Contributions
1,336 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)The Government recognise the importance of prudential borrowing and local capital investment for economic growth, improved public services, and meeting local priorities such as…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)The clause grants the Secretary of State the power to issue written guidance about anything that could be done under or by virtue of chapter 1 of the Bill by a combined county…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)The hon. Lady should recognise that that is symmetrical—some of the properties will above band D; therefore the numbers will be much higher even than the £8,000 to £9,000 figures…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)I will just get on to amendment 63 first. Second homes are furnished properties for domestic use by someone who has their main home elsewhere. Owners may occasionally let that…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)I think the hon. Gentleman has in a sense answered his own question, in so far as there are indeed multiple policy tools that we can use to tackle something that we regard as a…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)I will have to write to the hon. Gentleman. Clauses 50 to 54 are basically technical provisions needed to make the CCA model work. Clause 50 grants the Secretary of State the…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)As Members will have noticed from us having done six or seven devolution deals to continue to deepen deals we have agreed, and from the fact that we are working on deepening the…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)Without wishing to repeat all the arguments we have been making over the last several days, I would argue that this is the à la carte approach. We are resisting a…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)This is indeed a continuation of the debate we have been having over several days now. We have stated our belief that one-size-fits-all arrangements of the type provided for by…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Tenth sitting)In general, the hon. Gentleman’s question takes us a bit beyond the scope of the clause. However, the narrower part of it, which connects up with the good question put by the hon.…05 Jul 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)We have had asymmetric devolution in this country since 1998, when the Labour Government introduced devolution for London, Scotland and Wales, but not the rest of the country. In…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I do not want to critique the decisions of the last Labour Government; I am merely pointing out that there was an acceptance of asymmetric devolution throughout that time, for all…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I think I have directly addressed that point. I reject the Opposition statement that “The default should be alignment.” I have taken on quite directly the point that it is about…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)In my earlier comments, I set out the CCA model and talked about the rationale for it. Some areas that we are discussing a devolution deal with are considering adopting that CCA…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I am sure there would be a lot of discussion before one came to these kind of steps, which are pretty dramatic. I am happy to discuss that further with the hon. Member for…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I should reply to that, Mr Paisley. I cannot think of any instances where these powers have been used so far. Of course, there is a scenario in which a CCA was wound up. There are…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)I agree with so much of what has been said by Members on the Opposition Benches. I agree about the importance of co-operation across boundaries. I have been very pleased to see…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)In our response to this amendment, it is crucial that we hold in our minds the distinction between local standing orders for combined authorities on the one hand and the statutory…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)Perhaps it would help if I were to expand a little. If I were a local government leader considering joining a CCA, I would want to know that the key arrangements for it, such as…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Eighth sitting)We are honoured by the depth of the forensic scrutiny that the Opposition are offering us on these clauses. They are quite right to probe all these questions, which are important.…30 Jun 2022