Contributions
869 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I hear the passion and commitment of the hon. Lady clearly. Certainly my experience of strategic authorities and mayors who cover a combination of areas—including rural areas—is…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I thank the hon. Lady for these probing amendments. Again, we had a debate about this earlier in Committee. Let me put on record that we are clear that, if we are asking strategic…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)The process in practice is distinct from the local government funding settlement. Established mayoral combined authorities are all going through the integrated settlement process,…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)There are quite a few amendments in this grouping, and all are broadly technical, clarifying and consequential amendments. Government amendments 172, 181 and 190 are consequential…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I beg to move amendment 178, in schedule 19, page 201, leave out line 28. This means that a Minister of the Crown or government department can be specified in regulations as bound…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Seventh sitting)We are developing the process of providing a land use framework, and we are taking onboard the responses that have come through the consultation. Whether that framework ends up…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I thank both hon. Members for their heartfelt contributions to the debate. Let me put it on record that we absolutely recognise that air quality is one of the greatest…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)The Government amendments we just discussed enable the Government to specify a broader range of public bodies in secondary legislation, to reflect the original intention of clause…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I beg to move amendment 188, in schedule 19, page 203, line 35, at end insert— “(4A) In section 252 of LURA 2023 (regulations)— (a) in subsection (5)(a), after ‘subsection’ insert…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Seventh sitting)They are doing different things. The local plan is a strategic document. It is not the spatial development plan that will be the key driver for planning decisions. As is the case…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I know that the Committee agrees on the need to boost economic prosperity—there is broad consensus on that—and to do it in a way that reflects national and, critically, local…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)Often, funding held by combined and combined county authorities is best used by local councils to deliver their responsibilities. Consistently throughout our proceedings, I have…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I commend the Liberal Democrat Members for their consistent championing of town and parish councils. This power is focused on the constituent authorities, in part because the use…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I thank hon. Members for that lengthy and robust debate. I will start with clause 40, and then I will pick up on the amendments. I remind the Committee that the purpose of clause…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)It would. One thing that the Bill does create is a statutory duty for Government to respond to formal requests from mayors for new powers—the right to request. Calls for any new…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Seventh sitting)I understand the intent behind the amendment. Mayoral development corporations are already subject to the national planning policy framework, which reflects the brownfield-first…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)There are already mechanisms to enable places to introduce overnight stay levies through the accommodation business improvement district model, as the hon. Lady mentioned. With…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Seventh sitting)If we look at a graph, we see that housing starts plummeted in 2023. I do not know whether the hon. Member wants to remind the Committee who was in power at that time—it was the…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)Clause 41 requires that strategic authorities work with the local government pension scheme to identify and develop suitable investment opportunities. The local government pension…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)These functions are essential to the effective operation of strategic authorities. We are now standardising these functions across all existing and future authorities. These…21 Oct 2025