Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Debate between Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle and Lord Shipley

Committee stage
Wednesday 15th March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, in the words of the noble Lord, Lord Jackson of Peterborough, we have begun the debate. That is the intention of this probing amendment, because we must have it.

Today’s Budget decentralises—but does not devolve—some powers, although not fiscal ones, to combined authorities, which is welcome but comparatively minor. In other words, if a combined authority was able to adjust a block grant and make different decisions on how to commit expenditure from it, that would be welcome. However, it is not a fiscal policy. As the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, said, it would be helpful if the Government could explain their thinking on devolving real fiscal powers.

I would pick up the noble Lord, Lord Jackson, on one statement. He said that we are not a unitary state. That would be hard to explain in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, and it goes to the heart of the problem as I see it. Substantial devolved powers, including fiscal ones, reside in Scotland, Wales and, theoretically, Northern Ireland that do not apply in England. Yet England is a country of 56 million people. It is far too big to operate out of centralised control in Whitehall, but there is a very strong argument for saying that, in terms of Treasury control and the Government’s desire to do things on a hub and spoke model in which all the financial resources are controlled in London, England is a unitary state.

I want to add one thing to the excellent contribution from my noble friend Lord Scriven and the other contributions from the noble Lords, Lord Young of Cookham and Lord Jackson of Peterborough, which I really appreciated. Can the Government explain why Scotland and Wales can have fiscal powers but no constituent part of England is permitted to have them? That is the nub of the problem, and it is why starting the debate on this issue is very important.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I rise to add to the political breadth of this debate and to offer Green support for the introduction of this amendment from the noble Lords, Lord Scriven and Lord Shipley. Localism is at the absolute heart of Green politics, but I think we have seen right across your Lordships’ Chamber a great desire for an end in England to the incredible concentration of power and resources in Westminster.

Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Debate between Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle and Lord Shipley

Committee stage
Monday 27th February 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 127, which appears in my name in this group, and to make a couple of brief comments on the amendments so clearly and comprehensively presented by the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Stevenage.

I refer back to the terminology the noble Baroness used in the previous group when talking about what the spirit of devolution should be: it should surely be a democratic spirit. The decision about the shape of devolution should rest with the local people, the people who are actually affected. Historically, the perception and the reality of some instances of devolution has been deals done un-transparently, in the dark, in what would once have been smoke-filled rooms. The smoke may have gone, but that lack of transparency remains.

What we are seeking here is a different idea of devolution—devolution that is truly transparent and open, with local people in control of the process rather than having it inflicted on them. With that in mind, my Amendment 127 calls for a referendum to be conducted on whether a combined county authority should be established in a given area. It occurs to me, having listened to the debate on previous groups of amendments, that the amendment should say “established or disestablished”, but we are in Committee so we can explore these things as we go along.

I see that the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, is in his place, so we might have already had extensive discussion about what happened in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and north Derbyshire. I will not, therefore, go into great detail on that, but it is worth noting that Sheffield voted against having a mayor and then, not long afterwards, found itself with a mayor.

I will also give a more positive, more recent example from Sheffield. Sheffield is the largest local authority to convert, through a referendum, from a cabinet-based system to a modern committee-based system of government. I know many of the people who were involved in that campaign, which was led not by political parties but by a local community group. Many people said, “You’ll never get this referendum through. It’s all too technical, difficult and complicated, and people won’t understand.” But the referendum was voted through. It was a real vehicle for a huge amount of debate and discussion in the city about how it was run and administered, and how that could be done better. Putting a referendum in for CCAs would be a chance to have a discussion and a debate, and to really engage local people, which is what we need in our local areas to improve the quality of local governance.

Of course, the other recent example of such change, driven at the local level with decisions made by local people, is the city of Bristol deciding to get rid of its mayor. That was the decision that the people of the city made. Again, some said, “You’ll never get this referendum through; everyone is just going to shrug and it will all be too difficult.” But people were engaged and involved and they made the decision for themselves. Surely, that is what democracy means, and that is why I have tabled this amendment.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, I will make just one or two comments on this group. I have listened very carefully to this and the previous group and I think we have an opportunity for the Government to clarify a number of issues around consultation and, indeed, referendums. I listened carefully to what the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, said about referendums. What is needed is a statement from the Government, hopefully before Report, on what the nature of consultation should be. What would be deemed to meet a minimum requirement or threshold for there to be an official consultation?

Secondly, the Government need to be absolutely clear what their own powers should be in relation to a consultation: what they can require of a local authority or set of authorities. I welcome the fact that this discussion is taking place; it is really important. We have discussed before in recent years during the passage of previous Bills what local people have a right to expect of their consultation. I, too, in Newcastle, have been through a mayoral referendum, and the same thing happened. The decision was not to have a mayor, but, of course, we now have a mayor of the North East Combined Authority—for which, in fact, there was no referendum. Our referendum was within scope; I ask the Minister: are referendums out of scope?

Turning to Amendment 62, I was struck by one or two other very important issues raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, which the Government need to be a bit clearer about. The first was also raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock: travel-to-work areas. It all depends how big your CCA or other combined authority is geographically. A very important issue is raised in Amendment 62: whether the Government are thinking in terms of each CCA having a single economic hub. In a number of areas that would not be suitable. In my own part of the country, several travel-to-work areas apply. Hopefully, that point will not be forgotten by the Government.

Lastly, on Amendment 63, the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Stevenage, made another very important point about the duty to co-operate. When during previous Bills we have debated the duty to co-operate, the Government have always been very positive about having that duty placed clearly on the face of the Bill. But a CCA is not just being required to co-operate with a neighbouring CCA, but with all the other bodies that may relate to it. Given the ability of the public sector to operate across boundaries, both geographical and in terms of responsibilities and powers, it matters that the duty to co-operate is made absolutely clear at the outset.

Levelling Up: Funding Allocation

Debate between Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle and Lord Shipley

Monday 23rd January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords—

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords—

Universal Credit (Exceptions to the Requirement not to be receiving Education) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

Debate between Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle and Lord Shipley

Monday 13th December 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, during this year, I have been chairing the Youth Unemployment Committee. The day after the publication of our report Skills for Every Young Person a couple of weeks ago, I received some comments on the sections relating to disabled young adults concerning the impact of this statutory instrument on the report’s objectives. The context of our report was that, while there was a range of mechanisms in place to support young people with additional needs, the recent Plan for Jobs had no targeted support for people with disabilities. We said that, as part of their forthcoming consultation on strengthening pathways to employment for disabled people, the Government should consider grant funding for a jobs guarantee for unemployed disabled young people.

Meanwhile, quite separately, this statutory instrument has been tabled, and it is very worrying because it is not a minor change. The assessment for a limited capability for work determination now must be made before the young person becomes a student. Only then are they entitled to universal credit. That, as my noble friend Lord Storey has made clear, is a significant change. I hope that the Government will reflect on how this position has been reached, not least because this proposed change in benefit entitlement has not been subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

Those affected are, first, young disabled people aged 16 to 19 and those with long-term health conditions who previously would have been able to claim universal credit in their own right. Secondly, it affects those young disabled people or those with long-term health conditions who are in advanced education: typically 18 to 23 year-olds attending university. Thirdly, it affects those who continue in non-advanced education but who cannot qualify for help because of their age. There has been no published impact assessment, but because individual circumstances can be complex, there might be a wide variety of impacts that should have been properly analysed and still should be, and the information shared. I regret very much that this has not been done. As my noble friend Lord Storey said, young disabled people face multiple barriers, and these regulations should not be adding to them.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, this important Motion really deserves attention: the noble Lords, Lord Storey and Lord Shipley, have set out the case very clearly. The Government often express great concern about productivity and unemployment, and stress their belief in the importance of education. Of course, we talk very often in your Lordships’ House about the skills shortage and how we have to fill it in; but what we have here is a change carried forward, as has been outlined, in an utterly inappropriate way. It will deprive people—mostly young people—who are seeking to make the most of their skills, talents and abilities of the means to move forward; they will be put in a position where that is simply no longer possible. It is worth thinking about how incredibly dispiriting that is for each individual affected. They will find themselves in this situation when they thought they were doing everything right—everything that society had been telling them that they were supposed to be doing—and now face the disappointment of their parents and families, who see this opportunity being snatched away.

I have put this in the Government’s own terms: what will this do for the economy and for GDP? However, I would also put it into broader, green terms. We face economic, social, environmental, political and educational crises. We have a huge shortage of human resources capable of solving all those problems that are facing us. We need to ensure that every individual in our society is allowed to develop to their full potential.