Commons
Proceedings
13 July 2026
Local Government Reorganisation
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. Nearly 21 million people in our country are served by complex two-tier structures that divide responsibilities, slow down decisions, duplicate costs and blur accountability. The Government’s aims for local government reorganisation are clearer struc…
Commons
Statutory Instrument
24 June 2026
10 contributions
Draft Local Government (Structural and Boundary Changes) (Control of Disposals etc.) (Amendment) Order 2026
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Local Government (Structural and Boundary Changes) (Control of Disposals etc.) (Amendment) Order 2026.
It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. This statutory instrument was laid before the House on 14 May 2026…
The hon. Gentleman asked about a specific example, which sounds like it relates to a specific concern.
+8 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
15 June 2026
3 contributions
Topical Questions
I thank—[Interruption.] I can assure the shadow Secretary of State that I was very busy last week. Most people are bothered about the fairness of the council tax system, and that is why it is right that the Chancellor introduced this policy. Rather than debating what it is called, it is important th…
Yes, I will.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
11 June 2026
4 contributions
Legacy of Jo Cox
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the legacy of Jo Cox.
It is an honour to move this debate on behalf of the Government. I thank Jo’s family for being with us yesterday in Downing Street, and for their incredible leadership and friendship. Throughout the past decade they have all been …
I thank the hon. Lady for her words, which are spot on.
Ten years ago next week, I was in Portcullis House next door when I received a message from the now Chancellor of the Exchequer telling me that our friend Jo Cox, the then Member for Batley and Spen, had been murdered in her constituency. It r…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
20 May 2026
5 contributions
Draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026.
It is, as ever, a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. The draft regulations were laid on 16 March 2026. When referring to the Hampshire and the Solen…
I thank the Opposition spokespeople, the hon. Members for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and for Eastleigh, for their contributions, which were, as ever, helpful and thoughtful. Before we conclude, I will address a couple of their points.
Both Members mentioned local government reorganisation. It is…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
20 May 2026
5 contributions
Delegated Legislation Committee
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026.
It is, as ever, a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. The draft regulations were laid on 16 March 2026. When referring to the Hampshire and the Solen…
I thank the Opposition spokespeople, the hon. Members for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and for Eastleigh, for their contributions, which were, as ever, helpful and thoughtful. Before we conclude, I will address a couple of their points.
Both Members mentioned local government reorganisation. It is…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
20 May 2026
5 contributions
General Committees
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority Regulations 2026.
It is, as ever, a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. The draft regulations were laid on 16 March 2026. When referring to the Hampshire and the Solen…
I thank the Opposition spokespeople, the hon. Members for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner and for Eastleigh, for their contributions, which were, as ever, helpful and thoughtful. Before we conclude, I will address a couple of their points.
Both Members mentioned local government reorganisation. It is…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Proceedings
23 April 2026
3 contributions
Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore) for his contribution, and the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) for bringing forward this debate. His speech reflected his extensive experience in this area, and he relayed to the House some of the success his legislation has alr…
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. The trigger points she mentions, which can inadvertently exacerbate homelessness, are exactly the point of the duty to collaborate that we have brought forward in the homelessness strategy. We will be working on the exact point she mentions.
It is impor…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
8 contributions
Topical Questions
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. It is important for local authorities to work very closely with NHS colleagues, as I am doing in Government, to ensure that we have sufficient adult social care. Otherwise, we will not be able to get people out of hospital and into good homes. I ask his…
I thank the hon. Lady for raising this issue. We want to see all councils progress towards financial sustainability, and what I would say to her constituents is that the decisions taken over the past 14 years have left councils paying for failure. If we get that right, we will be able to spend on th…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
3 contributions
Local Housing Allowance Rates
I have regular conversations with ministerial colleagues across Government, and my Department works very closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on the interactions between social security policy and homelessness.
In my previous role and in my current role I have worked very closely across MHCLG and DWP to see the interactions between poverty and homelessness, as I said. We spend £34 billion annually on housing support through social security, including £12 billion on the private rented sector. As part of the…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
5 contributions
Local Youth Services
In December, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published the national youth strategy, our 10-year plan to ensure that young people can access the services and opportunities they need to thrive, and I speak regularly to local leaders about this work. The local government finance settlement …
My hon. Friend reminds us of the damage that was done, particularly to those least able to bear it. I am pleased that spending power for Wakefield has increased by just shy of 27% since Labour came to office, so when it comes to the youth centre in Upton, I hope that there are more options available…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
4 contributions
Council Tax Debt Collection
Because of the inconsistent and disproportionate practices observed, the Government have consulted on modernising and improving the administration of council tax, including its collection, and we will publish our response shortly.
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue on the Floor of the House and thank StepChange, through him, for its work. As I mentioned, we will have more to say in this area shortly, but as he will know, the Ministry of Justice is also involved in the issues that he mentioned, so I will work with M…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
2 contributions
Homelessness Among Women
We are providing £3.6 billion of funding over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including £11 million for Newcastle through the homelessness, rough sleeping and domestic abuse grant. Councils can use that funding flexibly to meet the needs of women in their area, which …
My hon. Friend makes the case for women’s homelessness and rough sleeping to be better understood. To improve evidence, we added an indicator on gender to the monthly rough sleeping survey, which we published in February 2026, but I encourage all local authorities to listen to the question that she …
Commons
Debate
26 March 2026
25 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for tabling the urgent question and you, Mr Speaker, for the— [ Interruption. ] I am always happy to be at the Dispatch Box; I do not know what the right hon. Gentleman is talking about. I would like to thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to set out the latest…
Nobody could accuse the right hon. Gentleman of not saying what he really thinks about the proposals; I am glad that he had the opportunity to do that. He asked about proposals being locally led. Of course, all the proposals have been put forward by the areas they affect. Residents and others had th…
+23 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 March 2026
4 contributions
Proposed Visitor Levy
As ever, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I am grateful to the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) for securing today’s debate on the proposed visitor levy in England. It has been an absolute pleasure to hear from—I think—nine Members on the Back Benches abo…
I will give way to the hon. Gentleman if he first allows me to give a little shout-out to my local mayor, Steve Rotheram. The Centre for Cities recently found that over the past decade under his leadership the employment rate in Liverpool has gone from 61% to 71%—a 10-point increase. That is a mirac…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 March 2026
5 contributions
Rough Sleeping: Families with Children
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) for securing the debate. She has been dedicated to tackling homelessness for many years, including in her work as the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness. Rough sleeping and homelessness are is…
I am not quite sure that I caught all the details of the case that the hon. Member raised, but if he sends me them I will happily respond to him. He will know that we do not want children to be in B&B accommodation. That is one of the main planks of our strategy, which I will come to later.
As …
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 March 2026
5 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation: South-east
It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) for securing today’s debate on local government reorganisation in the south-east. It is a very important issue for residents and businesses across the region an…
There are! And there are some people who identify as Birkenhead and many people who, as I do, think of themselves as Wirralian. These issues of identity are complicated. We need to take account of them and listen to what residents tell us, but my experience is that there is never one right answer.
…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 March 2026
Funeral Premises: Environmental Health Inspections
As ever, Sir Roger, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairship. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards) on introducing the debate and thank all Members who have participated in it.
First and foremost, I thank my hon. Friend’s constituents. We cann…
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 March 2026
3 contributions
Power to Cancel Local Elections
It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for leading this debate, and thank all right hon. and hon. Members who have contributed to it. I also thank the more than 100,000 people who signed…
Let me try again: Rayleigh. I got it right that time.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Statutory Instrument
25 February 2026
6 contributions
Draft Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026.
It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. The draft order was laid before the House on 14 January and, if approved by this House and the other place, will implement a propo…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, which is very important. Dealing with the significant debt that local authorities have built up for a range of reasons is extremely important. He will be aware that we have dealt with the special educational needs and disabilities issue in recent days. He…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
6 contributions
Topical Questions
I thought I was going to get away without answering any questions, Mr Speaker. My hon. Friend raises an important issue. On 11 November last year, we published a Government response to a consultation and I am anxious to get on with taking more steps to address the kind of thing that he raises as qui…
I will.
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
4 contributions
Local Government Finance
I thank both my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Fylde (Mr Snowden) for their comments. My hon. Friend is rightly talking about the financial consequences. Does he think—as I do, and as I am sure the hon. Member for Fylde does—that the abysmal outcomes for children are what we should care about? …
It is my pleasure to close this debate, despite the fact that I must apologise to the House. Many Members will know that I suffer from chronic migraine, and I have been having an attack over the past couple of days, so my contribution might not be as long as it might otherwise have been. In show bus…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 February 2026
7 contributions
Inner-London Local Authorities: Funding
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for securing the debate, in which hon. Members have raised some important issues. She posed some questions that I will come to in my response. She mentioned that …
I will make some progress. Yesterday’s announcement keeps our promise of a multi-year settlement, because local communities in London and elsewhere deserved better than the out-of-date funding allocations not aligned with need, which meant poorer public services and slower growth, particularly for t…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
8 contributions
Waste Collection: Birmingham and the West Midlands
I thank the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) for securing this important debate, and I thank all Members for their contributions. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue.
I share the concerns and frustrations that have surfaced in the debate. The industrial action has…
My right hon. Friend spells out the situation: clearly the Government are not the employer but, given that we have commissioners, we will want to hear regularly about what is happening in Birmingham. I will come to that point later.
The Government are not a party to the ongoing dispute. It is an is…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
2 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation: Referendums
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. On behalf of everyone, I thank you for the excellent way in which you dealt with the suspensions. I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) on securing this important debate on local government reorganisation. H…
I thank the hon. Gentleman for the time he has spent engaging with me on these issues. He will know that the Government took an unprecedented decision in relation to debt in Surrey, and we continue to be concerned about ensuring that we can reach financial sustainability, for all the reasons that he…