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English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, the four amendments in this group should be supported in principle. We had a lengthy discussion on cultural and heritage issues last week during earlier Committee days considering the Bill.

Amendment 147, on cultural ecosystem plans, really matters. I support this amendment because it is the means whereby clarity will be produced about who in the mayoral and local authorities is responsible for what, particularly the funding of local cultural assets and support.

7 pm

There is an issue. As I said last week, I do not want to see upwards drift in either powers or responsibilities for matters that would be better held at existing local authority level. That is what I want to achieve. I fully accept that there are places and occasions when you need to think bigger than a single local authority, but the worst outcome from all of this is that local authorities will say that the mayor is doing culture now, and that there are financial implications in that. I just hope that local council tax payers, business rate payers and so on will understand the need to ensure that local government maintains the key responsibility that it has always had for the development of cultural assets in its area. When I was a councillor, that was one of the things we did which we knew drove growth. That is why Amendment 147 is so important, because it provides the cultural ecosystem plan, and I can see that being really very helpful.