Contributions
1,006 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD English Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI am afraid that with the time we have, I need to canter through. The Bill also allows mayoral development corporations to be established and for a mayoral community…02 Sept 2025HANSARDDraft Local Audit (Amendment of Definition of Smaller Authority) Regulations 2025I thank the shadow Minister for his usual pragmatism and support in these matters. We all recognise the importance of Parliament having oversight of public money and making sure…01 Sept 2025HANSARDDraft Local Audit (Amendment of Definition of Smaller Authority) Regulations 2025I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Local Audit (Amendment of Definition of Smaller Authority) Regulations 2025. It is a pleasure to serve under your…01 Sept 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesI thank the right hon. Member for taking my advice and not making this party political—a bit more refining and we will get there in the end. Surely the right hon. Member would…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesOur starting point, of course, is that we want all parties to negotiate in good faith, and we want the local authority to do its best to table a deal that goes as far as it can…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesWe have to accept that there are some issues here that are unique to Birmingham. For instance, many councils across England dealt with equal pay over a decade ago, and Birmingham…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesWhoever is negotiating in this environment will have the same guardrails as the local authority does. The local authority has to be mindful of the equal pay package that it has…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesI hear the hon. Member’s charac-terisation of the issue, but it bears no relationship at all to the reality of the situation. The council is an independent employer. It is not for…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesMembers will be aware of the continuing disruption caused by industrial action in Birmingham. I want to be clear that Birmingham city council is an independent employer and that…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesThat is a fair point. I forgot that the hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) had a brief stint as a Liberal Democrat councillor. Actually, the people of Birmingham…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesI thank the hon. Gentleman for his questions, which I will try to answer in turn. Let me say, though, that we will take no lectures at all from the party that was in government…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesI thank the Chair of the Select Committee for her comments—we agree on much. She speaks to why a resolution on this issue is so important. At the heart of this, there are working…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesThe way the right hon. Member starts is where I would hope most local authorities do when looking at equal pay, but the reality is that there will always be winners and losers in…22 Jul 2025HANSARD Birmingham Bin StrikesThe hon. Gentleman makes fair observations about the funding crisis in local government, but it would be remiss of me not to take him back to the coalition years, which started…22 Jul 2025HANSARDDevolution Priority ProgrammeIn February this year the Government launched the devolution priority programme, taking forward proposals to create mayoral strategic authorities in the great counties and…17 Jul 2025HANSARD Future of the Church of EnglandI thank the hon. Member for East Wiltshire (Danny Kruger) for securing this important debate on the future of the Church of England. I am grateful for the opportunity to respond…17 Jul 2025HANSARD Future of the Church of EnglandI believe that very strongly, actually. Even Members who are not church attenders will take part in civic life at a local level that is closely linked to their local parish…17 Jul 2025HANSARDLocal Government Best ValueAs I have said in previous updates to the House, this Government are committed to resetting the relationship with local and regional government, and taking the action necessary to…17 Jul 2025HANSARDCouncil Tax Revenue: Student AccommodationThe fair funding review will do what it says on the tin: it will make sure that, for the first time ever, all component pressures that councils face in delivering public services,…14 Jul 2025HANSARDCouncil Tax Revenue: Student AccommodationThe Government believe it is right that students are disregarded for council tax. If the only residents of a household are full-time students, the dwelling will be exempt. In the…14 Jul 2025