Contributions
869 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Ninth sitting)I thank hon. Members for their robust contributions. I will say a few things. First, we acknowledge that any process of change or reform is difficult. The Government do not…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)Local government reorganisation is already possible through existing legislation and does not require a referendum. In the last 20 years, we have precedents of local government…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Ninth sitting)We are doing that.23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)I am sympathetic to new clause 24, but there is no need for the Secretary of State to publish a report after the implementation of every single reorganisation proposal.…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)It is important to disaggregate two processes, although I appreciate the challenge because we are doing them concurrently: there is a local government reorganisation process and a…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)I understand hon. Members’ sentiments, but 80% of councils currently operate a leader and cabinet model. My view is that that executive model allows for greater accountability and…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)We made this proposal because we fundamentally believe that the cabinet and leader system provides more effective governance. There is a question about legacy and what the…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)The Government fully understand that greater devolution relies on local authority members embodying the highest standards of conduct, so we absolutely agree with the spirit of the…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)Clause 57 and schedule 25 will simplify and bring consistency to local authority governance arrangements. By abolishing the committee system, we will ensure that all councils…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)I am pleased to see the focus on community engagement in this amendment. However, we already have powers to set standards for local engagement through regulations, and that is…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)As I said, for this to work, we need councils to enable it. We will introduce a set of measures including peer-to-peer support—so, where we have great practice, sharing it with…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)I am happy to put that in writing, but I will state again that there is already primary legislation in place that protects town and parish councils and means they cannot be…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)The Bill sets out our clear ambition to embed communities at the heart of local decision making. This is about ensuring that decisions are shaped by those who know their…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)I beg to move amendment 222, in clause 58, page 60, leave out lines 31 and 32 and insert— “‘local authority’ means— (a) a county council, (b) a district council, (c) a London…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)The key thing to say in response to this group of amendment is that provisions in the Bill are not about central Government imposing a model of neighbourhood governance without…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)MPs going to Parliament to work as part of a collective is very different from a single individual who needs democratic accountability to drive decisions. Those are two very…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion for talking us through some of the specifics, particularly in the context of Sheffield. My hon. Friends the Members for Sheffield…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)As we have debated amendments to the schedule, we can deal with it formally. Question put and agreed to. Schedule 25 accordingly agreed to.23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)Let me address amendments 312 to 314 first. I am happy and pleased that the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion is keen on the supplementary vote system that we want to implement.…23 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Tenth sitting)I will speak to clause 59 and schedule 26 now, and I will then respond to hon. Members on their amendments. The Government recognise that the voting system used to elect our…23 Oct 2025