Eric Pickles
Eric Jack Pickles, Baron Pickles,PC(born 20 April 1952) is a BritishConservative Partypolitician who served asMember of Parliament(MP) forBrentwood and Ongarfrom1992to2017.He served inDavid Cameron'sCabinetasSecretary of State for Communities and Local Governmentfrom 2010 to 2015.[2]He previously served asChairman of the Conservative Partyfrom 2009 to 2010 and was later the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion from 2015 to 2017.
Pickles was appointed theUK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issuesin 2015.[3]He stood down as an MP at the2017 general election,but continued in his role as Special Envoy under Prime MinistersTheresa May,Boris Johnson,Liz TrussandRishi Sunak.He is the chairman ofConservative Friends of Israelin theHouse of Lordsas of 2023.[4][5]
Early life
[edit]Eric Jack Pickles was born on 20 April 1952, the son of Jack and Constance Pickles.[6]Born inKeighley,West Riding of Yorkshire,he attended Greenhead Grammar School (nowCarlton Keighley) and then studied atLeeds Polytechnic.He was born into aLabour-supporting family – his great-grandfather was one of the founders of theIndependent Labour Party,and Pickles described himself as "massively inclined" towards communism as a boy.[7]
Young Conservatives
[edit]After theSoviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia,he joined the local Keighley Branch of the Young Conservatives in 1968, later commenting "I joined because of the invasion of Czechoslovakia. I was so shocked by the tanks. It was not the best way of fighting Brezhnev, but it made me feel better".[8][9]
Pickles soon became the chairman of the localYoung Conservativesassociation.[9]During his time in the Young Conservatives he became a member of the Joint Committee Against Racism from 1982 to 1987 and later became its chairman.[10] His period as national Young Conservative chairman saw growing factionalism with challenges from a southern-based right wing to Pickles' moderate leadership.[8]Pickles also moved against right-wingers in Bradford, expelling the Young Conservative, Yorkshire Chairman of the Monday Club who had stood for the Bradford Wyke Ward on an anti-immigrant platform from the Bradford area constituencies.[8][11][12][13]
Bradford councillor
[edit]Pickles was first elected toBradford Councilin 1979, representing the Worth Valley ward.[9]From 1982 to 1984, he chaired that Council's Social Services Committee, and then, from 1984 to 1986, he chaired the Education Committee.[14]Between 1988 and 1990, he served as leader of the Conservative group on the council. In September 1988 the Conservative Party gained control by using the Conservative mayor's casting vote to become the only inner-city council to be controlled by the Conservatives.[citation needed]
When Bradford Council was hung, Pickles opted to break the agreement that the position of Lord Mayor is rotated between the parties, when he put a Conservative mayor in place again.[15]This effectively gave the Conservatives a majority due to the Lord Mayor's casting vote. To do this, they also broke the tradition that the Lord Mayor kept the status quo.
Whilst at Bradford, Pickles announced a five-year plan to cut the council's budget by £50m, reduce the workforce by a third, privatise services and undertake council departmental restructures, many of which proved controversial.[15]A book,The Pickles Papers,by Tony Grogan, was written about this period in Pickles' life.[8]
Parliamentary career
[edit]Pickles was elected as Member of Parliament forBrentwood and Ongarin 1992.[citation needed]
At the2001 general election,theindependent politicianMartin Bell,who had been the MP forTatton,having run a campaign of "anti-sleaze", stood against Pickles, due to accusations that thePeniel Pentecostal Churchhad infiltrated the local Conservative branch.[16]Pickles's vote was reduced from 45.4% to 38%, but he retained his seat by a margin of 2,821 votes (6.5%) becoming elected with 38% of the votes against Bell's 31.5%.
Pickles served as ShadowMinister for Transportand ShadowMinister for Londonfrom September 2001 to June 2002, then as Shadow Minister forLocal Governmentfrom June 2002.[citation needed]
At the2005 general electionPickles held his seat with 53.5% of the votes and an increased majority of 11,612 (26.3%), nearly as many as the number of votes for the second-placed candidate, making this the second-safest Conservative seat in Eastern England, with Pickles taking the third-highest share of the vote cast in the region.[17]
On 2 July 2007,David Cameronappointed Pickles to a reshuffledShadow Cabinetas shadowSecretary of State for Communities and Local Government.On 30 December 2008, according to reports inThe Times,Pickles unveiled plans to "purge town hall 'fat cats'".The Timesreported that under the plans "dozens of council chiefs who earn more than Cabinet ministers would lose their jobs as clusters of councils merged their frontline services and backroom operations to provide better value for money."[18]Of the eight highest-earning chief executives listed inThe Times'report, six were employed by councils run by the Conservative party, one by Labour and one by the Liberal Democrats.[citation needed]
Pickles was the campaign manager for the successfulCrewe and Nantwich by-electionin May 2008. Following this, he was promoted toChairman of the Conservative Party,a post he held from January 2009 to May 2010.[citation needed]
In early 2010, Prime MinisterGordon Brownoutlined plans to reform the voting system in the United Kingdom. Pickles defended thefirst-past-the-postsystem as resulting in stable government and attacked Brown, claiming he "now wants to fiddle the electoral system" by wanting to change the voting system.[19]
Pickles was theSecretary of State for Communities and Local Governmentin the coalition government headed by Prime MinisterDavid Cameronfrom 12 May 2010 to May 2015.[citation needed]
Although a formerEurosceptic,[20]in January 2016 Pickles became a founding member of the group Conservatives For Reform In Europe, a campaign to remain in theEuropean Unionon the basis that the EU would be reformed by thenegotiationsthen being led by Prime Minister David Cameron.[21]
In April 2017, Pickles announced he would not stand at the general election the following month.[22]Later that year, he was appointed chairman of the journalParliamentary Review.[23]
Speaking live to GB News on 4 October 2022, Pickles stated that he had attended his 52nd consecutive Conservative Party Annual Conference that year.[citation needed]
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
[edit]Pickles was appointed asSecretary of State for Communities and Local Governmentas part of David Cameron's new coalition Government on 12 May 2010,[24]and sworn as aPrivy Counselloron 13 May 2010.[25]
In his role as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 30 July 2010, Pickles announced plans to hand powers where ministers can cap what they deem to be unreasonable increases in council taxes to local people. A consultation began in August 2010 and the powers, which will require legislation, should be in force by March 2012.[needs update]Pickles said he was determined to reverse the presumption that Whitehall knows best by making local councils directly accountable to the local taxpayer. He said: "If councils want to increase council tax further, they will have to prove the case to the electorate. Let the people decide". Residents would be asked to choose between accepting the rise or rejecting it and instead accepting a below inflation rise, but with reduced council services. The average council tax on a Band D property increased from £688 a year in 1997/98 to £1,439 for 2010.[26]
In August 2010 Pickles unexpectedly announced the closure of the Audit Commission for England and Wales. The commission had overseen the appointment of independent external auditors for local authorities, and supported audit work to ensure value for money and the certification of Councils' financial accounts. Closure took until March 2015. Commentators questioned whether Whitehall would struggle to check whether council services and finances were about to fall over, particularly when money was channelled through public / private companies.[27]In the aftermath of a series of major financial crises at local authorities such as Woking Borough Council and Thurrock, identified from 2021, senior figures in local government finance identified the critical need to reinstate functions formerly discharged by the Audit Commission and for a strong system leader to oversee councils and local audit.[28][29][30]
Pickles is a figure who does not shun controversy. InThe Observer,Will Huttonappraised his role with regard to local government as follows: "Local government minister Eric Pickles has colluded cheerfully with George Osborne to knock local government back to being no more than rat catchers and managers of street lighting. Indeed, they scarcely give them the funds to carry out these activities".[31]
In December 2014, asked in Parliament if people who left their wheelie bins in the street after a collection should be punished, he said they should beflogged-though he also said flogging was too good for them and that leaving the bin in the middle of the road was poor behaviour.[32]
TheRotherham child sexual exploitation scandalwas unearthed during Pickles' tenure, and in February 2015 he announced a strategy to implement commissioners atRotherham Councilin the wake of theCasey Report,which had been commissioned in 2014 to investigate child sex abuse in Rotherham. Seven councillors resigned as a result of the damning report, which revealed that the local authority was "wholly dysfunctional" and that the failure to protect 1,400 girls from sexual abuse was a result of "complacency, institutionalised political correctness" and "blatant failures of political and officer leadership".[33]
Localism Act
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Eric_Pickles%2C_October_2009_3.jpg/220px-Eric_Pickles%2C_October_2009_3.jpg)
Pickles was responsible for theLocalism Act 2011that changed the powers oflocal government in England.The measures affected by the Act include moreelected mayorsandreferendums.The Localism Act opens with Part 1, Chapter 1(1), under the heading "Local authority's general power of competence","A local council has power to do anything that individuals generally may do".[34]
The bill was introduced by Pickles, and given itsfirst readingon 13 December 2010. The Bill completed the third reading in the House of Lords on 31 October 2011.[35]The bill receivedroyal assenton 15 November 2011.
The bill was quickly undermined, however, after it was published on 13 December. One of the claims made for it is that it would "give local communities real control over housing and planning decisions", but on the same day, Pickles issued a decision in a planning appeal. The National Grid had applied to Tewkesbury Borough Council to build a gas plant just outside Tirley inGloucestershire.The installation would occupy more than 16 acres and the application had been opposed by more than 1,000 residents in a sparsely populated rural area, by 12 parish councils and by every member of the planning committee of the local planning authority. Rejecting the local opposition, Pickles chose to grant permission to build the gas plant.[36]
In April 2014,South Norfolk MPRichard Baconwelcomed the decision that Pickles and theDCLGwould have final say over the building of wind turbines.[37]By June 2014, Pickles had intervened on 12 windfarm projects and rejected 10 of them, against the recommendations from planning inspectors,[38]rising to 50 rejections by October 2014.[39]
Council prayers
[edit]On 10 February 2012, theNational Secular Societyobtained aHigh Courtjudicial review ofChristian prayersheld as part of formallocal councilmeetings, which councillors disagreeing with the practice had to attend if not wishing to walk out discourteously. Mr Justice Ouseley ruled: "The saying of prayers as part of the formal meeting of a Council is not lawful under s. 111 of theLocal Government Act 1972,and there is no statutory power permitting the practice to continue. I do not think the 1972 Act should be interpreted as permitting the religious views of one group of councillors, however sincere or large in number, to exclude, or even to a modest extent, to impose burdens on or even to mark out those who do not share their views and do not wish to participate in their expression of them. They are all equally elected councillors ".[40]Prayers were permitted to be held before the start of the formal agenda.
Eric Pickles vowed to reverse the High Court decision, despite aYouGovpoll which found that 55% of people were against councils holding prayers, and 26% in favour.[41]Eric Pickles brought forward hisLocalism Act,due to become law in April 2012, and made it law on 17 February 2012, saying that he was 'effectively reversing' the High Court decision.[42]
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, commented "A number of senior lawyers have expressed doubt whether the Localism Act will, as Mr Pickles hopes, make prayers lawful, and the Act was clearly not passed with that express intention. His powers to pass legislation are not, as he implies, untrammelled. Council prayers increasingly look set to become a battle between the Government and the courts at ever higher levels".[43]The Localism Act states that "a local authority has power to do anything that individuals generally may do". Eric Pickles wrote to faith leaders, local authority leaders, and the Society of Local Council Clerks, and telling parish councils "Once the power is in place, eligible parish councils will be able to include prayers as part of their formal business".[44]In April 2013, referring to the issue of prayers in council meetings, Pickles said in a speech at the Conservative Spring Forum that "militant atheists" should accept that Britain is a Christian country.[45]In 2015 theLocal Government (Religious Observances) Act,which was welcomed by Pickles, authorised councils to hold prayers at the start of sessions.[46]
Troubled Families
[edit]Pickles led theTroubled FamiliesProgramme designed to turn around 120,000 dysfunctional families responsible, at a cost of around £400 million.[47]According to David Cameron, these families were responsible for 'a large proportion of the problems in society'. The families were selected for having 5 of 7 measures of social and economic deprivation. Pickles claimed repeatedly that these families cost the state £9 billion per annum. In March 2015 Pickles declared the programme a 'triumph' in the House of Commons after it allegedly 'turned around' 105,600 families of 117,910 processed and saved £1.2 billion per annum. £1.2 billion per annum was a hypothetical number based on assumptions that alleged improvements in behaviour would be sustained and depended on removing the high costs associated with disabled children and chronically sick, unemployed adults.[48]
The Evaluation by theNational Institute for Economic and Social Researchwas published on 17 October 2016. The report found that there had been "no significant impact" of the scheme.[49]A press release from NIESR stated, "we were unable to find consistent evidence that the programme had any significant or systematic impact".[50]The Times reported the following day, "the report was published quietly last night after complaints from Whitehall insiders that it was being suppressed".[51]
ThePublic Accounts Committeepublished its report on 19 December 2016. They concluded that the delay in publication had been unacceptable, that DCLG had failed to demonstrate that the programme had any significant impact and that the terminology of saying that the families had been "turned around" was misleading given that many of the families had continuing problems after a result had been claimed.[52][53]The PAC chairwoman,Meg Hillier,commented that the report was "far more serious" than "a slap on the wrist" for ministers.[54]
Flooding of the Somerset Levels
[edit]From December 2013 onwards theSomerset Levelssuffered severe flooding as part of the wider2013-2014 Atlantic winter storms in Europeand subsequent2013–2014 United Kingdom winter floods.
There were public calls for the rivers Parrett and Tone, in particular, to be dredged. The Environment Agency was blamed for not having dredged the major river channels of the Levels. The Environment Agency and others pointed out that it would be more effective to spend money on delaying floodwaters upstream, and that increasing the capacity of rivers bydredgingwould be of no significant use; the Environment Secretary defended the Agency.[55]Roger Falconer, Professor of Water Management at Cardiff University, and other hydrologists made clear that dredging did not offer a useful solution to flooding on the Somerset Levels.[56]
On 7 February, the Environment Secretary needed an urgent operation and handed over the flood management to Eric Pickles.[57]Pickles then appeared onThe Andrew Marr Showand apologised "unreservedly" for not dredging the Somerset Levels and said that "the government may have relied too much on the advice" of the Environment Agency.[58]The head of the Environment Agency Lord Chris Smith rejected the criticism of his organisation.[59]The Environment Secretary protested in the strongest possible terms to the Prime Minister about Pickles' "grandstanding".[60]
Flags
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Eric_Pickles_and_Russell_Grant.jpg/220px-Eric_Pickles_and_Russell_Grant.jpg)
A self-proclaimedflag enthusiast,[61]Pickles took a personal interest in ensuring that English county flags be regularly flown from the Department for Communities and Local Government.[62][63]He has urged more people to fly theEnglish flagonSaint George's Dayand encouraged public bodies to adopt a common-sense approach to flying the flag.[64]At theFlag Institute's spring meeting in May 2011, he announced a consultation aimed at "making it easier for people to celebrate an identity or an organisation that means something to them".[61]
Second home
[edit]On 26 March 2009, Pickles appeared on the political debate programmeQuestion TimeinNewcastle.While discussing the controversy overTony McNulty(who had recently admitted claiming expenses on a second home, occupied by his parents, only 8 miles away from his primary residence), Pickles admitted he claimed a second home allowance because he lived 37 miles fromWestminsterand needed to leave his constituency house in Brentwood at 5.30 am to get to Westminster for 9.30 am,[65][66]given that he tended to get home at midnight or 1 am, although the standard time for commuters from this region is usually ninety minutes.[67]He went on to say that it was "no fun" commuting into London from where he lived. In response to Pickles's comments that he "had to be there [the House of Commons] on time",Question TimehostDavid Dimbleby,replied "Like a job, in other words?" and fellow panellistCaroline Lucasadded 'welcome to the real world', both of which prompted amusement and applause amongst the audience.
Pickles was asked to pay back £300 following the MP's expenses scandal, which he had claimed for cleaning.[68]
Grenfell Tower Inquiry controversy
[edit]On 7 April 2022, Pickles was giving evidence to theGrenfell Tower Inquirybased on his experience asSecretary of State for Housingfrom 2010 to 2015. He went on to challenge the inquiry not to waste his time while giving evidence,[69][70]before getting the death toll from the disaster wrong.[71]He later apologised, claiming he "misspoke".[72]
Personal life
[edit]Pickles married Irene Coates in 1976 inStaincliffe,a district of Batley in West Yorkshire.
Honours
[edit]- Eric Pickles was sworn in as a member ofHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Councilin 2010. This gave him theHonorific Prefix"The Right Honorable"and afterEnnoblementthePost Nominal Letters"PC" for Life.
- On 22 May 2015 it was announced that Pickles was to be appointed aKnight Bachelor.[73][74]
- He was nominated for aLife PeeragebyTheresa Mayon 18 May 2018.[75]On 18 June 2018 he was createdBaron Pickles,ofBrentwoodandOngarin theCounty of Essex.[76]He sits on theConservative Partybenches in theHouse of Lords.
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Styles
[edit]- Eric Pickles (1952–1992)
- Eric Pickles MP (1992–2010)
- The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP (2010–2015)
- The Rt Hon Sir Eric Pickles MP (2015–2017)
- The Rt Hon Sir Eric Pickles (2017–2018)
- The Rt Hon The Lord Pickles Kt PC (2018–present)[77]
Notes
[edit]- ^Office vacant between 11 May 2015 and 17 July 2016.
References
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- ^Hope, Christopher (30 July 2010)."Local people to get powers to veto excessive council tax rises, Eric Pickles to say today".The Daily Telegraph.London.Archivedfrom the original on 10 March 2011.Retrieved4 October2010.
- ^Walker, David (25 February 2015)."Eric Pickles was wrong: local government needs trained auditors".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved19 July2023.
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- ^Hutton, Will (1 September 2013)."Birmingham's last hurrah for local pride before civic Britain is culled".The Observer.London.Archivedfrom the original on 18 April 2015.Retrieved14 May2015.
- ^Hope, Christopher (16 December 2014)."'Flog' home owners who leave bins in road, says Eric Pickles ".The Daily Telegraph.London.Archivedfrom the original on 17 December 2014.Retrieved17 December2014.
- ^"Report of inspection of Rotherham metropolitan borough council – GOV.UK".gov.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 5 February 2015.Retrieved5 February2015.
- ^Pickles, Eric (13 December 2010)."Localism Act 2011".Archivedfrom the original on 25 June 2012.Retrieved9 April2012.
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- ^Bareham, Dominic (15 April 2014)."South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon welcomes turbine decision".Diss Mercury.Archivedfrom the original on 15 December 2014.Retrieved15 December2014.
- ^Malone, Charlotte (6 June 2014)."Eric Pickles rejects 10 out of 12 wind farm applications".Blue and Green Tomorrow.Archivedfrom the original on 9 October 2014.Retrieved28 October2014.
- ^Toynbee, Polly (28 October 2014)."This war on windfarms is the Tories' latest sop to Ukip".The Guardian.London.Archivedfrom the original on 28 October 2014.Retrieved28 October2014.
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- ^"Yougov poll on Council Prayers".National Secular Society. 19 February 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 22 February 2012.Retrieved20 February2012.
- ^"Councils win prayer 'rights' as Localism Act powers fast tracked, ministers say".BBC News.18 February 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 19 February 2012.Retrieved20 February2012.
- ^"Keith Porteous Wood".National Secular Society. 18 February 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 21 February 2012.Retrieved20 February2012.
- ^"Freedom to pray: links to advice to parish councils, and letters to leaders and clerks".Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. 20 February 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 5 April 2012.
- ^Dominiczak, Peter (6 April 2014)."Militant atheists should 'get over it' and accept UK is Christian".The Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on 11 October 2018.
- ^Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and Eric Pickles (27 March 2015)."Eric Pickles welcomes council prayers law".
- ^Cook, Chris (8 August 2016)."Troubled Families report 'suppressed'".BBC News.Archivedfrom the original on 11 August 2016.Retrieved12 August2016.
- ^Troubled Families, Green Man Books, 2015.ISBN978-1514170588
- ^Portes, J.; Bewley, H. (17 October 2016)."National Evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme – Final Synthesis Report".
- ^"NIESR Press Release – No evidence Troubled Families Programme had any significant impact on key objectives, NIESR evaluation finds".National Institute of Economic and Social Research.17 October 2016.
- ^Oliver Wright and Michael Savage (17 October 2016). "Cameron 'wasted £1bn on troubled families'".The Times.London. pp. 1–2.
- ^"House of Commons – Troubled families: progress review – Committee of Public Accounts".publications.parliament.uk.
- ^"Government misled public with 99% success rate claim on troubled families, say MPs".The Guardian.UK. 19 December 2016.Retrieved21 December2016.
- ^"Troubled families turnaround claim misleading, say MPs".BBC News.UK. 20 December 2016.Retrieved21 December2016.
- ^Mason, Rowena; Wintour, Patrick (10 February 2014)."UK floods: Cameron gives lukewarm backing to Environment Agency Boss".The Guardian.Retrieved10 February2014.
- ^"expert reaction to Somerset flooding | Science Media Centre".
- ^"MP Owen Paterson to have urgent operation on detached retina".BBC News.BBC. 6 February 2014.Archivedfrom the original on 6 February 2014.Retrieved11 February2014.
- ^"UK floods: Government 'made a mistake' by not dredging".BBC News.BBC. 9 February 2014.Retrieved9 February2014.
- ^Carrington, Damien (9 February 2014)."Ministers playing politics with floods, says Environment Agency chief".The Guardian.Retrieved11 February2014.
- ^Morris, Nigel (10 February 2014)."UK weather: Eric Pickles and Owen Paterson clash over the performance of the Environment Agency".The Independent.Retrieved11 February2014.
- ^ab"Eric Pickles' speech to the Flag Institute Spring Meeting, 14 May 2011".Archived fromthe originalon 31 July 2012.
- ^"Flying the flag for Middlesex".Hillingdon Times.Archivedfrom the original on 28 September 2011.Retrieved17 May2011.
- ^"Eric Pickles raises the Essex flag outside CLG".Flickr.13 September 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 5 February 2017.Retrieved18 January2017.
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- ^"MP: Long hours justify second home claim BBC 26 March 2009".BBC News.27 March 2009.Archivedfrom the original on 30 March 2009.Retrieved4 October2010.
- ^Martin, Iain (27 March 2009)."Tories should put Eric Pickles under house arrest".Daily Telegraph.London. Archived fromthe originalon 8 July 2012.Retrieved4 October2010.
- ^"Eric Pickles on Question Time – 1:35 on the video, 21 March 2009".Juryteam.org. 21 March 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 14 April 2010.Retrieved4 October2010.
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- ^"Eric Pickles to receive a knighthood".The Guardian.London. 22 May 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 26 May 2015.Retrieved26 May2015.
- ^"Knighthood conferred on Eric Pickles".Government of the United Kingdom.Retrieved12 January2022.
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Sources
[edit]- Grogan, Tony (1989).The Pickles Papers.Bradford: 1 in 12 Publications.ISBN0-948994-04-5.(free electronic edition, October 1996).
External links
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- Eric Pickles MPofficial constituency website
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- Contributor pageatThe Guardian
- Grogan, Tony (1989).The Pickles Papers.Bradford: 1 in 12 Publications.ISBN0-948994-04-5.(free electronic edition, October 1996).
- Eric Pickles newsat publicservice.co.uk
- Video: "Eric Pickles' War Room Briefing: The challenge facing us at the next election"onYouTube
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