English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 13th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, I will speak briefly, particularly given my noble friend Lord Shipley’s comments on Sheffield. I found it ironic that in Committee we were talking about not allowing others to have a committee when we in your Lordships’ House have Committee stages.

As we heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, the title of the Bill is about community empowerment. I am about to finish my 20-odd years on Sheffield City Council in the next fortnight, having joined in 2004. When I and my good friend—my noble friend Lord Scriven, who is sitting next to me—took control of the council in 2008, it was under a strong leader model. I remember my noble friend saying that a test of whether we have been successful is to ask: do we have the same amount of power when leaving as we had when we inherited the role? That was because we were about devolving powers. At that time, we set up a committee system to devolve down to what we called community assemblies. That was about devolving power down to a local level and taking it out of our hands: my noble friend Lord Scriven was the council leader and I was the cabinet member for parks, the countryside et cetera. We genuinely believed that local decision-making was far better.

Looking at this Bill, I am surprised that we think we should centralise power and that Whitehall should tell all councils that there is only one governance model. If we do that, I think we will end up in the situation that Sheffield was in. Since the Committee debate in the Lords, a plaque has gone up at Sheffield City Council:

“In recognition of the courageous campaigners who saved thousands of street trees from wrongful felling by Sheffield City Council, and as a reminder to all that such failures in leadership must never happen again”.


That happened under a strong leader model. Out of 84 councillors, just 10 people picked by the leader at the time—

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

Not me.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

Not my noble friend Lord Scriven; it was the leader at the time. They basically rammed through decisions to fell healthy street trees. It took thousands upon thousands of signatures for an inquiry to ultimately find that they went wrong.

It was said that there was scrutiny, but the problem was, as we heard earlier from my noble friend Lord Shipley and others, that scrutiny looks at decisions already made. When you have such a powerful executive on a council, the scrutiny boards were often chaired by the same ruling group. If you wanted to keep that job, you were never going to take on your leader.

High Streets and Towns: Regeneration

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, will the Government look at implementing a commercial landlord levy, which would help small businesses by moving the cost from them on to commercial landlords? It would also have the benefit of ensuring that landlords have an incentive to fill vacant units.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We are very keen to make sure that vacant units get filled. We have introduced lots of powers to enable councils to do that, but we also recognise upward rent pressures. Many landlords have upwards-only rent reviews now, so we are bringing in a step in the English devolution Bill to make sure that there are no more upwards-only rent review clauses by which rents can only stay the same or rise. We are legislating to ban those in order to help smaller retailers have more stability in their outgoings.

Birmingham City Council and Unite: Refuse Workers’ Pay

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We would certainly encourage all parties that can help with this dispute to get around the table and make sure that this is resolved. It is not in the interests of the people of Birmingham for this to carry on a day longer than it needs to.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, for two years the poor council tax payers of Birmingham have paid a 10% council tax rise and a 7.4% council tax rise but have not been able to get the basic service of having their bins emptied. What would the Minister say—other than that people need to get around the table—to those people in Birmingham to get the most basic of council services?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a point that I want to expand on. It is very important for Birmingham and the people of the West Midlands that the economy can be driven forward so that we can develop the potential that we know Birmingham has. Having this dispute hanging over both the council and the people of Birmingham is not helping that to take place. That is why I say that the sooner we can get this dispute resolved, the sooner we can start building the economy, the potential and the future for Birmingham that we know are there and waiting to happen.

UK Domestic Visitor Levy

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I am sure that my noble friend Lady Merron, who is sitting next to me, will be happy to respond to that question. It is important that people who find themselves in a medical emergency get treated promptly and that that is dealt with as quickly as possible. It is reassuring for tourists who come to this country to know that they will receive support if they are taken ill while they are on holiday here. On the issue of charging, I will defer to my noble friend.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, there are some major tourist areas in England that are not part of a devolution deal and have no plans at present for a mayor. Why should they be disadvantaged in their areas and growth, based on not having a particular elected person in that area?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I have much sympathy with the noble Lord’s point. We have consulted on whether and how to extend the power to local leaders with similar geographic footprints and powers relating to transport skills and strategic planning, such as the leaders of the foundation strategic authorities. We will look at the responses to that and I will be able to inform the House in due course.

Social Cohesion Action Plan

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I set out very clearly that this is a non-statutory definition. It is there to assist organisations to understand what we mean by anti-Muslim hostility. I remind the noble Lord that there is no blasphemy law in this country and that this Government have no intention of introducing one.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, the strategy places significant emphasis on engaging faith leaders as key arbiters of community cohesion. However, does the Minister agree that true social cohesion is built not on the mediation of religious blocs but on the primacy of civic values and a singular secular rule of law? When religious sensitivities collide with fundamental civic rights, such as LGBT equality, will the Government prioritise civic democratic values over the avoidance of religious offence?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The importance of this strategy is that it concentrates on all these angles, including creating confident communities and protecting that confidence. We have to create the conditions for cohesion. Our aim is to bring people together through community-led schooling, youth and sports infrastructure, trusted local venues and major cultural and sporting events with strong community legacies, focusing on restoring pride in place through long-term investment in left-behind areas, support for local media and high streets, improved digital connectivity, neighbourhood policing, tackling anti-social behaviour and reducing reoffending. All these things are positioned as essential to safety, pride and cohesion. I hope that this action plan will take us a long way towards doing that.

NHS Industrial Action

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

Quite frankly, I do not think any Secretary of State could have been clearer in his repeated words that he cannot increase the pay of resident doctors. They have received an average pay rise of 28.9% compared with three years ago: the highest settlement in the public sector. His door is open to discuss conditions, deal with the bureaucracy that they face and improve the conditions for resident doctors. The Secretary of State could not have been any stronger than he has been about his intentions on this.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, in light of that, have the Government learned the lesson that giving resident doctors a nearly 30% increase in future, when pay increases come, should be linked to reform, not just a blank cheque?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The reform plan for change has been very clear from the outset of this Government. There has been a clear recognition that things need to change, which has driven the efforts to do everything possible to improve conditions both for the workforce and for those in receipt of care. It has not been good enough; we have a huge job to do to improve the NHS, to make it fit for purpose and to continue to deliver excellent care for people up and down the country.

Planning Delivery: Acceleration

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Monday 8th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

There are proposals that mean that, at the time that a planning application is delivered, local authorities can specify when that application needs to be built out. So we are taking steps to ensure that, once an application has received approval, it is built out as quickly as possible. It is in no one’s interest for vast areas of land that can be built on not to be built on, so we will make sure that we deliver as much as possible. The new homes accelerator has already moved this on a considerable way.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, in response to that answer and further to what my noble friend Lady Pinnock said, this needs government co-ordination and government action, not just local authority action. Will the Government look at a land value tax for those that land bank?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I know that land value taxes have been looked at many times over the years and that the noble Lord’s party promotes them, but they are much more complex than is sometimes set out by those who promote them. We have no current plans to do that, and I would not want to lead the noble Lord up the garden path in thinking that we do. At the moment, we think that the steps we are taking will significantly improve the delivery of both new homes and the infrastructure needed to support them. We will carry on down that route and hope that we get to where we want to be.

Birmingham City Council

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, the Minister quite rightly talks about the second report of the commissioners, which was published yesterday. There is a very telling paragraph that the House needs to be aware of, and I would like to hear the Minister’s response to it. It says that

“the Council, currently, still lacks the ability and self-awareness to deliver timely, sustainable reform at the pace required without substantial support and direction”.

In the light of that, the Minister’s response of “leave the commissioners alone” does not stand up. The commissioners are saying that further substantial reform is required. What substantial reform and extra support are the Government now thinking of? What is the timescale for that, in the light of the commissioners saying that it is required?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his question. I think the commissioners are referring to the fact that each time a report is due, the Government can consider whether it is time to take the commissioners’ support out. The commissioners were trying to indicate that they do not feel that the council is ready for their support to be withdrawn at this stage.

The report highlights the progress made by the council so far. It notes the leadership of Councillor Cotton and Joanne Roney, and the hard work of many diligent members of staff in the council. In the circumstance we find ourselves in with Birmingham, that can often be overlooked. Many of the staff there are working tirelessly to make sure that the council delivers for its residents.

The report also sets out that the journey to recovery and financial stability is far from over, as the noble Lord says, and has been heavily dependent on the input, guidance and advice of the commissioner team so far. The indication in the line that the noble Lord quoted is that the council continues to need that commissioner support. We agree with that as a Government, and we will continue to support the leader and his team in Birmingham directly and through the commissioners to move the council on from the historical issues with a fair resolution. The way to do this is to continue on the journey that the council is on and make sure that they all stabilise the council so that it will be able to deliver for its residents long into the future.

National Insurance: Employer Contributions

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord that special needs transport has been a significant burden on local government in recent years, and with little help from the last Government. However, in the Budget, the Government announced £2 billion of new grant funding for local government in 2025-26. That includes the £515 million to which he referred to help with national insurance contributions. That £2 billion covers special educational needs home-to-school transport. I am not saying that will totally solve the problem. We have a spending review in the spring where I hope we will be able to look at that even further.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, the new burdens approach says that councils should be fully funded. The Minister keeps referring to the £515 million uplift, yet the Nuffield Trust has pointed out that the NICs increases will cost local authorities £900 million. Where is the extra £400 million coming from, and why has it not been handed over by the Government as part of the new burdens approach?

Teesworks Programme: Audit

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Monday 29th July 2024 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Scriven]

To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to request the National Audit Office to carry out an inspection to the Teesworks programme, and if so when.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and so doing draw the House’s attention to my interest set out in the register as a vice-president of the Local Government Association.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Lord Khan of Burnley) (Lab)]

The previous Government asked the Tees Valley mayor to provide a progress update in September, following the recommendations of the independent review of Tees Valley Combined Authority’s oversight of the South Tees Development Corporation and Teesworks Joint Venture. Once we have received that update, we will consider whether the questions that need to be answered have been and whether any further action should be taken.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, many Teessiders’ jaws will drop on the floor when they hear that Answer from the Minister, as every Labour candidate in Teesside promised that a National Audit Office review would take place. In the light of half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money being used and two businessmen making multimillion pound profits without taking any liabilities or any risk to their money, does that constitute best value? Why leave the people who have created the mess to solve the mess without any enforceable action being taken by Government?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to the work the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, does in local government, and I understand the deep emotions that he talks about, because there are outstanding questions to which the public deserve answers. We understand that this issue, like all local issues, is emotive. This is evidenced by it being raised in this House and in the other place several times. In fact, the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, has asked this question before. This Government believe that scrutiny and transparency are important. However, we must carefully consider the mayor’s response, due in September, and we will consider any further action to take when we receive it. We are not ruling out any options, and one option could be requesting the NAO to review.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

That is absolutely the case. However, there are recommendations on decision-making, governance and scrutiny. I appreciate the noble Lord’s question.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

My Lords, I appreciate that the Minister has said the Government have to wait for the mayor’s answers to the questions, which is different from what was being said before the Government were on the Government Benches. However, the review panel said in the report that the responses

“reduced our confidence that we have been given access to all relevant materials”.

The panel also said that it had

“not been able to pursue all lines of evidence or examine all transactions”.

Is that not why a full statutory audit is required: so that the Government convince themselves that Teessiders are getting value for money? With a response from the mayor, the report will have not seen all relevant information.

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

The noble Lord again makes an important point. I remind the House that it is not the normal role of the NAO to examine or to audit local bodies. However, I understand that the NAO previously stated that it is willing to work outside its usual scope to undertake a review about Teesworks. We cannot prejudge the response of the Mayor of Tees Valley. When we get that response, we will look at it. In relation to the noble Lord’s question, that is another issue for the combined authority and the Mayor of Tees Valley to look at. Whatever happens, once that response is back with the Government, we will look at it and take further action then.