English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 8th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Lab)]

My Lords, I will reflect on the journey that has led to the Bill before us. English devolution has not arrived all at once; it has been shaped over time by successive Governments of different political parties, each building on what came before—from the championing by the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, of local leadership in economic regeneration, to my late noble friend Lord Prescott, whose Northern Way set out the economic opportunity of stronger regions, and the noble Lord, Lord O’Neill, who worked with George Osborne to translate that economic logic into the modern mayoral model. Although their contributions were informed by different political traditions, they were bound by a shared belief that this country succeeds when power is closer to the people it serves and reflects their needs and aspirations.

Because of that shared endeavour, the landscape has changed dramatically. Eight years ago, there were no metro mayors in the north. Today, we have nine, representing several different political parties. I welcome the Bill’s ambition, building on that cross-party progress, to standardise and strengthen the powers available to mayors and combined authorities that are made up of council leaders. It offers a clearer framework for how devolution should operate, moves us beyond the ad hoc deal-making of the past, and sets a strong direction for the future: that devolution is not a patchwork experiment but a permanent and essential part of how we govern.

The powers in the Bill over skills, transport, housing, regeneration, health and well-being cover exactly the areas where local leadership can make the biggest difference because, out there in the real world, the challenges people face are not neatly divided into departments but intrinsically connected and overlap varying government departments. That is why decisions taken locally and regionally better reflect need. A lack of affordable housing affects employment, poor transportation limits access to training, and health outcomes are shaped by all of the above. The mayor in my region, Kim McGuinness, is using her formal powers and wider convening role to help address child poverty. She strongly supports the ending of the two-child limit to benefits announced by the Chancellor recently in the Budget.

If we do not give our mayors powers to address all those challenges, we should not be surprised when the same problems persist. The Bill gives them a more complete toolkit, and I hope we continue to build on this as devolution evolves, but tools alone will not get the job done if they do not come with the resources to deliver that change. Too often, mayors with clear mandates have to return to Whitehall to bid or make the case for funding when they want to act. That is neither a good use of their time nor consistent with the spirit of devolution, so I welcome the move towards longer-term, more flexible funding settlements. I hope this becomes the standard across all devolved areas. Fundamentally, if we want accountable mayors who are actually responsible for the destiny of their localities, we must go further by allowing them to raise and retain revenue. That is why I was pleased to hear the Chancellor announce a discretionary visitor levy in last month’s Budget, which I hope will be a first step towards a new era of fiscal devolution.

Ultimately, politics is about achieving outcomes, not changing governmental structures, but should we really be surprised that when decisions are made at a distance from the people they affect, they often lead to worse outcomes? Devolution gives local leaders the ability to act on the priorities that matter to their communities: to create jobs, improve public services and ensure that growth is felt more widely. I support the Bill because it moves us further along that path, and I hope we continue to build on it.