Contributions
869 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI beg to move, That this House insists on its disagreement with the Lords in their Amendments 89B and 89C but proposes amendment (a) in lieu of those amendments.28 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI am pleased to speak once again on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. I thank Members from across the House for their constructive engagement in getting the…28 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI thank hon. Members for their continued engagement and their insightful debate on these issues. In the remaining time, I will respond to some of the particular points that have…28 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI am grateful for the opportunity to speak once again on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. I am pleased that we have worked constructively throughout the…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI beg to move, That this House does not insist on its disagreement to Lords Amendment 2 but proposes Amendment (a) to the Lords Amendment.27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy hon. Friend is completely right. Indeed, the reason that the Government originally resisted this amendment was on that very point. Ultimately, we believed that the framework…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI thank hon. Members for their continued engagement on the Bill and their insightful contributions to the debate. I am glad that our concessions have secured support. I thank both…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI thank my hon. Friend for raising that question and for being a clear, consistent and passionate advocate of town and parish councils. I will pick up her point, but I want to…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillThis relates to the point that my hon. Friend the Member for East Thanet (Polly Billington) made about commissioners and the governance arrangements. We are clear that strategic…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI absolutely agree that communities are a fundamental level. Part of the reason we are putting in place a neighbourhood governance structure is to address the point that my hon.…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillThe hon. Member is completely right. There is a gap, and we are putting in this provision for a neighbourhood governance structure across the country to address that gap. Many…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy hon. Friend makes a good point. We as a Government are committed to putting in place a neighbourhood governance framework, and that framework will set in place the key…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI have had this debate many times with the hon. Member. His Government were in power for over a decade and oversaw the decimation and denuding of local authorities through a…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy hon. Friend is completely right: we need to build more homes. We are absolutely committed to doing that, but they have to be the right homes for communities. That is why this…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillWe are as impatient as my hon. Friend is to get building on brownfield land, so we are working closely with all our authorities and strategic authorities to ensure that they have…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillMy hon. Friend is absolutely right; I could not have put it better myself. If we believe in “brownfield first”, which we do, then it has to be enabled. That requires funding,…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillLocal plans can include community facilities, and we are committed to looking at ways, through the local plan, that we can strengthen the policy intent that we all agree that we…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI could not agree more with my hon. Friend. That is exactly what happened under the approach adopted by the Conservative party in government. It created random boundaries and…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillI am always very happy to commit my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing to any meeting that my hon. Friends would like. We are very keen to meet in advance of the NPPF biting.…27 Apr 2026HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment BillThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I got far too excited about the music industry. Suffice it to say that the Government recognise its importance. That is why the debate about the…27 Apr 2026