Contributions
2,020 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for highlighting why it is so important to sew that principle right through the Bill to ensure public consultation—including in clause 7. It is…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We want communities to be involved in their own destiny before there is any ink on the paper. That consultation and working through the stage…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)I can already hear what the Minister is going to say in response, because we rehearsed some of these arguments on Tuesday. The importance of the independence that the amendment…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)My hon. Friend is making an important point about the autonomy of CCAs to control their destiny. We recognise that we are on a journey of devolution. In her evidence, the West…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Seventh sitting)Does my hon. Friend agree that the act of carrying out an equality assessment and looking at the diversity of the people who are appointed focuses the mind to consider who is…30 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Fifth sitting)My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. This is not just about Government, but about the whole of our society, across party lines, including mayoralties and local government.…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Fifth sitting)Thank you, Mr Paisley, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North for his excellent speech; I will continue his theme about making the right judgments on…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Fifth sitting)I am listening carefully to the Minister, who has talked about input as opposed to outcomes. In the light of our seeing gross inequalities and life expectancy for some people in…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Fifth sitting)It is not just about money that is coming from the centre into individual projects. The Government need to take note of the point that it is surely about enabling and empowering…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)I am more concerned now than I was. We know that levelling up is going to take a concerted effort over a significant period of time, but it sounds as though this is now a list of…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)Will the Minister give an example of why one of the 12 missions he has set out in the White Paper would be abandoned?28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)I share my hon. Friend’s concern. If this was easy, we could have been levelling up the country for the past 40, 50 or 100 years, but that has not happened. I am sure that…28 Jun 2022HANSARDRape: Criminal ProsecutionsI have had too many cases where survivors of rape have not reached the evidence thresholds demanded by the CPS and, as a result, their cases have collapsed or not even been able…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)I agree with my hon. Friend, because it feels that it could become a bit of a tick-box exercise otherwise. We would all be incredibly concerned if that were the case. In order to…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)I wish to make a couple of quick points at this juncture. The amendment goes to the heart of whether this is an autocratic or democratic Government. Enabling Parliament to bring…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)Line 7 of the Bill says that a “statement of levelling-up missions” will be made. Obviously, that means that there is not anything in statute or in secondary legislation. This is…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend for his opening remarks on amendment 14, which I wholeheartedly support. I want to talk first about the importance of the Bill. There are 325 pages about…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)By turning down the opportunity for an independent body to review, the Minister is articulating that the Government do not have the know-how and resources to deliver a timely…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Sixth sitting)I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the points he is making, and to my hon. Friend the Member for South Shields. A bigger point should be made: while the second sustainable…28 Jun 2022HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration Bill (Fifth sitting)Thank you, Mr Paisley. I want to stress the importance of the legislation before us. In particular, I want to speak to amendments 3 and 5, and to new clause 1. Clause 1 deals with…28 Jun 2022