Draft Tees Valley Combined Authority Order 2016

Debate between Alex Cunningham and Graham Allen

Tuesday 15th March 2016 General Committees

[Mr Allen]

My hon. Friend made some excellent points. I would be very pleased to give way to the Minister so that he can reply in a friendly fashion to the concerns that my hon. Friend raised as a constituency Member of Parliament who will be impacted.

[Alex Cunningham]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Mr Allen]

Before I give way to my hon. Friend, I am very keen to allow space for the Minister to come back if he wishes to.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Allen]

Another colleague wishes to come in here.

[Alex Cunningham]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. It is deeply insulting to suggest that Members of Parliament who represent the Tees Valley do not have ambition for the Tees Valley. I wonder if my hon. Friend’s expertise in constitutional affairs extends to finance. There is £15 million per year, so £450 million in total over 30 years. How much does he think that the local authorities could borrow in order to finance a capital programme that is probably very small?

[Mr Allen]

That is a really interesting question. I would be very pleased to talk at length—perhaps too long—about it. However, this is not about constitutional matters but democratic ones. This is about our democracy and how we re-engage people who clearly have disengaged from our democracy. Again, I commend the Government on introducing these proposals. It is very clear that this is a step forward, but there has to be engagement with people. There has to be engagement in this Committee on the issue of the long-term financial settlement between the centre and the localities. Dare I say it, if those who wish to leave the European Union succeed, then of course matters will be raised. There are some very prominent people, the Chair even, who may—