Hilary Benn MP, Labour’s Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, commenting on reported comments by Stephen Williams MP, Minister for Local Government at the Liberal Democrat conference, said:

“Stephen Williams has thrown a flagship policy into chaos by admitting that the £1 billion New Homes Bonus is unfair and is not an incentive for house building or the giving of planning consent. Labour has already warned that all it does is give money to areas where homes would have been built anyway and takes it away from places in the greatest need.

“We are used to Lib Dems criticising their own government’s policies while voting for them, but it is extraordinary for a minister to comprehensively rubbish his own department’s approach.

“On planning, it’s an open secret that Nick Boles’ constant tinkering has not made him a favourite of many Tory MPs, but now we have this confirmed by his colleague.

“Ministers have consistently claimed that local councils can absorb funding reductions by simply making efficiency savings and Eric Pickles has called the cuts ‘modest’. Now Stephen Williams has admitted that some councils are facing ‘severe financial difficulty’ and questions about their ‘viability’.”