Solar Panels

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises a very important question for all the growth that we are predicting for our country. My colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are working very closely with the national grid to improve grid capacity; it will be essential to have that going forward. We need to make sure that that is the case, both to drive the growth that we want to see, because energy is vital to that, and to keep our energy security for the country the way we want it as we grow the economy.

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, there is currently a potential conflict between the Government’s desire to ensure all rental homes have a minimum EPC energy efficiency rating of C and planning restrictions for buildings that are either listed or in a conservation zone. This is forcing many housing associations to look at selling many affected but much-needed affordable homes. What will the Government do to address this issue?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We have had issues around energy efficiency improvements to heritage and listed buildings. It is important to get the balance here right, though. Of course, we want to drive energy efficiency and we will be working with all the conservation associations, including Historic England, to look at what more we can do to drive energy efficiency as effectively as possible while still preserving the very important heritage aspects of the buildings in this country.

Permitted Development Rights (Extension) Bill [HL]

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 7th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

I thank my noble friend Lord Lucas for bringing the Bill to the House today. I declare my interests in the register, particularly that I am a councillor in Central Bedfordshire.

There is a housing crisis in this country, particularly in London and the south-east. For example, we see huge numbers of homelessness, particularly in London, with nearly 70,000 families in temporary accommodation, of whom nearly half are placed out of borough. Although the last Government successfully built some 2.5 million homes between 2010 and 2024 and a million in the last Parliament, it is noticeable that London has consistently failed to deliver on its housing targets over recent years. Depending on which housing target is looked at, since 2016 London’s delivery shortfall is between 100,000 and 400,000 homes. Had these homes been delivered, we would most likely have seen a material improvement in the housing crisis in London and the south-east, with fewer families in temporary accommodation and lower rents and improved economic growth.

Getting more housing built will come not from a single silver-bullet solution but rather a series of incremental steps. Increasing densification and enabling householders to expand existing properties, particularly in urban areas, could make a meaningful contribution to this, with the added benefits of densification, which my noble friend Lord Lucas mentioned, and the 15-minute city, which my noble friend Lady Coffey mentioned. Building in urban areas will avoid the use of greenfield and the loss of farmland. It has the benefit of using existing infrastructure—particularly, again, in London, where there is capacity in both the school and transport systems—and home owners needing extra space could do so without the disruption and difficulty of moving, enabling growing families to remain in their homes and communities.

I believe that there is a role for making modest extensions that do not interfere unduly with neighbouring properties and that are easier to get through the planning system. Also, as we seek to improve the energy efficiency of our homes, we could simplify the process for solar, heat pumps and charging points. Like my noble friend Lady Coffey, I raise the conflict between the requirement for energy efficiency for housing from housing associations, and potentially for rental homes, and the planning restrictions on listed properties and those in conservation zones, for instance.

However, we must also consider the potential serious impact on neighbours. It is easy to imagine how a six-metre extension to a terraced home could materially impact its neighbours. I also need to be consistent with my previous work in this area. As a councillor, I worked with colleagues in local government, when householder permitted development was previously extended, to ensure that a light-touch prior approval regime was set up so that this did not unduly impact neighbours. I continue to support this for some of the larger householder permitted developments.

We also need to look at the building control regime. If we are to make the planning process easier, we become more reliant on building control to enforce quality development. Building control does not cover all aspects —the classic cases being spaces for bins and parking—so there will need to be a review of building control.

I believe that there is scope to look at householder permitted development, particularly in urban areas, as a step to addressing the UK’s housing crisis, but this must be balanced with the impact on neighbours and the wider community. The Bill makes some helpful proposals to deliver more accommodation in our much-pressed housing market, but it will need further work on the details to avoid unintended consequences.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as set out in the register, particularly being a councillor in Central Bedfordshire. As a fellow north-easterner, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Wilson of Sedgefield, on his excellent maiden speech, and also on his mother’s impending 100th birthday. I also congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Brown of Silvertown, on her passionate maiden speech. I share her concerns for children. I also thank the Minister for the time that she has given noble Lords to explain the Bill. I thank the many groups and people who have written to us and sent us submissions on the Bill.

We all want everyone to have a safe, secure and affordable home. The question is whether this Bill will deliver this or whether it risks undermining a key housing sector to the detriment of landlords and tenants alike. The Minister has argued that the Government have no choice but to introduce this Bill to reform the private rented sector. However, this assertion does not hold up under scrutiny.

While the Renters (Reform) Bill was originally conceived by the previous Conservative Government to address long-standing issues in the private rented sector, in its current form the Bill risks doing more harm than good. Comparing this Bill with its predecessor, the Renters (Reform) Bill in 2023-24, we see some striking differences. The changes proposed by the current Government threaten to destabilise the private rented sector. This is a sector that has seen remarkable growth in recent years, now housing nearly 19% of all households —some 4.6 million people.

Rather than providing the stability renters need, this Bill risks exacerbating the very problems it seeks to resolve. According to Scotland's Housing Network, 16% of landlords are scaling back their supply, and 12% are considering leaving the sector altogether. Scotland shows that the overregulation proposed here has pushed landlords out of the market, reducing housing supply and leaving renters in a worse position, with the highest rent increases in the UK. While these reforms are meant to protect tenants, they threaten to leave them with fewer choices and higher costs.

The Renters’ Rights Bill has been said by many in this Chamber—including the noble Lords, Lord Best, Lord Thurlow and Lord Truscott—to risk introducing a series of provisions that are set to significantly disrupt the private rented sector. It is a well-established fact that private landlords, when faced with increased regulation, often choose to exit the market. This is not just speculation: research from the National Residential Landlords Association in 2023 revealed that one in four landlords were considering selling at least one of their properties due to increased regulation, with many citing the Renters (Reform) Bill as a major factor. According to the English Private Landlord Survey 2024, 31% of landlords planned to decrease the number of properties or sell them altogether, compared to 16% in 2018.

Get Living, a significant player in the build-to-rent sector, has expressed serious concerns about how these changes could undermine long-term investment in rental homes. Savills, Hamptons, Zoopla and others warn that the provisions in the Bill could exacerbate the housing crisis. This is a concerning trend that will directly impact housing availability. As more landlords leave the market, there will be fewer rental homes, and it will be tenants who feel the effects of this most acutely. Moreover, by reducing investment in the rental sector, these reforms could also undermine the Government’s targets for housebuilding.

The previous Conservative Government worked hard to increase housing stock, delivering 2.5 million homes between 2010 and 2024, with 1 million of these delivered during the last Parliament. If the proposed changes in this Bill push landlords out of the market, it will risk reversing the progress on housing delivery.

Further data from Oxford Economics paints a grim picture: only one in eight renters can afford to purchase a home in their area. For many, the private rented sector is the only viable option, but these new regulations are forcing landlords to sell their properties, tightening an already overstretched market. Will the Minister explain why this Bill seems to accelerate the exodus of landlords from the market? What steps do the Government intend to take to reverse this damaging trend?

An issue that has been raised by many noble Lords is Section 21 and its impact on the courts system. I was particularly struck by the words of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, and the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull. The previous Conservative Government were clear in their approach: any abolition of Section 21 would come only after significant reform of HM Courts & Tribunals Service. This would have ensured that the court system was ready and able to process cases efficiently and fairly. Unfortunately, the Bill abandons that commitment, rushing forward with the abolition of Section 21 without first addressing the ongoing strain in our courts.

Our court system is already under immense strain. Landlords are facing significant delays when seeking possession of a property, and these delays would only worsen with the proposed changes to Section 21. The First-tier Tribunal is already overwhelmed with challenges related to rent increases; currently, it can take up to 10 weeks for the tribunal to make a decision. Introducing additional cases to this already overburdened system risks further delays, which would ultimately harm both tenants and landlords alike.

Moreover, the legislation includes provisions enabling tenants to challenge rent increases more easily. While the right to challenge unjust rent hikes is important, the process outlined in the Bill could overwhelm our already stretched court system. As highlighted by my noble friends Lady Eaton and Lord Northbrook, a system that allows all rent increases to be appealed with no downside risks flooding the court system. How will the First-tier Tribunal manage the added burden of rent appeals, when it is already struggling with its current case load?

The abolition of Section 21 repossessions means that responsible landlords will be forced to rely on the courts to process legitimate possession cases. However, as the Housing Minister himself admitted in the Bill Committee in the other place, the UK court system is “on its knees”. While the Minister correctly argues that “court readiness” is essential to the successful operation of the new system, which I assume refers to the abolition of Section 21 and the resulting shift in the equilibrium of the renters’ market, His Majesty’s Government have yet to clarify what “court readiness” truly means in practical terms. What resources will be allocated to ensure that the courts are properly equipped for these reforms? The Law Society has rightly warned that

“without investment in housing legal aid and the courts, the Bill will not achieve its aims”.

Student lets have been raised by many noble Lords. The Bill exempts purpose-built student accommodation from the requirement to end fixed-term tenancies, a provision that we agree with. However, this exemption will not apply to other forms of student accommodation, such as private rental properties where second- and third-year undergraduate students typically reside. This Government have abandoned our commitment to sufficiently carve out student accommodation, where it is essential that both landlords and tenants have the certainty of fixed-term contracts to plan for subsequent years. What about master’s and PhD students, who often require longer-term accommodation, typically in smaller, privately rented properties? According to data from accommodationforstudents.com, one- and two-bedroom properties make up one-third of all student housing. The provisions for purpose-built student accommodation should be extended to include all student properties, ensuring the smooth operation of the entire student housing market and protecting the annual cycle of student rentals.

In conclusion, the need for more homes in the private rented sector is urgent. Savills estimates that, by 2031, we will need as many as 1 million additional homes for private rent to keep up with rising demand. How, then, can we afford to risk policies that may drive landlords out of the market and make this shortage even worse? As the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, said, how do we strike the right balance between protecting tenants and maintaining a healthy rental market that supports investment and meets the needs of renters across the country? It is crucial that the Government listen to the voices of landlords, housing experts and tenants who have raised concerns about the impact of the Bill, and we intend to table amendments that address some of the most pressing concerns. Ultimately, we must ensure that the policies we put in place strengthen, not weaken, the system that provides homes for renters, while also supporting landlords, who are crucial to meeting the nation’s housing needs. The future of our rental market depends on striking that balance.

Council Tax

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Monday 3rd February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The social care precept was introduced by the previous Government. There is an increase in demand for social care in our demographic, and that has to be funded. The Government continue to keep under review how adult social care is paid for. At the moment, it is paid for by an additional precept on council tax for those who need social care. It is very important that we continue to support people in our communities who need it, and I am sure the noble Baroness would want us to continue to do that.

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, under the Liberal Democrat administration, Windsor and Maidenhead Council’s financial discipline has collapsed. The council is now seeking to impose a 25% council tax hike on residents. Does the Minister agree that local residents are paying the price of Liberal Democrat councillors failing to maintain financial discipline?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

When I hear the party opposite criticising Labour and Liberal Democrat local councils, whose main financial problem was the economic mismanagement of the previous Government, they ought to have another think about who they are attacking.

Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 29th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, I also pass on my condolences to the noble Lord, Lord Khan of Burnley, and his family.

While I understand the strategy of switching the burden from bricks and mortar retailers to internet retailers to support our high streets, I think this is far too blunt an instrument. I agree with my noble friend Lady Scott of Bybrook that increasing NNDR on large businesses risks damaging some of our key high street retailers, particularly anchor stores, high street cinemas and leisure, that help drive footfall. However, I would like to speak about the wider impact on growth of these measures.

This morning, the Chancellor talked about the Oxford- Cambridge arc as Europe’s Silicon Valley. I declare my interest as a councillor and former leader in central Bedfordshire, which is at the centre of that arc. I agree with the Chancellor about the potential of the arc to support economic growth and improve jobs, but this needs to be nurtured and not taxed. In central Bedfordshire, we have many world-class businesses, such as Lockheed Martin, Millbrook Proving Ground, MBDA, Nissan and Cranfield University—not to mention the potential of Universal Studios coming to our area. All of them will see significant increases in their NNDR.

As a councillor, I worked hard to support the growth of these and other businesses, yet in the past few weeks, talking to local businesses, they have made clear to me the headwinds that they are facing from national insurance increases, employment rights and changes to minimum wages, which have led them to review some of their growth plans. A potential 20% increase in NNDR risks being yet another nail in the coffin of growth, not only in central Bedfordshire—I use that as an example—but across the country.

One of the many attractions of Bedfordshire for international companies and their international staff is the excellent Bedford Harpur Trust schools, notably as they provide the international baccalaureate. Yet, here again, we see the impact of government policies of charging VAT and increases in national insurance and, now, NNDR—to that I will add the pension issues raised by my noble friends—making this option much less attractive for those businesses and their employees.

We have also previously raised the important role private schools provide for those with SEND. Just this morning, I had a council leader raise with me the issue of a parent who had sent their child to a private school and now, with the additional cost of VAT, they are seeking an EHCP so that that burden will now fall on the local council to pay the fees. Again, adding NNDR will only exacerbate this trend.

Finally, I want to touch on the hospitality and leisure sector, which will lose its discounts this year. While many small businesses will benefit from the proposed NNDR changes, larger local businesses such as Center Parcs and Woburn tell me that they will face the double whammy on NNDR, in addition to the impact of national insurance, extension of worker rights and minimum wage increases—yet more headwinds to growth. This is a Government who are focused on growth yet they seem to think more about taxing growth.

As I said earlier, this is too blunt an instrument. There is no clarity on the business rate multipliers and two little information on the impact. I ask the Minister whether the Government will commit that there will be no net negative impact on council finances from these measures and what the impact of the measures will be on high street businesses, businesses in general, jobs and economic growth.

Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority Regulations 2024

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con)]

My Lords, I have spoken on many subjects in Grand Committee in this Room, and this is the first time that I have spoken on local government. In fact, there is a much better qualified inhabitant of Lincolnshire to speak on this subject—the noble Lord, Lord Porter of Spalding—but he must be away because I phoned him up at the weekend to check whether he was able to do this. However, I feel I should speak on this order because local government is, to my mind, perhaps the most important institution that affects people’s day-to-day lives. Governments talk about the big issues, but delivery of much of the Government’s policy is through local authorities, and it is very important that we get the balance of this right.

I speak as somebody who lives in an area of the countryside that is part of a small market town. I was born in Holbeach and I live in Holbeach—I live in the house that I was brought up in—so I have not moved very far, and the world has sort of moved around me, if noble Lords see what I mean. But I can see the change in local government from even when I was a boy in Holland County Council. Lincolnshire was divided into three parts, with the city, and it seemed to work because there was local interaction between citizens and the local authority. I am not talking about the councillors, but the staff of those councils were responsive to people making contact with them and telling them that there was a pothole in the road. Sure enough, somebody would come along and fix it. It was much more immediate.

There is an interesting thing in Peterborough station. An electrical board has been out of action since Christmas. The central heating in the waiting room has been out of action since that time, and there is a door that was working well before Christmas but is now closed. Fortunately, the door that was not working well before Christmas is now open. When I mention this to people, they all say, “Oh, well, it’s been reported”. How often that happens in life. If we can make local authorities really responsive to people’s convenience, we will do so much better.

I am speaking on this because Lincolnshire is a big county, and I am looking ahead at what will happen when we devolve government powers to the mayor and the mayoral authority, which is very good indeed—at least there is a bit of local knowledge there to help local government to apportion resources. But I represent a particular part that is quite removed from the Humberside end of the county. We are still very much one county. I was president of the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society and am proud to belong to it. I am proud to be a Lincolnshire horticulturalist and farmer, along with so many people in that most productive corner of the country.

I am also pleased to hear that the Humberside authorities are thinking of uniting together as a district of their own. If we are going to have three units in Lincolnshire, we will have to look at the numbers because, at the moment, I am told that 500,000 is the sort of population figure that the Government are thinking of. I hope the Government will be elastic in this area, if only to make sure that there is some sort of general practical application of boundaries to the new district authorities.

I mentioned the noble Lord, Lord Porter of Spalding. He was instrumental in setting up the confederation of East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland, where he and I come from. They have shared senior staff members of councils, co-ordinated activity and shared specialisms. We all know that a lot of the service in local government is quite specialised; if you are going to get good people, you have to pay reasonable salaries, and they are best shared if that can be done.

I hope that any new arrangement for Lincolnshire will have the north, including the Humberside, the west, including the city of Lincoln, the east and the North Sea coast, which will carry the electricity. We were talking briefly about energy beforehand, though I came in halfway through; we know that the power links to the North Sea come ashore in Lincolnshire, to be distributed through the eastern part of the county. It is also the home of the food valley, which stretches from Grimsby right down to Peterborough, the A1 and the road system that is the artery of the eastern part of the county. There is seafood transported from Grimsby and there is the production and distribution of the country’s vegetables and flowers—bulbs, to mention my own interest. We also have centres in the eastern part of the county, so getting communications right and enabling them through a combined vision of what the area represents economically is most important.

The Government are avowedly keen on growth. I support them in that venture. I hope that they set up a local government structure that encourages growth, where soil types and economic potential recommend themselves. In my view, that is how the authorities might develop in future. Surprising to say, I support this measure, as it is a good development. Local government can be reformed, but I hope that it will be in a way that brings it closer rather than further away, as much of the trend was before the last Government introduced the Act.

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, I am a Central Bedfordshire councillor and therefore have some interest in this, although not in these particular SIs. I echo the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, about the importance of local government. Most residents see local government services on a daily basis, not central government services. I also echo his comments and those of the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, about the unique nature of all our local areas and, therefore, how much better it is for them to be run locally, in so far as is possible, rather than centrally. In that spirit, these regulations build on the work of the previous Conservative Government; we support this important devolutionary shift, but it is also important to go further.

However, before that, I want to assess some of the proposed changes. First, on the Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority Regulations—I shall say “combined authority” for brevity—that deal was signed in January 2024 by the previous Conservative Government, Devon County Council and Torbay Council to provide powers and funding to the new combined authority to

“improve the economic, social and environmental well-being”

of people in the community, as well as to devolve further powers locally and provide wider flexibility for local action.

The Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority, formed by Lincolnshire County Council, North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council, will have authority over transport, housing and regeneration functions in the region. It will be tasked with transport planning, local transport services and highways maintenance, with a mayor due to be elected in May 2025.

I turn to the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority, which comprises Hull City Council and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and, again, will be overseen by a directly elected mayor. The mayor will govern and drive strategic development across the region, including in areas such as transport, housing and regeneration. Additionally, the mayor will have the authority to levy taxes, such as a precept or business rate supplement, to fund those projects.

Local Government: Funding

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

As the noble Earl said, arts and leisure services took an absolute bashing as local government funding was successively cut over recent years. The purpose of devolution is to put control for that back into local hands and to make sure that more of the money spent in Westminster gets spent in the local areas to protect the services that people really care about and feel are important to them. I hope that will include those key leisure, arts and cultural services that make life around this country so rich and wonderful.

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, I associate these Benches with the noble Baroness’s comments earlier.

I refer to my interests as a central Bedfordshire councillor. A recent survey published by Southwark Council revealed that 61% of councils have already cancelled, paused or delayed housebuilding projects and more than one-third have cut back on repairs and maintenance of council homes due to pressures on their housing budgets. In light of this and given the Government’s ambitions for housebuilding, will the Minister tell the House how this Government will support councils to build?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I have to say that it is very difficult to take lessons from the Benches opposite about local government funding, particularly in relation to council house building. The noble Lord will be well aware of the steps we have already taken to increase overall funding for local government but also that we have taken big steps to alter right to buy so that local authorities can keep 100% of the receipts they get from right-to-buy properties. We are changing the position on new properties built by local councils so they do not have to sell them at less than they built them for. We are fixing the foundations of a very broken system that we inherited from 14 years of the noble Lord’s Government.

Community Engagement Principles and Extremism Definition

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that, in addition to reviewing the definition of extremist organisations and the community engagement strategy, we should also review the wider communication policy regarding acts of extreme violence and terror to maintain an open dialogue with the general public and prevent the spread of misinformation?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Lord Khan of Burnley) (Lab)]

My Lords, let me first of all say that national security will always come first for this Government, and we will always treat the threat of extremism with the seriousness that it requires. The noble Lord makes an interesting point. I confirm to the House that the Government take the threat of extremism very seriously and will continue to work with partners to tackle extremism in all parts and forms. That is why the Home Secretary commissioned a rapid review of extremism in 2024. The Government will set out their approach to countering extremism in due course and will update Parliament accordingly. I am sure that many of the issues that the noble Lord raised will be part of that review.

Homelessness

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Lord is quite right in what he says. He will know that we have set a target of building 1.5 million homes over the course of the Parliament, which in the long term is the answer to tackling this issue. In the short term, we need to tackle the issue of many children spending years in temporary accommodation, when they need space to play and develop, at the same time increasing the funding to tackle the long-term causes of homelessness and poverty, which, as he rightly says, sit at the heart of this. The Renters’ Rights Bill, which is coming before this House very shortly, will tackle some of the causes of homelessness.

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as a councillor in Central Bedfordshire. As the Minister has identified, the primary cause of homelessness is a lack of homes. London has nearly 70,000 families living in temporary accommodation—over half the total in England. Of those, almost half—33,000—live out-of-borough compared with one in seven for the rest of the country. Does the Minister agree that this is largely down to London having failed to build the homes that its residents need? What will this Government do to get London building?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Lord will be aware that new targets have been set for building homes across the country, and in London no less. Local authorities use out-of-area placements to provide temporary accommodation, as he rightly mentioned. We are enabling more funding to go into London so that we can reduce the level of temporary homelessness accommodation. However, the long-term solution is to get more houses built, which is why we have increased the housebuilding target for London.

Local Government Reorganisation

Lord Jamieson Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The intention is that this will help with the delivery of both growth and new homes. The intention, as set out quite clearly in the White Paper, is for mayors to have powers over strategic planning—not the local planning that local authorities currently do—so that they can work with the constituent councils in their areas to set out plans for housing. The noble Lord referred to issues of planning. We have put in a significant sum of money to improve the capacity for planning authorities as we take forward the programme of delivering 1.5 million homes.

[Lord Jamieson (Con)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a councillor in Central Bedfordshire Council. On Monday, in Grand Committee, the Minister stated that

“we move into a picture where we have all unitary authorities”.—[Official Report, 13/1/25; col. GC 200.]

Can she confirm that it is the Government’s intention to oblige all county and district areas to unitise?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The process of local government reorganisation will do that. We want to move at a pace that is right for the local authorities concerned. That is why we have set out a four-track approach, depending on where people are with their readiness to go forward. We believe that unitary councils can lead to better outcomes for residents, save significant money which can be reinvested in public services, and improve accountability, enabling politicians to focus on delivering for their residents. Generally speaking, as I said earlier, residents do not care about structures; they just want good public services, delivered at value for money.