Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Lord Bishop of Chichester Excerpts

Report stage
Thursday 13th July 2023 Lords Chamber

I do not intend to test the opinion of the House, but I would not wish this occasion to pass without repeating what I say quite frequently: you have to believe that democracy matters and that those charged with making major public investment decision command the support of their electorates.

[The Lord Bishop of Chichester]

My Lords, I wish to speak in support of Amendment 63, which I had understood was tabled in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, but to which the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, spoke. I speak having consulted with my colleague the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Bristol, who has been doing some work in this area.

It seems entirely right and logical that the methodology used for allocating funds for a local authority is based on the most up-to-date information. As has been outlined, the current mechanism of allocating funds does not respond to local needs or local data and often seems to rely on data that is out of date. This will simply act as a barrier to the crucial role local government has to play in ensuring that people can receive the services and support they need, no matter where they live. These services, from collecting bins and filling potholes to providing much-needed support for low-income households and preventing homelessness—core business—have a considerable impact on the wellbeing and welfare of families and households who may be struggling to get by, and in turn affect the fabric of our communities.

We are all acutely aware that as pressure on council budgets grows, the demand for local services continues to rise. If levelling up is to be the mission that animates government to share prosperity across the country, it is vital that local authorities have the powers and funding from government to ensure that they can undertake the services that are so important for people in all our communities, especially those with higher levels of deprivation, and that they are ready to respond to unforeseen emergency crises such as the Covid pandemic.

A broader challenge facing local authorities which will make a difference in determining the success of levelling up is their ability to recruit staff, especially in planning departments. If we are to build more homes and improve our infrastructure, we need high quality fully staffed planning teams alongside neighbourhood and local plans. Again, this is part of core purpose. The fair funding review offers an opportunity to estimate the relative spending needs of different local authorities based on up-to-date information and more recent trends. I support this amendment as a way of increasing support for deprived communities whose welfare and wellbeing rightly has to be the focus of this Bill.

Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

Lord Bishop of Chichester Excerpts

3rd reading
Thursday 21st September 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Chichester]

My Lords, before the debate concludes, I speak briefly on behalf of my right reverend friend the Bishop of Bristol to record thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, for all the constructive work that is represented in this Bill and to assure the noble Baroness—

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Russell of Liverpool) (CB)]

I think the right time to speak is at the next stage of the business when we move that the Bill do now pass and have valedictory comments.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Lord Bishop of Chichester]

My Lords, I apologise for my misplaced enthusiasm in wanting to add to these thanks. I shall speak briefly on behalf of my right reverend friend the Bishop of Bristol to record her thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, for all the constructive work that is represented in the Bill and to assure the noble Baroness of our continued prayers for her recovery.

In particular, my right reverend friend wanted to note the widespread welcome for clarification on the question of local authorities being permitted to offer financial support to church buildings, including parish churches. I know that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and the Methodist Church, which backed an amendment on this topic tabled by my right reverend friend, are also grateful that this grey area in the law has been taken up by the Government. It has been heartening to have the cross-party support of the noble Lords, Lord Cormack and Lord Best, especially, and of the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, for this measure.

Local communities need physical, warm and safe space for many forms of social activities that build community and social cohesion. Worship is just one more example of this, and that in itself prompts the use of church buildings for wider purposes. The clarification of financial support for this from local authorities is helpful to us in England. However, I note that the issue of similar clarification remains of acute concern to churches in Wales, and I hope that the Minister will encourage His Majesty’s Government to bring the matter to the attention of the Welsh Government, with a view to bringing forward an equivalent legislative amendment as soon as possible.

[Lord Stunell (LD)]

My Lords, I am happy to take part in this debate simply because it is the last debate on the Bill in this House, at least until after the Conference Recess: we have had 16 days in Committee, eight days on Report and more than 1,000 amendments, skilfully disguised by the suffixes of letters. The noble Earl himself mentioned Amendment 247YYA as an example of how we have these invisible numbers. The Government have of course been a big contributor to the number of amendments, including 55 today. I do not object to those 55; they are a very sensible step forward to improve the Bill even further. Even so, I do not know if it is a record but the Government had, I think, four separate amendments to the Long Title of the Bill, which perhaps emphasises the point that the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, made about the process.

Whatever our criticisms of the Bill, though, it leaves this House much better than it arrived, and I want to thank a wide range of people for helping that to be the case, not least the ministerial team. I add my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, for her work in leading the ministerial team, and to the noble Earl and some other Ministers who stepped in at short notice, including the noble Baroness, Lady Swinburne, just last week. In my contact with the officials in the department, they were always polite, considerate and helpful. Catherine Canning last week was a very good and able representative of the Minister’s point of view in our discussions. So, whatever the criticisms of the Bill and the form in which it is now, I just say to the noble Earl that I hope that the ministerial team will work with their colleagues in the subsequent write-rounds and encourage them to the maximum extent possible to accept all of your Lordships’ valuable amendments in the other place, so that they can reduce the amount of ping-pong to the absolute minimum and we can keep the famous table tennis ball on the other side of the net.

I do not want to omit from my thanks the work there has been co-operatively between noble Lords in the Labour Party and ourselves, but also with our Cross-Bench friends and indeed with some of our friends on the Conservative Benches as well. Collectively, we have shown that it is possible to scrutinise thoroughly, to improve legislation and to produce an outcome that we can take some pride in—perhaps muted pride in some parts but, nevertheless, it is a step forward.

Behind the scenes, in our case I have the amazing and redoubtable Sarah Pughe, who has done a fantastic job supporting colleagues here in the Chamber with her drafting skills and her knowledge of parliamentary procedures. So, the Bill goes back to the Commons. I hope that when it comes back to us, it will be as near as possible the same document that we are sending to them.