Contributions
869 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Pride in PlaceI thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that issue. I am very happy to take it away, and to work with the Scotland Office to understand why the money has been blocked. We are…15 Oct 2025HANSARD Pride in PlaceThe shared prosperity fund will come to an end in March next year. We will set out the details of a local growth fund, which will be geared towards the areas of the country that…15 Oct 2025HANSARDPride in PlaceOn 25 September, the Government announced our plan to restore pride in place. We are a nation of a thousand neighbourhoods, where our identity, our sense of patriotism and…15 Oct 2025HANSARD Pride in PlaceWith permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the action we are taking to restore pride in place. Britain’s renewal is a driving mission of this Labour…15 Oct 2025HANSARD Pride in PlaceMy hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that at the heart of this must be the community. That is why we have made the neighbourhood board absolutely critical, and there is a…15 Oct 2025HANSARD Pride in PlaceI am disappointed by the hon. Member’s lack of contrition and his failure to say sorry. The Conservatives presided over 14 years of failure, during which, over a period of…15 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)Yes, I will answer that question. There is a contradiction in the hon. Member’s position. He has spent much of today talking about the need for us to take a more local approach…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)I will respond to amendment 363 and new clause 46 before discussing clause 19. In the English devolution White Paper, the Government set out clearly our ambition to have universal…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)Clauses 17 and 18 make technical but necessary changes to existing legislation. As hon. Members will know, some functions conferred on combined authorities or combined county…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)I am happy to make that commitment. Question put, That the clause stand part of the Bill.14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)We are trying to create empowered mayors with huge responsibility over transport, housing, infrastructure and skills. That is a full-time job—bigger even, candidly, than that of…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)I will take the other interventions.14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)If I may finish, I will give way to hon. Members. The point about transition is a fair one. To clarify, we are setting out in legislation that, at the point someone is elected as…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank hon. Members for their comments, and I have some sympathy with the arguments made. However, in a world where we are giving greater powers to mayors, which is the process…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)Clause 16 will prevent individuals from being a Member of Parliament, or of the devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, and a mayor of a strategic authority…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)This clause relates to functions and powers that sit underneath the devolution framework that we have talked about and are putting on the face of the Bill, and the seven areas of…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)It is vital that the devolution framework works for the unique circumstances of London’s governance, which we have talked about in this Committee. That is why the Bill will enable…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)To answer the specific question, yes, in-year balancing will apply. The purpose of the precepting function is to allow the mayor to invest in key things that will drive the…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)There are two processes that I, as the Minister for devolution, as opposed to the Minister for local government reorganisation, am constantly keen to emphasise. There is a…14 Oct 2025HANSARDEnglish Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Fourth sitting)The amendment relates to where a mayor has police and crime commissioner functions: secondary legislation about the arrangements for setting the precept must provide that the…14 Oct 2025