Contributions
869 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnglish 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 (Seventh sitting)These amendments make a small but important clarification to part 2 of schedule 15. They ensure that the provisions explicitly insert only references to non-mayoral combined…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 (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 (Seventh sitting)These amendments are, again, about making the legislation clearer and more consistent. They confirm that only councils that are strategic authorities are subject to the additional…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 (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 (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 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Seventh sitting)Clause 34 introduces schedule 15, which contains provisions to enable strategic authorities outside London to undertake their housing and strategic planning competences. These…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I beg to move amendment 197, in schedule 20, page 205, line 6, leave out— “, a combined authority and a combined county authority”. This removes the reference to combined…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I reiterate the assurances that I have given. We have a vested interest in ensuring that, where strategic authorities take on new functions and duties, they have the resource and…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I go back to the core principle underlying the duty. We believe that a driving purpose of the strategic authority should be to improve health outcomes and reduce health…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Seventh sitting)I will start by addressing some of the questions that were raised, and then move to amendment 289 and new clause 1. There is a key question of how to ensure that the mayoral…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)The purpose of the provision in the Bill is to give the Secretary of State the power to make that transfer in a way and at a time that makes sense. Whether with regard to the…21 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Eighth sitting)I beg to move amendment 198, in clause 44, page 46, line 29, leave out “fire and rescue” and insert “police”. This would correct the reference in the second sentence of new…21 Oct 2025