Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
LabourMP for Birkenhead
“At the Local Government Finance Settlement on 9 February 2026, the government confirmed the £5 million Internal Drainage Board Levy Support Grant for the financial year 2026-27. This is a continuation of the grant from 2025-26, reflecting t…”
“This Government is committed to taking the action necessary to fix the foundations of local government. Today, I am updating the House on the Government’s action to update the Best Value guidance, to set clear expectations of the standards …”
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'd like to thank the right honourable Gentleman for his question. Nearly 21 million people in our country are served by complex two tier structures that divide responsibilities, slow down decisions, duplicate co…”
“Today I am confirming that the Vagrancy Act 1824 has been repealed.…”
“I am grateful to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee for their report published 22 April 2026 and our response, laid and published today, sets out the actions Government is taking to improve the quality and supply of tem…”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the legacy of Jo Cox. It is an honour to move this debate on behalf of the Government. I thank Jo’s family for being with us yesterday in Downing Street, and for their incredible leadership and …”
“I thank my honourable Friend the Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore) for his contribution, and the honourable Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for bringing forward this debate. His speech reflected his extensive experience in this area,…”
“A fair and effective system of local taxation underpins good public services and maintains trust between local taxpayers and elected councils. Council tax plays a vital role in funding the services that communities rely on every day and is …”
“We are providing £3.6 billion of funding over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including £11 million for Newcastle through the homelessness, rough sleeping and domestic abuse grant. Councils can use that fundi…”
“When this government took office in July 2024, one of its top priorities was to fix the broken local audit system it inherited, which was failing both local bodies and taxpayers alike. Determined to fix the foundations, restore confidence a…”
“I thank the right honourable Gentleman for tabling the urgent question and you, Mr Speaker, for the— [ Interruption. ] I am always happy to be at the Dispatch Box; I do not know what the right honourable Gentleman is talking about. I would …”
“This Government is committed to taking the action necessary to fix the foundations of local government. Today, I am updating the House on the steps we are taking to support four councils to recover and reform: Nottingham City Council, the L…”
“Supported housing helps people to live as independently as possible in the community. With good quality care or support and the right accommodation, some of the most vulnerable people in society can thrive.…”
“I have previously updated the House on this Government’s commitment to reset our relationship with local and regional government, to fix the foundations of local government, and to support the sector to build resilience. Today, I am updatin…”
“Earlier this month, this government delivered the first multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement in a decade, coming good on our promise of reforming the system – which previous governments failed to do.…”
“I thank both my honourable Friend and the honourable Member for Fylde (Mr Snowden) for their comments. My honourable Friend is rightly talking about the financial consequences. Does he think—as I do, and as I am sure the honourable Member f…”
“This Government is committed to taking the action necessary to fix the foundations of local government. Today, I am updating the House on the steps we are taking to support two councils to recover and reform: Bedford Borough Council and Spe…”
“Today I am pleased to publish statutory guidance under Section 2 of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, which sets out the framework for local housing authorities in England to formulate and publish local supported housin…”
“This time last year, this government committed to delivering long overdue reforms to local government funding, through the first multi-year Local Government Finance Settlement (‘the Settlement’) in a decade. Today, we have delivered on that…”
“On 5 February I made a written statement on Local Government Reorganisation. There was a minor error in the statement. In outlining the proposals received from the invitation area of Kent and Medway it said:…”
“This Government is undertaking one of the biggest reforms to local government in a generation – not only have we overhauled how we fund local government, but we are ending the current two-tier system and replacing it with new single-tier un…”
“This Government is committed to taking the action necessary to fix the foundations of local government. Today, I am updating the House on the steps we are taking to support Nottingham City Council recover and reform.…”
“This Government is committed to taking the action necessary to fix the foundations of local government. Today, I am updating the House on the steps we are taking to support two councils to recover and reform: Woking Borough Council and Thur…”
“I thank the right honourable Gentleman for his question. We are undertaking a once-in-a-generation reorganisation of local government. We have now received proposals from all areas, and from councils across the political spectrum. For decad…”
“We have invited views from Thurrock, Basildon and other councils undergoing local government reorganisation about their capacity to deliver local government reorganisation alongside elections. This is a locally-led approach. Councils are be…”
“This Government is determined to streamline local government by replacing the current two-tier system with new single-tier unitary councils, ending the wasteful two-tier premium. We are progressing this landmark reform at pace, which will b…”
“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. Hav…”
“Introduction…”
“On 20 November, my Department published a policy statement setting out our approach to the first multi-year local government finance settlement in a decade. Today, we publish the provisional settlement itself and launch our formal consultat…”
“Today, the government has published its National Plan to End Homelessness. For the first time ever, this is a truly cross-government strategy, with commitments from all relevant departments to both reduce homelessness and rough sleeping and…”
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