Contributions
1,006 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD English DevolutionI pay tribute to leaders in Cumbria for the engagement that we have had with them; I recognise that they have just been through a local government reorganisation and that there…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThat is a good point. When we talk about important community assets, we see from an economic point of view that it is far better for them to be used and productive, but in the end…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThe forthcoming election for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will go ahead as planned. There is no proposal to change the boundary of what is currently a combined authority that…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThis was one of the reasons why we were so keen to complete the map of the north of England. Most would accept that strategic transport, certainly, crosses county boundaries. If…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionIn all things I try to be direct, and I have been direct in saying that if those councils that come to the Government with a request for reorganisation meet the test and have a…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionI will put the right hon. Gentleman down as undecided.16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionLocal government reorganisation is a statutory process, so it requires local areas to produce plans, as does devolution. Both are required to go to public consultation to solicit…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThat question was raised earlier, and I apologise for not addressing it. The Government will provide capacity to enable both devolution and local government reorganisation through…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThere were three types of programme on the transition to the new Government. The first were the legacy devolution agreements that were agreed under the previous Government but had…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionI thank Members in Cornwall and the leaders in Cornwall for the discussions that we have had. I know that devolution is an issue that is strongly felt, and that identity in…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThere is nothing in the White Paper that is about decrying the work that has gone before. In fact, there is a great deal that celebrates the work done by local government, such as…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionIn any local government reorganisation, there is always a fine balance between trying to create a cohesive new council and respecting the strong local identities that people…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionOn the question of whether we will reduce the number of Ministers, I can easily answer that by saying that that is well above my pay grade, but I hope there will always be a need…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionWe do not have a proposal for reorganisation for Greater Lincolnshire, but that is not to say that conversations are not taking place locally about making a representation to…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionThere have been a number of competing proposals. I do not believe in elephants in the room, but one was an explicit proposal to have a Devon and Cornwall combined authority with a…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionAbsolutely. One keenly felt problem with the previous devolution framework was that it did not have due regard for the role of district councils in primary cities, university…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionAgain, we say in the White Paper—I also referenced this in my opening remarks—that it was a Labour Government who introduced quality status for parish councils to recognise that…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionPeople in the real world had their say at the ballot box, because devolution and taking power out of this place was a manifesto commitment that we are absolutely clear-eyed about…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionOnly this week are we seeing a genuine redistribution of money in the local government system so that it goes to the areas that need it the most. For far too long, the funding…16 Dec 2024HANSARD English DevolutionI would not characterise the hon. Gentleman’s party as a threat to democracy, but it might be a threat to sanity. We are all tested on a too-regular basis by fairly ridiculous…16 Dec 2024