Devolution in England

Absolutely. The essence of our recommendations is that there should be a framework—a pathway—by w...

I am a firm believer in the decentralisation of power, but does my hon. Friend recognise that dec...

We looked at that issue and it is clear that there have to be proper governance arrangements if l...

I support the remarks of my fellow Select Committee Chair. We have to make a start, particularly ...

That is an interesting question. I do not think there is anything in the water of members of the ...

rose—

The right hon. Gentleman on the third Front Bench wants to join in as well.

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s commitment on this issue, particularly to the devolution of...

I hear what the right hon. Gentleman says and I think the issue of accountability is important, b...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman.

First, I assure—[Interruption.]

Order. We are not having an identity parade, but I think the hon. Gentleman has the right hon. Me...

I am grateful to the Chairman of the Select Committee. When the members of his Committee looked a...

There are two aspects to that intervention. The first is that we did not look at income tax, alth...

The hon. Gentleman is making an important and powerful point. He is right to say that although ac...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Indeed, the Committee visited Manchester as part of the i...

Is my hon. Friend concerned about how the Government have pushed through this undemocratic proces...

I hope that colleagues will discuss with their colleagues in local government in Greater Manchest...

I share my hon. Friend’s views about the benefits of devolution to people and communities, but wh...

Without going into the details of Greater Manchester, which I do not know all the aspects of, thi...

My hon. Friend has produced an excellent report. On the relationship between taxes and responsibi...

That has been true so far, but the positions in Scotland and in Wales are going to change. They w...

I am grateful to the Chair of the Select Committee with whom I served for some time, although I d...

I was going to come on to equalisation. Some areas have a greater ability to create and get the b...

My hon. Friend will know that the report from the Select Committee on Political and Constitutiona...

Yes, and I congratulate my hon. Friend and his Select Committee on the work they have done; indee...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

This will be the last intervention; then I will conclude.

Once these powers have been devolved, what happens if a local authority started behaving in a mad...

It is possible for a Secretary of State to have reserve powers to intervene in extremis, as indee...

It might be worth bearing in mind the fact—for the benefit of my hon. Friend the Member for Becke...

I am sure lawyers will not be out of business any time soon on this matter The hon. Gentleman is ...

I congratulate the Select Committee on its report and the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (M...

Does my hon. Friend agree that we also need an England level of decision making when it comes to ...

I agree that powers and decisions should not be forced on English communities by MPs who are not ...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that if all that we do relates to the question of English whipped ...

I think that there are two important debates to be had, and that it would not necessarily be help...

My hon. Friend is talking very eloquently about the need to devolve powers to communities. Does h...

I agree with my hon. Friend and believe that having a good local plan is the best guarantee a loc...

rose—

Order. The hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) has spoken for approximately 10 ...

I would like to start by disagreeing with my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andre...

Thinking slightly cynically, may I ask my hon. Friend whether he thinks that Treasury Ministers a...

Sometimes that is absolutely true. It is sometimes the objective of central Government to pass on...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue about the mayor. He says it is a directly ...

I do not disagree with my hon. Friend about that, although we do disagree on other parts of this ...

rose—

Order. I had every confidence that the hon. Gentleman could add 10, get over the hour and get to ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer). I agree ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me, as somebody who is a Member of Parliament in Greater Manch...

Local authority leaders are elected via their local authorities. We can talk about the time frame...

My hon. Friend is making a strong case for increased devolution, which is exactly what we heard o...

There are two things. One is a practical matter that we must address seriously, which is the need...

I want to speak as a partial and not wildly enthusiastic supporter of the Select Committee’s repo...

We are debating devolution in England, but if we are to have more devolution in England, we first...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) and his Committee on...

Would the hon. Lady agree with all this if the new mayor were directly elected to a quicker timet...

The right hon. Gentleman has helped me brilliantly to segue into what must happen next. The truth...

rose—

Order. Again I implore hon. Members for 10 minutes to mean 10 minutes more than are currently on ...

I will do my best to keep to your time limit, Madam Deputy Speaker.

This has been a welcome...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers). I congratulate my ho...

May I begin by apologising to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to the Chair of the Committee for mi...

It is a pleasure to respond to this interesting and constructive debate. In common with other hon...

Does the hon. Gentleman’s party have plans to devolve the right and the duty to raise more revenu...

I am not surprised that the right hon. Gentleman wants to tempt me down that path. What I am sett...

I agree with my hon. Friend that many questions about the deal in Greater Manchester need to be a...

I entirely agree. There is an opportunity here. NHS England and the Department of Health at Richm...

I welcome the debate and the report, and I share the central tenet of the speech that we heard fr...

Where health expenditures and money is being offered to local government and local government rep...

As I understand it, the accountability for the spend of that money will remain with the NHS and i...

I wholeheartedly agree with the Minister about the benefit the growth funds are bringing to LEPs,...

LEPs are a partnership between the local authorities and the business leaders who sit inside thos...

I congratulate the Minister and his Government on the list of the measures to decentralise power ...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good observation about the opportunity for a Government who are not as...

Will the Minister give way on that point?

I did anticipate that.

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. I question his use of the term “shortly” to mean tw...

I think I got off lightly, because I appreciate that language is important when we are talking ab...

Select Committee recommendation 49 starts:

“Growth in one area of England does not mean red...

That is certainly not my intention. My intention is to see every part of the country grow. The Ch...

I read out a quote by the Prime Minister, which I presume the Minister agrees with, about proposa...

It applies to England at this moment. We have given local authorities the ability to raise money,...

Can the Minister tell me why the three-week consultation that he ran in January did not mention t...

The deals associated with the health authority still have a long way to go. The principle of join...

Get on with it!

I am getting on with it. The hon. Member for Wigan said that the new plans were not the way forwa...