Parliament and Central Government: Relocation

Debate between Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen and Baroness Janke

Tuesday 29th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

Yes, that was certainly a very good decision by the BBC. That is why the Government Property Unit, which is in charge of seeing how the departments work with their civil servants, is indeed trying to drive this radical reshaping of the Civil Service estate, and so encouraging departments to move their civil servants out of London, as I said earlier. That could well be to the north and it would certainly encourage people from the north to take those jobs.

[Baroness Janke]

My Lords, given the Government’s commitment to devolution and the reference in the Autumn Statement, do the Government have specific plans to devolve financial powers to local level? Has the Minister taken note of the various reports that state that, for the economic balance to be redressed away from London, financial and fiscal powers need to be given to local authorities across the country?

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

My Lords, the problem is that that could interfere with central budget considerations, and then the whole thing becomes a bit muddled.

Electoral Fraud

Debate between Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen and Baroness Janke

Monday 12th September 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Janke]

My Lords, given that the only two Members of Parliament who gave evidence to the report were Conservatives, and given the Minister’s statement about the independence of the report, will she say what evidence will be taken from other parties on the incidence of electoral fraud, which is the main thrust of the report?

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

We are pleased that Sir Eric Pickles has produced this report. It is now up to us to look at it and decide the way forward. We will be reporting back on it soon.