Contributions
869 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)indicated assent.28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)I am happy to write to clarify that key point. Everything that we are doing through these new clauses and this reform package is in order to ensure that we have a system that is…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)I thank the hon. Member for his questions. He raised the question of CIPFA, and I committed to clarifying that in writing. I believe we have done so, but I will make sure that we…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Twelfth sitting)The hon. Lady has set out the Government’s ambition to move away from a document-led planning system to a data-driven one, where planning data is openly available and more easily…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Twelfth sitting)Let me address the question directly, and then I will turn to new clause 5, on the cost of local elections, and new clause 43, on support for neighbourhood planning. We like…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)These amendments contain provisions relating to criminal offences and enforcement among audit providers, lead partners and external registration bodies. It is vital that the local…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Twelfth sitting)I beg to move amendment 243, in clause 72, page 73, line 15, at end insert— “‘FRSA 2004’ means the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004;”. This would define the abbreviation “FRSA…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)Clause 66 introduces a statutory requirement for all local authorities, excluding NHS bodies, to establish an audit committee with at least one independent member. Members will be…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)I misunderstood the hon. Gentleman’s original question. The accountability of the finance director, the sets of standards already locked in and the legislation they have to…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)I apologise to the hon. Member for the lack of response—I will make sure we get one to him swiftly. Inevitably, different accounting standards will be used. We will set out…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)Clause 62 will establish a new framework for the regulation of local auditors, which will be overseen by the Local Audit Office. Independent reviews have been consistently clear…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)I confess that I am not 100% clear about what the hon. Gentleman is getting at. I might partly answer his question by saying that the majority of public bodies—99%—are going…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)We recognise that we have a challenge in bringing in sufficient audit capacity of the standard we need. That is the status quo. We are working closely with the sector to ensure…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)The clause will change the current requirement whereby local audits may be signed off only by a key audit partner—a senior auditor who meets specific eligibility criteria…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)Decision making at the local authority level will remain. Accountability to the constituents in the local authority will remain. We are not fundamentally changing that regime, and…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)I dare not do the job of the Local Audit Office, or indeed trained auditors, and go into detail. This provision creates powers for the LAO to design a system that works for local…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)Let me deal directly with amendments 18 and 17. I reiterate to the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon what I have consistently said: the governance regime of local government…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)If the hon. Member wants examples, one example—I am sure that we can give others based on the conversations that we have had with local government—is that pensions do not drive…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eleventh sitting)It is not wild or out there to say that the new auditing body we are creating should have full flexibility to ensure that the standards being applied are appropriate. The feedback…28 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Twelfth sitting)The English devolution White Paper set out clearly our proposals to strengthen the role of strategic authorities in local skills improvement plans and highlights the intention to…28 Oct 2025