and targeted and it has not stopped today. Despite our calls and our outlining the real human cost, the policy continues.
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Social Welfare
James Dolan Cunningham (Labour, Centre-left): If the Government were serious about helping women and bringing an end to austerity, they could have funded local authorities to give free bus passes to the women they robbed of their pensions. Surely they could have done something like that.
Local Government Finance — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Social Welfare
James McMahon (Labour, Centre-left): The Government have been very good at shifting money from those who need it most to areas that will secure the support of their Back Benchers. How many times today have we heard Conservative Back Benchers praising their Front Benchers and thanking them for giving in to their lobbying? So much back patting has gone on as Government Members congratulate each other on taking food off the tables of the poorest in society to shift funding to the richest We have heard time and again from Conservative Members how much more expensive services are in rural areas. There is no doubt that some services are more expensive to deliver in rural areas by unit cost. However, let us look at the evidence. In 2014, the Government commissioned a report that examined every single service that local authorities deliver throughout England. It showed that it is true that some, but only 15%, of services are more expensive in rural areas. In urban areas, 31% of services are more expensive, and whether areas are urban or rural has no bearing on the delivery of 50% of services. The evidence therefore shows that services are more expensive to deliver in urban areas. That is because the deprivation is ingrained and generational. It is tied to the local economies, and councils are there to try to keep it all together When our communities have asked for hope and direction, what have they been given? Not even warm words or an acknowledgement of the human cost. Now more than a million older people do not get the social care they would have got in 2010. Children who are at risk of violence and abuse are not given the protection they need, because the Government have walked away and said that it is nothing to do with them. It is everything to do with them. When other Departments were fighting their corner, where was the Ministry? When austerity first struck, local government was hit hardest. We have lost 800,000 members of staff from local government. We have the lowest number of staff since comparable records began, yet the central Government workforce is the largest since comparable records began. Local government has taken more of a hit than any other Department. Within local government, Labour-controlled areas have taken the hit, and that is politically motivated The Government had the chance to put this right today. They have failed to be fair and just, and failed the people we come into this place to serve. Shame on the lot of you.
Business without Debate — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Macroeconomics
Lindsay Harvey Hoyle (Labour, Centre-left): With the leave of the House, we shall take motions 4 to 11 together Motion made, and Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 118(6)), Income Tax That the draft Devolved Income Tax Rates (Consequential Amendments) Order 2018, which was laid before this House on 10 December 2018, be approved. Data Protection That the draft Data Protection (Charges and Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2019, which were laid before this House on 17 December 2018, be approved Exiting the European Union (Building and Buildings) That the draft Construction Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which were laid before this House on 18 December 2018, be approved Exiting the European Union (Professional Qualifications) That the draft Recognition of Professional Qualifications (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018, which were laid before this House on 19 December 2018, be approved Exiting the European Union (Financial Services) That the draft Solvency 2 and Insurance (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which were laid before this House on 8 January, be approved That the draft Insurance Distribution (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which were laid before this House on 19 December 2018, be approved That the draft Financial Conglomerates and Other Financial Groups (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which were laid before this House on 17 January, be approved Exiting the European Union (Companies) That the draft Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships and Partnerships (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which were laid before this House on 10 January, be approved.—(Jeremy Quin.) Question agreed to.
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Gareth Thomas (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present a petition in the same terms as my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell), from the parents, carers, staff and governors of the wonderful Hillview Nursery School in Britain’s best constituency, Harrow West. Almost 100 people have signed the petition The petition of parents, carers, staff and governors of Hillview Nursery maintained nursery school in Harrow. [P002312]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Patrick Bosco McFadden (Labour, Centre-left): I would like to present petitions from parents, carers and staff at Windsor Nursery School and Phoenix Nursery School—both in Wolverhampton South East—in the same terms as those presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) The petition of parents, carers, staff and governors of Windsor maintained nursery school in Wolverhampton. [P002314] The petition of the parents, carers, staff and governors of Phoenix maintained nursery schools in Wolverhampton. [P002321]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
John Derek Twigg (Labour, Centre-left): I would like to present a petition on behalf of Ditton Nursery School and Warrington Road Nursery School, which has been signed by parents, carers and staff at those schools. I do so on the same basis as my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Ditton/Warrington Road maintained nursery schools in Halton. [P002313]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Marsha Chantol De Cordova (Labour, Centre-left): I would like to present a petition—signed by parents from Somerset Nursery School, along with teachers and governors—in the same terms The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Somerset nursery school maintained nursery schools in Wandsworth, London. [P002315]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present petitions in the same terms about the future of maintained nursery schools. I have received over 1,600 signatures from these nurseries. The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Cippenham maintained nursery school in Slough. [P002316] The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Baylis Court Nursery School maintained nursery schools in Slough. [P002317] The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Lea Nursery School maintained nursery school in Slough. [P002318] The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Chalvey Nursery School maintained Nursery School in Slough. [P002327] The petition of the parents, carers, staff and governors and supporters of Slough centre nursery maintained nursery school in Slough Berkshire. [P002344]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Debbonaire (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present petitions in the same terms from the wonderful St Werburgh’s Park Nursery School; the wonderful Redcliffe Nursery School and children’s centre in Redcliffe; and the wonderful St Philip’s Marsh Nursery School, Barton Hill children’s centre and Cashmore early years centre, also in Bristol The petition of the Parents, Carers, Staff and Governors of Redcliffe Children’s Centre maintained nursery school in Bristol. [P002319] The petition of the Parents, Carers, Staff and Governors of St Philip’s Marsh Nursery School (and Cashmore Early Years Centre/Barton Hill Children’s Centre) maintained nursery school in Bristol. [P002320] The petition of the Parents, Carers, Staff and Governors of St Werburgh’s Park maintained nursery school in Bristol. [P002322]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
John Eugene Joseph Dromey (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present a petition in the same terms on behalf of four remarkable nursery schools in Birmingham, Erdington: Castle Vale, Featherstone, Marsh Hill, and Osborne. It is signed by 1,500 people The petition of the parents, carers, staff and governors of Featherstone maintained nursery school in Erdington, Birmingham and Marsh Mill nursery school, Osborne nursery school and Castle Vale nursery school in Birmingham. [P002324]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Mathew Richard Allen Rodda (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present petitions on behalf of three outstanding nursery schools in Reading East: Caversham, Newbridge, and Blagdon The petition of the parents, careers, staff and governors of Caversham maintained nursery school in Reading. [P002325]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Louise Joyce Ellman (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present the petition from 85 parents, carers and staff of the much-valued Abercromby Nursery School in Liverpool. It is vital that adequate funding is provided for this facility, which has enriched so many young lives The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Abercromby Nursery School maintained Nursery School in Liverpool. [P002328]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Julie Elizabeth Cooper (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present a petition in the same terms on behalf of six outstanding nursery schools of Burnley The petition of the parents, carers, staff and governors of Whitegate Nursery School, Padiham. [P002329] The petition of the parents, carers, staff and governors of Ightenhill maintained nursery school in Burnley. [P002340] The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Basnett Street Nursery School maintained nursery school in Burnley. [P002342] The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Rockwood maintained nursery school in Burnley, Lancashire. [P002343] The petition of the parents, carers, staff and governors of Rosegrove Nursery School maintained nursery school in Burnley. [P002345] The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Reedley Hallows maintained nursery school in Burnley, Lancashire. [P002346]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Daniel Stephen Zeichner (Labour, Centre-left): I present five petitions in the same terms on behalf of many, many thousands of residents—parents, guardians, staff and communities of nursery schools in Cambridgeshire The petition of the parents, carers staff, governors and local community of Homerton Early Years Centre maintained nursery school in Cambridgeshire [P002330] The petition of the parents, carers staff, governors and local community of Colleges Nursery School maintained nursery school in Cambridgeshire. [P002332] The petition of the parents, carers staff and governors of Brunswick maintained nursery school in Cambridgeshire. [P002333] The petition of the parents, carers, staff and governors of Histon Early Years Centre maintained nursery school in Histon, Cambridgeshire. [P002334] The petition of the parents, carers, staff, governors and local community of The Fields Children Centre maintained nursery school in Cambridgeshire. [P002335]
[P002354] — House of Commons, 2019-02-05
Topic: Education
Yvonne Helen Fovargue (Labour, Centre-left): I rise to present a petition in the same terms on behalf of the parents, carers and staff of the outstanding Hindley Nursery School in the constituency of Makerfield. There are 125 signatures The petition of the parents, carers and staff of Hindley Nursery School maintained nursery school in Makerfield. [P002339]