Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill [Lords]

Debate between Jon Trickett and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Wednesday 14th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Jon Trickett]

Of course; I said at the beginning of my speech that we are a pro-devolution party, but we want a comprehensive settlement. The people who must not be excluded from any new settlement are the citizens. The citizens of Greater Manchester should be part of any settlement. Indeed, where possible, power should be passed down to those citizens through what the former Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North (Mr Allen), has described as double devolution.

The programme motion allocates only two and a half hours in Committee—albeit on the Floor of the House—to debate all the amendments on the powers, functions and reporting mechanisms of any mayor who happens to be elected. That is clearly inadequate for such discussions.

[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the provisions relating to elected mayors in clause 3? Subsection (2) states:

“An order under subsection (1) shall not be used as a condition for agreeing to the transfer of local authority or public authority functions.”

Subsection (3) goes on:

“A mayor for the area of a combined authority is to be elected by the local government electors for that area”.

Does not that provide sufficient cover for what the hon. Gentleman is asking for?

[Jon Trickett]

Every one of the leaders I have spoken to—they have been negotiating with the Treasury, by the way, rather than with the Department for Communities and Local Government—has told me that, despite their objections, they have been told that they cannot have devolution unless they agree to a new form of governance, namely a metro mayor. That may or may not be what is on the face of the Bill, and we will see what the Government do in Committee and what amendments are tabled, but the truth is that this is a fait accompli. A single model has been imposed from on high. I invite Conservative Members to reflect on whether the only possible model for city and town governance involves a directly elected mayor with no accountability to a wider assembly. That is a presidential, not a parliamentary, model of governance, and it is anathema to the British constitution.