Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL] Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Home Office
Baroness Hollis of Heigham
Main Page: Baroness Hollis of Heigham (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Hollis of Heigham's debates with the Home Office
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [HL]
Baroness Hollis of Heigham Excerpts(8 years, 10 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hollis of Heigham (Lab)
My noble friend is spot on, but there is an additional complication because that very same district authority will be responsible for housing, including supported housing, which is to some extent under assault, as we may discuss on the second Bill we are considering today, the Welfare Reform Bill. We could have three players here: a combined authority with devolved NHS responsibility; a county council that may or may not be willing in principle to send over some of its social services, such as adult social care; and the district council that remains responsible for the bricks and mortar side, as opposed to the support services side, for, say, the frail elderly, hostels, refuges and the like. There is a real problem about ensuring the consensual structure that we all want to see. We welcome the Government’s responsiveness to the untidiness of geography and of functions, but there are a lot of issues still to be resolved on this score.