Contributions
1,009 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI have had the great pleasure of visiting Peterborough with my hon. Friend on many occasions. He is always very powerful in putting forward the case for the city and the people…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationIn the case of Peterborough and Cambridgeshire, it is right that we take the time to get the decision absolutely right. I offer reassurance to the right hon. Gentleman and his…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI have had the great pleasure of visiting Portsmouth with my hon. Friend on several occasions, so I have seen at first hand what a powerful champion she is for her constituents.…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI have visited Exeter and know what a great champion my hon. Friend is for his constituents, who live in what is surely one of the most beautiful cities in the country. It has…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI have had the pleasure of visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency with him. Indeed, I know the county very well because it is where I was brought up. He is absolutely right. The…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI am afraid to say to the hon. Lady that the south-west is sadly one of the poorest regions in the country, and her party left it that way. We are reorganising local government,…16 Jul 2026HANSARDLocal Government ReorganisationThis Government are driving the most ambitious programme of local government reform in a generation, replacing the inefficient two-tier system with new unitary councils so that…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI would just remind the right hon. Gentleman, as I have said several times already today, that the vast majority of the proposals that we have accepted have cross-party support.…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI have visited my hon. Friend’s constituency with her on many occasions, so I know at first hand that she is one of the strongest advocates for her constituents of any Member in…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI would say to the constituents of the hon. Gentleman, with whom I have conversations quite often—not least on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, of which he…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI respectfully urge the hon. Member to remember that fair funding reforms have aligned funding with deprivation. Under the previous Government, only three out of 10 areas got…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationMy hon. Friend makes an important point. Of course, her constituents in both the areas she refers to deserve and will have their voices heard. The English Devolution and Community…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI thank my hon. Friend for recognising the benefit to her constituents from eliminating duplication and putting the savings into the frontline services that her residents care…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman seems to have forgotten that I made the announcements about Essex in a previous statement—perhaps he was not paying attention, but he…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI remind my hon. Friend of the additional funding that is available for transitional arrangements; that is a recognition of the challenges that she has just described. The option…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationThe hon. Gentleman will be aware that there was a re-consultation on the situation in West Sussex, and an awful lot of stakeholders across the county submitted evidence. He would…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationIt is regrettable that the hon. Lady appears to be defending a system with so much duplication that money is being wasted on multiple tiers of senior officers when it could be…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI can attest to the fact that my hon. Friend is a powerful and frequent advocate for her constituents in Amber Valley. The option that we have accepted is the one that best…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI thank my hon. Friend for his question and his powerful advocacy for his constituents. The changes we are making are, in part, intended to lay the framework for the mayoral…16 Jul 2026HANSARD Local Government ReorganisationI thank the hon. Gentleman for his support in principle for the changes that we are making. The option we selected for Gloucestershire was chosen in part because it was the…16 Jul 2026