Core Cities

Julian Smith Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Greg Clark]

I commend the work of the hon. Gentleman and his Committee. He is right that we want to improve the standing of local government and its ability to be recognised as having—in effect—a constitutional significance that cannot simply be brushed aside. As he will know, our reforms in the Localism Act 2011 move considerably in that direction to establish a general power of competence for local government, so that it no longer exists to do those things that it is told to do by Parliament and central Government. Instead, the default should be the other way around: councils should be able to do things unless they are explicitly prevented from doing them by Parliament. The Act is a huge step in that direction, but I look forward to the report from the hon. Gentleman’s Committee—it will be taken very seriously in the Government.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

This is a great opportunity for northern cities such as Leeds to seize back control from London. Does the Minister agree that Leeds is doing the right thing by attracting inward investment, sovereign wealth funds and other sources of capital, and not relying on money from Whitehall?

[Greg Clark]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. One of the things that was suppressed under the old regional arrangements was the identity of cities internationally, and one of the proposals that we make in the document is that UK Trade & Investment should work even more closely with cities to promote the identity of cities such as Liverpool, which is world renowned and should be given particular prominence in UKTI’s work around the world.