Halton Labour Party — Today’s statement from Conservative-led LGA shows...

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Today’s statement from Conservative-led LGA shows Tories have lost argument on their extreme Housing and Planning Bill - John Healey

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John HealeyMP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Housing and Planning, responding to today’s statement by the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, Lord Gary Porter, which criticises the government’s Housing and Planning Bill, said:

“Today’s statement from the Conservative-led Local Government Association shows that Tory Ministers have lost the argument with their own side on their extreme Housing and Planning Bill

“Council leaders are breaking cover because they know the Government’s housing plans will be a disaster in their areas.

“Labour has said from the start that the Housing and Planning Bill will choke off desperately needed affordable housing and will be a big let-down for young people and families on ordinary incomes who want to buy their own home

“As the Bill enters the House of Lords next week, Ministers should listen to the growing criticism from all sides and re-think their damaging housing plans.”

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John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the Government’s announcement of a task force to deal with the ‘Panama Papers’

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“The Prime Minister must be challenged on this unacceptable proposal. Any inquiry must be fully Independent and in public.

“Having this proposed task force reporting to the Chancellor and Home Secretary, who are members of a political party whose donors are implicated, is a non-runner. The government’s inadequate plans will fail to win back the trust of the public.

“Thousands of jobs have been cut at HMRC under this Prime Minister and last month’s budget revealed HMRC simply did not have the resources to collect the taxes we are owed. Anything short of a full independent public inquiry is unacceptable.

“Not only has this Government impeded international efforts to crack down on tax avoidance and to tackle tax havens but senior Tory figures are personally implicated in these immoral schemes. For these proposals to have any credibility they must be entirely independent of Government”.

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NHS vacancies - figures show the scale of the staffing crisis now engulfing the NHS - Justin Madders

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Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, commenting on the BBC’s figures on NHS staff vacancies, said:

“These figures show the scale of the staffing crisis now engulfing the NHS in England.

“The Tories decision to cut nurse training places during the last Parliament has left hospital wards dangerously understaffed - and it is patient care which is suffering. Hospital bosses are being forced to either recruit from abroad or waste huge amounts of money on expensive agency staff.

“It is little wonder NHS staff are feeling so over-worked and under-valued.

“Unfortunately, this situation is likely to worsen because of David Cameron’s plan to scrap student nurse bursaries and discourage the next generation of frontline staff.

“Ministers need to start respecting NHS staff and tell them how they intend to turn this situation around.”

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The Tory winners in the £300m Transition Fund

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Here is the full list of councils in line to share the Government’s £300m transition fund which was criticised for being heavily concentrated in Tory council areas.

Surrey	11.9	12.2	24.1	Con
Hampshire	9.4	9.3	18.7	Con
Hertfordshire	7.8	7.8	15.6	Con
Essex	7.0	7.0	13.9	Con
West Sussex	6.2	6.3	12.4	Con
Kent	5.7	5.7	11.4	Con
Buckinghamshire	4.6	4.6	9.2	Con
Oxfordshire	4.5	4.5	8.9	Con
Leicestershire	3.3	3.3	6.6	Con
Cambridgeshire	3.2	3.2	6.4	Con
Wiltshire	3.0	3.0	6.0	Con
North Yorkshire	3.0	3.0	6.0	Con
Cheshire East	3.0	3.0	5.9	Con
Dorset	3.0	2.9	5.9	Con
Richmond upon Thames	2.9	2.9	5.8	Con
Devon	2.8	2.8	5.6	Con
Staffordshire	2.8	2.8	5.6	Con
East Sussex	2.7	2.7	5.4	Con
Worcestershire	2.5	2.5	5.0	Con
Gloucestershire	2.5	2.5	5.0	Con
Central Bedfordshire	2.2	2.2	4.5	Con
Wokingham	2.1	2.1	4.2	Con
Bromley	2.1	2.1	4.1	Con
Suffolk	1.9	2.0	3.9	Con
South Gloucestershire	1.8	1.8	3.6	Con
Northamptonshire	1.7	1.7	3.4	Con
Norfolk	1.6	1.7	3.3	Con
Barnet	1.4	1.4	2.8	Con
West Berkshire	1.4	1.4	2.8	Con
Kingston upon Thames	1.3	1.3	2.6	Con
Windsor and Maidenhead	1.3	1.3	2.5	Con
Solihull	1.0	1.0	1.9	Con
North Somerset	1.0	0.9	1.9	Con
Bath & North East Somerset	0.9	0.9	1.9	Con
Bracknell Forest	0.9	0.9	1.8	Con
Poole	0.9	0.9	1.7	Con
Swindon	0.8	0.8	1.7	Con
East Riding of Yorkshire	0.8	0.8	1.5	Con
Bexley	0.7	0.7	1.4	Con
Shropshire	0.6	0.6	1.2	Con
Herefordshire	0.6	0.6	1.1	Con
Hillingdon	0.5	0.5	1.0	Con
Trafford	0.5	0.5	0.9	Con
Medway	0.3	0.3	0.7	Con
Rutland	0.3	0.3	0.7	Con
Bournemouth	0.3	0.3	0.6	Con
Elmbridge	0.3	0.2	0.4	Con
Maidstone	0.2	0.2	0.4	Con
Harrogate	0.2	0.2	0.4	Con
Reigate and Banstead	0.2	0.1	0.3	Con
St Albans	0.2	0.2	0.3	Con
Wealden	0.2	0.2	0.3	Con
Waverley	0.2	0.2	0.3	Con
Mid Sussex	0.1	0.1	0.3	Con
North Hertfordshire	0.1	0.1	0.3	Con
Chelmsford	0.1	0.1	0.3	Con
Sevenoaks	0.2	0.1	0.3	Con
Tandridge	0.1	0.1	0.3	Con
Horsham	0.1	0.1	0.3	Con
Tonbridge and Malling	0.1	0.1	0.3	Con
Dacorum	0.1	0.1	0.3	Con
Woking	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
East Hertfordshire	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Chiltern	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Bromsgrove	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
East Dorset	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
New Forest	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Surrey Heath	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Hart	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Guildford	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Worthing	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Spelthorne	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
East Hampshire	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Mole Valley	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Rochford	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Chichester	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Winchester	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
South Ribble	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Castle Point	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Wycombe	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Lewes	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Arun	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Aylesbury Vale	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
South Bucks	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Welwyn Hatfield	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Derbyshire Dales	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
South Cambridgeshire	0.1	0.1	0.2	Con
Tunbridge Wells	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Fareham	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Adur	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Rother	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
South Northamptonshire	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Cheshire Fire	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Brentwood	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Harborough	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
East Devon	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Stratford-on-Avon	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Shepway	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Uttlesford	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Suffolk Coastal	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
South Hams	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Fylde	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Christchurch	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Test Valley	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Epping Forest	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Braintree	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Lichfield	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
St Edmundsbury	0.1	0.1	0.1	Con
Kettering	0.1	0.0	0.1	Con
Havant	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Rugby	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Wyre Forest	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Stafford	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Cotswold	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
South Oxfordshire	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Staffordshire Fire	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Vale of White Horse	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Rushmoor	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Maldon	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Runnymede	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Hertsmere	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Warwick	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Mid Suffolk	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Rushcliffe	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Purbeck	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Richmondshire	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Basingstoke and Deane	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Mid Devon	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
High Peak	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
West Devon	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Ashford	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Melton	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Teignbridge	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
North West Leicestershire	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con
Ryedale	0.0	0.0	0.1	Con	SHARE %
	128.0	127.7	255.7		85.23428
Epsom and Ewell	0.1	0.1	0.2	IND	SHARE %
	0.1	0.1	0.2		0.05853
Nottinghamshire	2.0	2.0	4.0	Lab
Cheshire West & Chester	1.4	1.4	2.9	Lab
Derbyshire	1.1	1.1	2.3	Lab
Somerset	1.1	1.1	2.2	Lab
Harrow	0.7	0.7	1.4	Lab
Warrington	0.7	0.6	1.3	Lab
Merton	0.6	0.6	1.1	Lab
Croydon	0.4	0.4	0.8	Lab
Reading	0.4	0.4	0.8	Lab
Ipswich	0.1	0.1	0.2	Lab
Oxford	0.1	0.1	0.1	Lab
Redditch	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lab
Brighton & Hove	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lab
Rossendale	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lab
Bury	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lab
Chorley	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lab
Harlow	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lab	SHARE %
	8.8	8.7	17.5		5.828626
Sutton	1.3	1.3	2.7	Lib Dem
South Lakeland	0.1	0.1	0.2	Lib Dem
Cheltenham	0.1	0.1	0.1	Lib Dem
Eastbourne	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lib Dem
Eastleigh	0.0	0.0	0.1	Lib Dem	SHARE %
	12.1	12.0	24.2		8.056943
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire	0.2	0.2	0.4	NA
Devon and Somerset Fire	0.1	0.2	0.3	NA
Kent Fire	0.1	0.2	0.3	NA
Hereford & Worcester Fire	0.1	0.1	0.3	NA
Hampshire Fire	0.1	0.1	0.2	NA
East Sussex Fire	0.1	0.1	0.2	NA
Buckinghamshire Fire	0.1	0.1	0.2	NA
Essex Fire Authority	0.1	0.1	0.2	NA
North Yorkshire Fire	0.1	0.1	0.2	NA
Shropshire Fire	0.1	0.1	0.2	NA
Bedfordshire Fire	0.1	0.1	0.2	NA
Berkshire Fire Authority	0.1	0.1	0.1	NA
Cambridgeshire Fire	0.1	0.1	0.1	NA
Derbyshire Fire	0.0	0.0	0.1	NA	SHARE %
	13.5	13.7	27.2		9.063095
Warwickshire	3.0	3.0	6.0	NOC
Havering	1.4	1.4	2.7	NOC
Lancashire	1.1	1.2	2.3	NOC
Stockport	1.0	1.0	2.0	NOC
Cumbria	0.9	0.9	1.8	NOC
York	0.8	0.8	1.5	NOC
Bedford	0.7	0.7	1.4	NOC
Northumberland	0.3	0.3	0.5	NOC
Basildon	0.1	0.1	0.3	NOC
Stroud	0.1	0.1	0.2	NOC
Watford	0.1	0.1	0.2	NOC
Colchester	0.1	0.1	0.2	NOC
Three Rivers	0.1	0.1	0.1	NOC
Weymouth and Portland	0.1	0.1	0.1	NOC
South Somerset	0.1	0.1	0.1	NOC	SHARE %
	9.8	9.8	19.5		6.510323

Keep your cool on #BlackFriday, respect shop staff and pledge your support to protect workers at: http://thndr.me/beduBp

Devolution - What It Means For Halton

Halton will continue to be governed by Halton. This will NOT change. Halton will NOT become part of Merseyside or Liverpool. We are an equal partner in our region.

Devolution will transfer significant powers to our region that are currently under the control of central government in London. We firmly believe that local people are far better placed to decide our future in these important matters than ministers or civil servants in London.

The government has agreed to allocate 900 million pounds in extra funding to our region, payable at 30 million per year, to improve our infrastructure and create more jobs. Without this devolution deal this is money that we would NOT have access to.

The devolution deal that we have negotiated with government and the other local authorities in the Liverpool City Region will protect the sovereignty of Halton and the other local authorities. Devolution is NOT about merging, being took over, or giving up powers; it is about taking powers from London to make our own decisions.

Halton will strive to ensure that devolution delivers opportunity for all residents and businesses, through creating more jobs and improving the skills and employment prospects of our residents.

THE DEAL

The Deal will give our region control of significant strategic activities that are currently controlled by government from London. Government will transfer power to the Liverpool City Region (LCR) in the areas of:

economic development
transport
housing and planning
employment
skills
innovation
business growth and support
energy
culture
EU Funding

The LCR will create a Single Investment Fund. This will be spent on economic development and infrastructure projects across our region.

Governance of LCR

The governance model requires the City Region to have a directly elected Mayor, with the first elections in May 2017. The elected LCR Mayor will have NO powers or control over Halton Borough Council.

Under the governance model we have negotiated with government the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) controls most of the Mayor’s powers through:

· Requiring unanimous support of the constituent councils

· Requiring 2/3rds of the constituent councils’ support

“The LCR Mayor will be required to consult the Combined Authority members on his/her strategies, which it may reject if two-thirds of the constituent council members agree to do so. The Combined Authority will also examine the LCR Mayor’s spending plans and will be able to amend his/her plans, if two-thirds of the constituent council members agree to do so.”

The mayor will have the day-to-day power to deliver on the budget, strategies and plans that have been agreed by the LCRCA and be the voice/figurehead for the LCR.

The elected mayor will also be scrutinised by the Combined Authority and by the LCRCA Scrutiny Panel.

POLICE and FIRE

Police and fire are NOT in this deal. Halton remains with Cheshire Police and Fire.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have other Northern areas asked for devolution?

Yes virtually all of them, Manchester, Sheffield City Region, North East, Tees Valley, Warrington Cheshire East & West and West Midlands. Yorkshire (excluding Sheffield) is under discussion.

Why the Liverpool City Region deal?

We have strong links with our partners in Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral having worked closely together for a number of years. We believe that Halton will be best served working alongside our close partners to seize the opportunity that devolution offers all of us.

Why not join Warrington, Cheshire East & West’s devolution deal?

They put their own bid into government, they did not include Halton.

Will my post code change because of devolution?

Are we now classed as Merseyside?

No, the geographic boundaries remain the same.

Will any of the Merseyside Councils be able to access Halton Council’s reserves?

Are we now ruled from Liverpool?

No, Halton continues to govern Halton

Will we now have to pay bridge tolls?

No, our bridges are NOT part of the devolution deal, Halton residents will still travel toll free.

I don’t want to leave Cheshire.

You are NOT leaving the geographic area of Cheshire. In addition, if you currently choose to use Lancashire in your address, as long as you use your postcode, you can continue to do so.

I want to stay in Halton.

You will be, Halton isn’t going anywhere.

It is important to be clear - Halton will continue to govern Halton. No powers will be taken from Halton.

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Maria Eagle comment on Remembrance Sunday

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Maria Eagle MP, Shadow Defence Secretary said:

“Remembrance Sunday is a chance for us to pay tribute to our armed forces who risk their lives to keep us safe and protect the values and freedoms we hold dear. As remembranceservices take place up and down the country this Sunday, we come together to pay thanks to our brave servicemen and women who have sacrificed so much for us and our way of life.

“Let us also keep in our minds those servicemen and women who are today putting themselves in harm’s way to protect not only our rights and freedoms but also the rights and freedoms of people in all corners of the world. Their families are also in our thoughts, for they are the ones who suffer the most when their loved ones are away from home.

“Last year marked the 100^th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War and saw acts of commemoration take place all over the country and in many different forms as we remembered those who bravely and selflessly put their lives at risk to defend our nation. In 2014 we also saw the withdrawal of our troops from combat roles in Afghanistan, ending 13 years of British military engagement in that country. We will always remember the 454 British servicemen and women who lost their lives in that conflict.

“The First World War and our operations in Afghanistan are important reminders of the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in our country’s distant and recent past. To those people, whose dedication and commitment to our country has been unwavering, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude. They will never be forgotten.”

Halton CLP Fundraising Dinner 31st October 2015

Photos from Halton CLP Fundraising Dinner 31st October 2015, with guest speaker Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP

Halton Labour Party — Today’s statement from Conservative-led LGA shows...

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Today’s statement from Conservative-led LGA shows Tories have lost argument on their extreme Housing and Planning Bill - John Healey

More you might like

John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the Government’s announcement of a task force to deal with the ‘Panama Papers’

NHS vacancies - figures show the scale of the staffing crisis now engulfing the NHS - Justin Madders

The Tory winners in the £300m Transition Fund

Devolution - What It Means For Halton

Maria Eagle comment on Remembrance Sunday