Lords
Oral Questions
26 February 2026
8 contributions
New Housing: Flood Risk
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. The framework may suggest that, but reliable figures from the insurer Aviva reveal a trend of more and more new homes being built in medium and high flood risk areas, up from 8% 10 years ago to 11% last year, and potentially rising to 15% of ne…
My Lords, given that flood risk and housing demand are only going to increase, what steps are His Majesty’s Government taking to allow flooding and housing to coexist? Are they considering the urban planning model of sponge cities, using nature-based solutions such as permeable pavements, planted ro…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
25 February 2026
12 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation
I thank the noble Baroness and the noble Lord for their questions and comments on the Statement. Your Lordships have now heard in full the Statement made by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in the other place, and the House has raised a number of thoughtful and serious points about …
I have the greatest respect for Jonathan Carr-West and have worked with him on many occasions, but he has not seen the legal advice. It is a long-standing principle, as the right honourable Gentleman James Cleverly said at the other end—I could quote him if I had the quote in front of me—that the Go…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
12 February 2026
Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority Order 2026
That the draft Orders laid before the House on 18 December 2025 be approved. Relevant document: 47th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee . Considered in Grand Committee on 10 February.
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Donations to Political Parties
My Lords, the Grand Committee stands adjourned until at least 2 pm, in the hope that we can get the clocks fixed.
Lords
Oral Questions
11 February 2026
9 contributions
New Homes Target
I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer. Up to 100,000 new homes could be built were the Government to scrap the old, outdated EU-era nutrient neutrality regulations. Will the Government bring in new regulations to protect the environment, and scrap these old ones which are helping to deny you…
My Lords, in order to deliver these homes, local authorities need to co-operate with the Government, particularly in preparing local plans, allocating land, speeding up planning decisions, working with developers and communities, and so on. Are local authorities co-operating with the Government to d…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
11 February 2026
9 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, and my noble friend Lord Bassam of Brighton for addressing the local government reorganisation measures in the Bill. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, for speaking on behalf of the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett.
The noble Baro…
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Blunkett and the other noble Lords who have contributed to this debate. I turn first to my noble friend’s intention to oppose the clause and Schedule 27 standing part of the Bill.
This clause and the related schedule will bring further consistency to local aut…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 February 2026
8 contributions
Renters’ Rights Act: Implementation
My Lords, I declare my interest as a councillor in central Bedfordshire. I thank the Minister for her response. Unfortunately, landlords are voting with their feet, exiting the market in ever higher numbers: 93,000 in 2025 and a forecast 110,000 this year, according to the Black & White Bridging…
My Lords, the Master of the Rolls, who oversees the efficiency of our civil justice system, recently said that the Act creates an incentive for tenants to appeal every increase in rent to the First-tier Tribunal because, even if the appeal fails, the increase in rent will not be backdated. Ministers…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
10 February 2026
Cumbria Combined Authority Order 2026
That the Grand Committee do consider the Cumbria Combined Authority Order 2026. Relevant document: 47th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
Lords
Committee Stage
10 February 2026
5 contributions
Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority Order 2026
My Lords, I will speak to both this draft order and the draft Cumbria Combined Authority Order 2026, which were laid on 18 December 2025. For both the Cheshire and Warrington combined authority and the Cumbria combined authority, I will use the term “strategic authorities” hereafter, unless there is…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these two statutory instruments, which are progress on the way to the Government’s policy of mayoral devolution. I accept the notion and principle of devolution as being very positive, but, as the Minister will know, I have questioned the way it is bein…
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
9 February 2026
20 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have submitted amendments on health improvement, which is an important topic. I am pleased that we will have this duty on local authorities at mayoral combined authority and combined county authority level. As other noble Lords have said, it is an important step…
I do not disagree with the noble Baroness. I am saying that this is a local authority duty, and it does not need to go up to the strategic level of a mayoral combined authority. That is why we do not need the amendment for combined authorities, but I accept her point about local authorities. A statu…
+18 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
6 February 2026
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, we have agreed noble Lords would benefit from a short lunch break. It is going to be some time before this group is finished, so this seems the most convenient point to take a break. Therefore, I beg to move the debate on this amendment be adjourned. Colleagues in attendance should make su…
My Lords, I beg to move that the House be now resumed.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
4 February 2026
6 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I also welcome back the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. It is very nice to see her back in her place, and I hope her leg is recovering speedily.
I thank noble Lords for these amendments relating to planning and housing. I understand the spirit of Amendment 126, which seeks to restrict the u…
I understand what the noble Lord says. I do not have the statistics in front of me but I have visited a number of very good brownfield sites in London. The issue of building on brownfield is not the only issue preventing building in London; there are viability issues that are quite unrelated to that…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
2 February 2026
3 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, before I speak to the amendments before us, I thank my noble friend Lord Hendy and the opposition spokespeople for dealing with the transport groups. They are very technical areas, and I was very grateful to them and the noble Baroness, Lady Pidgeon, for their contributions. I thank the no…
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stedman-Scott, for her amendments on welfare and work. I also thank her for her service in this area; I am sorry that she is not in her place.
Amendment 122A is unnecessary because the Bill and the English devolution accountability framework already ensure…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
29 January 2026
10 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Harris of Haringey and the noble Baronesses, Lady Scott of Bybrook, Lady Pidgeon and Lady O’Neill of Bexley, for their amendments relating to London devolution. As a mere veteran of what the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, described as provincial local government, I f…
My understanding is that discussions are with the GLA, but I will double-check on that and respond to the noble Baroness in writing.
We are putting in place a robust system of overview and scrutiny for the combined authorities. We are also considering, as we discussed with the noble Lord, Lord Bich…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
28 January 2026
3 contributions
Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I appreciate that noble Lords’ enthusiasm for transitional relief on business rates at 12.07 am might not be as keen as mine, so I will be as brief as possible, but it is necessary to set out the detail of the regulations.
Before I discuss the regulations before us in detail, I wish to br…
My Lords, in speaking to this regret amendment in my name, I declare my interest as a councillor in Central Bedfordshire.
At first glance, the statutory instrument may appear technical and relatively uncontroversial with transitional relief, but in reality for many businesses, particularly in hospi…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
27 January 2026
15 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
I thank noble Lords for their scrutiny of the first clauses of the Bill last week. I have replied in writing to some of the questions noble Lords asked me last week, and I hope they have received those replies. I look forward to further scrutiny today.
I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, and th…
My Lords, that was an interesting discussion. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, for his amendments and I welcome the opportunity to discuss the role of spatial development strategies in the new devolution framework.
Amendment 45 would require strategic planning authorities to identify the polic…
+13 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
6 contributions
Local Government Reorganisation
My Lords, in 2024, councils were on the financial edge and sat as part of a patchwork map that did not make any sense to anybody—it did not to me, and I have been involved in local government for 30 years. The consequences of that and 14 years of funding cuts were the crisis in social care, the decl…
I am certainly not calling the result of the Denton by-election at this stage. I do not think we even have a candidate yet, so I think it would be unwise.
In response to the noble Baroness’s question on timing, we have been clear throughout that elections should go ahead unless there is strong just…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
3 contributions
Holocaust Memorial Day
My Lords, it is with great respect and solemn reflection that I move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. As I rise today, I do so with a heavy heart and a deep sense of responsibility.
As noble Lords will be aware, gradually, as time moves on, we lose many of the first-hand survivors…
My Lords, I draw attention to the fact that I am the co-chairman of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation. It is a great pleasure to follow the Minister. I thought reminding us of the survivors we have lost this year was a wonderful way to start a speech. Many of them were friends and people we knew,…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Proceedings
21 January 2026
9 contributions
Local Elections: Cancellation
We are undertaking a once-in-a-generation reorganisation of local government. We have now received proposals on this issue from all areas and from councils across the political spectrum. It is only right that we listen to councils when they express concerns about their capacity. Local leaders know t…
On the noble Lord’s point about the Electoral Commission, we wrote to the Electoral Commission to notify it, and last week I met the commission to discuss the matter. On elections to county councils, our intention is to hold elections for the shadow authorities in 2027.
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
21 January 2026
10 contributions
Local Government (Exclusion of Non-commercial Considerations) (England) Order 2026
My Lords, this order delivers on the Government’s commitment to build a stronger economy in all parts of the country. It gives local authorities in England the tools they need to support local and UK-based businesses and to strengthen local communities through the power of public procurement.
The o…
My Lords, I will intervene briefly. First, I declare a long-gone interest: I was a county councillor many years ago. I always believed, as did my local authority, that, whatever one did in terms of procurement, the overall aim and need was to obtain best value for money in any contracts of any size,…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
20 January 2026
19 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Before I comment on the amendments in this group, I send my very best wishes to the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. We had an online meeting with her last week, and I know how frustrated she is not to be able to be part of this Committee’s work at the moment. I hope that she will be able to return to …
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their amendments on the areas of competence and for what has been a useful and helpful discussion on the subject. Many of the amendments in the group seek to probe the list of mayoral competences and I understand why noble Lords would want to do that, but I want…
+17 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
15 January 2026
9 contributions
Chinese Embassy
My Lords, I do not want to disappoint the noble Lord, so I will say that it would not be appropriate to comment on a live planning application. He would expect me to say that and I say it on behalf of the whole Government, not just MHCLG. National security is the first duty of government more genera…
I understand noble Lords’ frustration about our not yet being able to answer some of the questions about which material considerations have been taken into account, but they will be when we determine the application. This is a decision for planning Ministers, independent of the rest of government. P…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
10 contributions
New Homes: Target
My Lords, I welcome many of the Government’s planning reforms, but the OBR made it clear in November that they would not be enough to hit the target. Recent completions were at a nine-year low. Many sites with planning permission are no longer viable because of escalating costs, and where sites are …
My Lords, there are more than 250,000 empty homes in this country, and that number is rising. What are the Government doing to tackle that scourge of empty properties, as surely it is the quickest way of tackling some of the housing crisis that we face?
+8 more contributions in this session