IT is just over four months since I sat in the famous Cabinet Room in Number 10 Downing Street and was invited to serve in Her Majesty’s Government by the Prime Minister.
It’s been a whirlwind four months and I’ve tackled a wide range of issues since I took up the role of the Minister for Local Government.
I barely had time to get to know my new team and colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government before immersing myself in the Local Government Finance Bill which determines how much money local councils receive from central government.
The mechanism by which my department works this out is very complicated – and, of course, everyone would like a larger slice of the pie – but I am pleased to say that at the end of the process I was able to secure a settlement which will mean a real term increase in councils’ spending power between 2015 and 2020.
The settlement also includes an extra £150m for adult social care, which in the main is delivered by local councils and is also part of my new responsibilities.
I have spoken before about the vital work of local councillors but my new job has underlined a really important point: it is the decisions made in town and county halls up and down the land which have the greatest impact on the nitty-gritty of people’s day-to-day lives.
And it is my job to make sure we give local government the powers to do its job as effectively and efficiently as possible.
For example, I recently introduced new legislation to Parliament which will allow councils across England to charge double the rate of Council Tax on homes left empty for years.
Whilst the number of homes empty for six months or longer remains substantially lower than when records began in 2004, councils will be handed powers to levy additional charges on homes standing empty for two years or more.
The move is one of a range of measures introduced by the government to fix the country’s dysfunctional housing market, and councils will be able to use funds from the premium to keep Council Tax levels down for working families.
We should never forget the important work that our parish councils do. Their work in local communities is vital and I know many in the Richmond constituency and around the country were fearful of what the new General Data Protection Regulation – which comes into force this week - would mean for organisations which because of their size have limited, if any, staff resources.
I am pleased to say following discussions with my Government colleagues, parish and community councils will receive an exemption from the more onerous requirements of the new data privacy regime.
My ministerial portfolio also includes the Government’s Troubled Families Programme which targets the most disadvantaged families with help to overcome a combination of problems such as worklessness, debt, truancy, drugs and poor health.
I will explain the work of the programme in more detail in a future column but I think the £1bn spent so far is a measure of this Government’s commitment to help people facing the most challenging circumstances.