Speeches by Reed.

“He has talked about taking more, that’s right, but he has not said specifically what areas yet. That would really be for him to decide and to outline.”

“I have said that, but I have not said what I think should happen instead.”

“We have made arrangements so that, on the day of the statement to Parliament—which the Speaker quite rightly demands Parliament to hear first—briefings and information will be available to MPs and council leaders.”

“No, we will be communicating with them directly.”

“I do think that we need a rolling programme of devolution that will eventually cover everywhere. That is right.”

“You will recognise—as I do, having been a local government leader myself—that councils went through over 15 years of underfunding. Not only that, but funding was never adjusted to meet the changing nature of our population. Populations move around. Poverty does not just remain in one place constantly; areas change, and…”

“Ultimately, the reason for doing this is that it drives economic growth in areas that have been held back artificially, in my case. That will generate more revenue for the Treasury over time. There is an investment up front, but there is a huge benefit further down the line.”

“I recognise the problem. I do not think it is “warm words” to adjust funding allocations in line with deprivation. That was the biggest change in 15 years; going from three out of 10 getting funding linked to deprivation to close on 10 out of 10 is a radical shift, and it moved money to areas that needed it. Notwithsta…”

“Absolutely; that is central to what the Government are doing. The fact that No.10 and the Prime Minister himself were so centrally involved in convening the taskforce—holding events in No.10, bringing partners in to discuss it—shows the importance the Government place on this. We were always aware that “Protecting What…”

“This is a rolling programme, and we should anticipate that it will continue to roll.”

“Some of that is a question for Departments other than mine, but I think that I have made my position very clear.”

“That is completely outside the remit of MHCLG.”

“It will not have any negative impact on getting the house building going.”

“We do need to look at how we both deepen devolution in the areas that have it and extend it to areas that do not have it.”

“It would be for the new Administration to take that decision, but there is no need for any delay in house building getting going. That is the key point.”

“Well, the Speaker announced in the Chamber yesterday that that would happen before recess, so that is correct, yes.”

“It is an accurate way of describing the funding that is available to a local authority. While, as a former council leader, I would have shared some of the thoughts that you just expressed, it is a fair way to look at the funding that is available to a council. Whatever views people may have about council tax, it is par…”

“Some of this will be for the incoming Government, but this is clearly a rolling programme of devolution, and we are making huge headway with it. At the LGA conference last week, there was some pushback on the pace at which this Government are going through local government reorganisation and devolution, but we cannot s…”

“We are always looking at how we can do things within the resources available. As well as mayoral strategic authorities, we have foundation strategic authorities, which are going at a slightly different pace. But the approach we have taken is to be very pragmatic and work with areas that are ready and equipped to take o…”

“Written communication to council leaders. There will also be opportunities for briefings and similar for MPs.”