Alex Norris: ...from central Government. We are supportive of that: we want to move powers from Whitehall to our town halls, but in doing so the Bill can be improved. I touched a little on the asymmetry of the devolution of power in England, and it is worth covering something of that. Metro Mayors hold powers over spatial planning, regional transport, the provision of skills training, business support...
Neil O'Brien: ...mean that CCAs would have a lower threshold for such a change than existing combined authorities, for which the threshold is a minimum of two thirds. Two of our existing combined authorities, South Yorkshire and Liverpool city region, have already changed their names since their establishment. A lot of politics were involved in that, so clearly there is flexibility under the two-thirds...
Rachael Maskell: 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 Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin, spoke about how she sees the intersection between her role and that of overseeing the police and taking a public health approach, which shows how things can evolve. As she does that, other...
Tim Farron: It is great pleasure, Mrs Murray, to serve under your guidance. I will say a brief few words, broadly in support of what the hon. Gentleman said about consultation. Devolution is not devolution if it is done on the terms of central Government, by definition; nor is it really devolution if it involves hoovering up the functions of lower-tier councils. It is not devolution if it is done for the...
Neil O'Brien: ...hon. Member for York Central about sub-regional differences being just as important as regional differences. We totally agree, and that is a key part of the White Paper. Through the York and North Yorkshire devolution deal, which we are working on and which is making great progress at the moment, we are picking up some of those locally specific and locally particular issues that are so...
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: ...to benefit people in every part of the country”. I am sure, having heard this debate, that we would all agree with those sentiments. He said also that the Government were “great believers in devolution”, and that the new IGR arrangements would “herald a new era for collaboration across the United Kingdom”.—[ Official Report, 9/6/22; col. GC 122.] I am sure we would all like to...
Kemi Badenoch: ...Government have been funding a lot of schemes to provide mobility for those people who are cut off. I asked for information and was told that there is a fund that is devolved to the Mayor of West Yorkshire. She has £1.4 billion for transport improvements across West Yorkshire. I encourage the hon. Gentleman to speak to her to address some of these issues. As he said, not everything can be...
.... I chair the M10, which is the group of Mayors around the country, and we are very positive about this next step and the opportunities for us to work with Government to really understand what devolution is about. The idea of more Mayors across the country joining the M10 is incredibly welcome. When it comes to more powers, I think there is a more fundamental question: where do we want to...
George Freeman: ...in the UKRI Principles of Assessment and Decision Making (copy attached). As announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, the Government is currently engaged in negotiations with York and North Yorkshire on a mayoral devolution deal including how it might support the area’s bioeconomy ambitions. UKRI Principles of Assessment and Decision Making (pdf, 170.0KB)
Lord Greenhalgh: In the Levelling Up White Paper, Government set itself a mission to ensure that by 2030, every part of England that wants one will have a devolution deal with powers at or approaching the highest level of devolution, with a simplified, long-term funding settlement. Devolution must be locally led, not imposed by Government. Areas without a devolution deal are able to consider whether seeking...
Ben Bradley: ...State in particular, is to not allow the often-difficult debate around planning to delay the broadly supported and fairly straightforward other part of the Bill around empowering local leadership, devolution and bringing forward the vehicles we need to promote investment. I am fearful about that as the Bill progresses, and timing is of the essence in delivering on our promises in this...
Lord Caine: ...he displayed, the knowledge of Scots displayed by the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, or indeed the knowledge of Norwegian set out by my noble friend Lord Moylan. As a native of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is sometimes said that we also have our own language or dialect occasionally, which I will not detain the House with. A common thread among a number of comments, including from the...
Lord Newby: My Lords, I am very pleased to hear what the Minister has just said about every region getting the degree of devolution that it requires. The noble Lord will be aware of the One Yorkshire committee, of which the leaders of Conservative councils in Yorkshire are members. All of them believe that there should be a single devolved authority for the whole of the great county of Yorkshire. Does...
Mark Fletcher: ...going into the east midlands, whether private or public, is much lower than the investment going into other regions. One option that the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill presents us with is a devolution settlement. Over the last two years in this Parliament, I have been lucky enough to be Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial...
Dan Jarvis: For the first time in four years, I will not be declaring an interest as the Mayor of South Yorkshire. I will, however, take this opportunity to congratulate my successor: I know that the new Labour Mayor, Oliver Coppard, will be a tireless champion for our region. Working with a dedicated team to improve people’s lives was an immense honour and a great privilege, and I am proud to say that...
Lord Shipley: ...the opportunities for that new body to work positively with combined authorities and counties to help them to deliver good-value services? I hope that the legislation will include further powers of devolution for local and regional rail services, so that more passengers and places can benefit from the kind of transformation that occurred on Merseyrail and London Overground, following the...
Vaughan Gething: ...the proportion of low-paid employees in Wales has been falling. On hourly pay, which we've heard much about, median hourly pay in Wales is now higher than north-east England, the east midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber. That was not the case at the start of devolution. In February this year, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggested that parts of Wales, along with...
Dan Jarvis: It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Hosie. I should perhaps begin by declaring a very relevant interest as the Mayor of South Yorkshire—at least for another week or so. I congratulate the hon. Member for Rother Valley (Alexander Stafford) on securing this important debate, but let us now inject some reality into it. In my four years as Mayor, I made transport a central...
Clive Betts: ...for an awfully long time. I will cover buses and light rail, in particular looking at the mayoral combined authority areas. I thank the Urban Transport Group and the mayoral authority in the South Yorkshire region for their briefings. Public transport is more important for certain groups in the population than for others, such as people on low incomes. An interesting figure, given that we...
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: ...Bill came as a complete surprise to them and they felt that they and their local communities had not been consulted properly on the proposed changes. For example, Dan Jarvis, mayor of South Yorkshire, said: “The government has not consulted with local communities on this major change, even though the last time a government proposed a reform of the electoral system they put it to a...