"My Lords, it is a great privilege to follow my noble friend Lady Teather’s eloquent maiden speech, and I congratulate her on it and welcome her thoughtful remarks. In her speech, her expertise and experience as a former Minister for Children and Families shone through, and her long-term commitment to …..." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"My Lords, what have the Government done to engage local populations and groups in communities to ensure that local people have the chance to feed in to the plans for the new arrangements and engage more fully in voting, thereby lifting the voting figures?..." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"My Lords, Amendment 190 in my name would place an obligation on the Government to introduce devolved fiscal and revenue-raising powers within 12 months of the introduction of the Act. Fiscal devolution is the transfer of financial powers and responsibilities from central government to local authorities, enabling them to raise …..." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"I belatedly state my interest: I am a member of the LGPS. I apologise; I should have said that at the beginning of my speech, so I just put it on the record...." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"My Lords, I apologise that I was unable to speak at Second Reading, but I support the amendment spoken to by the noble Lord, Lord Hendy, which I have signed. The amendment seeks to remind the Government of existing obligations under treaties and other international law with regard to measures …..." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"My Lords, this amendment would place certain requirements on the Secretary of State in the event of significant local government reorganisation. Before the Secretary of State redraws the local government structures, the amendment simply asks for two things: a realistic assessment of the impact on communities and services, and consent …..." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"I thank the Minister for the response, but I feel that the safeguards he has outlined do not address the potential risks in this Bill. The message that seems to be going out at the moment is that the Government are determined to deliver at any cost. Local communities are …..." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"My Lords, I wish to speak to Amendment 196D, which would place a duty on strategic authorities to work with local and community-based bodies when exercising their functions. Devolving powers to the level of the people whom they affect means that effective devolution depends not only on transferring powers from …..." Baroness Janke - View Speech
"My Lords, in echoing my colleague’s comments reflecting on the previous debate, it sounds as though today we are agreeing on uniformity rather than devolution. The Bill gives the Secretary of State sweeping powers to merge, restructure or abolish councils without parliamentary oversight and local consent—all apparently in the name …..." Baroness Janke - View Speech