Committee proceeding and Debate on bill on Wednesday, 4 February 2026, in the House of Lords, led by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield and Baroness Taylor of Stevenage. The answering members were Baroness Scott of Bybrook, Baroness Stedman-Scott and Lord Jamieson.

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Lords committee stage fifth day. Clause 33 agreed to. Schedules 13 and 14 agreed to. Clause 34 agreed to. Schedule 15 agreed to. Clause 35 agreed to. Schedule 16 agreed to. Clause 36 agreed to. Schedule 17 agreed to. Clause 37 agreed to. Schedule 18 agreed to. Clause 38 agreed to. Schedule 19 agreed to. Clause 39 agreed to. Schedule 20 agreed to. Clauses 40 and 41 agreed to. Clause 42, as amended, agreed to. Clause 43 agreed to. Schedule 21 agreed to. Clause 44 under consideration.

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 852 cc579-632GC
Session: 2024-26
Department: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Legislative stage: Committee stage
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords Grand Committee
Related items: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill 2024-26. Brought from the Commons
Thursday, 27 November 2025
Bills
House of Lords; English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. Constitution Committee sixteenth report
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Parliamentary committees
House of Lords; English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee forty-fifth report
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Parliamentary committees
House of Lords
Proceeding contributions: Baroness Pinnock | 852 c579GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Baroness Pinnock
126: Clause 35, page 39, line 14, at end insert—
“(2)...; Baroness Pinnock | 852 c580GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is really good to be able to take part in the debate on the devolution Bill, particu...; Lord Geddes | 852 c580GC (Link to this contribution)
I am sorry to interrupt the noble Baroness, but would she prefer to sit when speaking?; Baroness Pinnock | 852 cc580-1GC (Link to this contribution)
I will stand, as I am not speaking for long, and will sit if I need to, but I thank the noble Lor...; Lord Lansley | 852 cc1703-583GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 131. There is an interesting pot-pourri of subjects in this g...; Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 852 cc583-5GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I warmly welcome back the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. Having broken my ankle before, ...; Baroness Freeman of Steventon | 852 cc584-6GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Amendment 241E is in my name. I hope that it does not need much introduction, because i...; Lord Shipley | 852 c586GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, this is a very interesting group of amendments. I look forward to the responses of the ...; Baroness Shah | 852 cc586-7GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I apologise for not having been here previously. I was not a Member of the House when t...; Lord Best | 852 cc587-8GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I have added my name to Amendment 131 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, also...; Lord Jamieson | 852 cc588-9GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I, too, welcome back the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock—it is great to see her back here ...; Baroness Dacres of Lewisham | 852 cc1705-590GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for tabling Amendment 132. Local planning authorities alread...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 cc1708-592GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I also welcome back the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. It is very nice to see her back i...; Lord Jamieson | 852 c592GC (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister for her response. The key issue here is the one to which I referred. We have...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 cc592-4GC (Link to this contribution)
I understand what the noble Lord says. I do not have the statistics in front of me but I have vis...; Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 852 c594GC (Link to this contribution)
The Minister said that the judgment was on 15 January. If she and her department consider that th...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 cc594-6GC (Link to this contribution)
I think it would be best if we look at the legal judgment and come back to the noble Baroness on ...; Lord Lansley | 852 c596GC (Link to this contribution)
Forgive me, but I wish to speak before the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, responds to the debate. ...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 c596GC (Link to this contribution)
As I am out of time, may I respond to the noble Lord in writing? I am happy to do that.; Baroness Pinnock | 852 c596GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, this has been quite a long debate on a number of issues regarding strategic planning an...; Lord Best | 852 c597GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Best
133: Schedule 18, page 216, line 30, at end insert—
“Support...; Lord Best | 852 cc597-8GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak to the three amendments in this group, starting with Amendment 133, which ...; Lord Best | 852 cc579-599GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, development corporations will be the chosen vehicle for the delivery of the new generat...; Lord Lansley | 852 cc581-600GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I want to say a word in support of Amendment 133 from the noble Lord, Lord Best, about ...; Lord Mawson | 852 cc600-2GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support Amendment 133 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Best. I was involved in the...; Lord Shipley | 852 c586GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will be brief. I support all three of the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord B...; Lord Jamieson | 852 cc587-603GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will also speak briefly in support of what the noble Lord, Lord Best, has raised with...; Lord Wilson of Sedgefield | 852 cc589-604GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Best, for his keen interest in and support for the Governm...; Lord Best | 852 cc604-592GC (Link to this contribution)
I am very grateful to noble Lords for their support. The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, is as experien...; Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 852 c605GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
140: Schedule 20, page 225, line 22, at end inse...; Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 852 cc597-606GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Amendment 140 would strengthen the link between economic growth and health improvement,...; Baroness Freeman of Steventon | 852 cc606-7GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will introduce Amendment 141B in my name. This amendment is designed to help address ...; Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle | 852 cc607-8GC (Link to this contribution)
I will be very brief. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Freeman of Steventon, a...; Lord Hunt of Kings Heath | 852 cc608-0GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I was going to speak in support of the amendment of my noble friend Lady Royall, which ...; Baroness Freeman of Steventon | 852 c600GC (Link to this contribution)
This is supposed to be a guide to best practice. The noble Lord has noted some of the poor practi...; Lord Hunt of Kings Heath | 852 cc601-9GC (Link to this contribution)
We also have a terrible risk-averse culture among regulators in this country, which we need to ta...; Lord Mawson | 852 cc609-610GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I, too, support the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, as well a...; Lord Shipley | 852 cc610-1GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, for his salutary warnings. It is very real when yo...; Baroness Scott of Bybrook | 852 c611GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses, Lady Royall of Blaisdon and Lady Freeman of Steventon, fo...; Lord Hunt of Kings Heath | 852 c611GC (Link to this contribution)
It is interesting that at the moment the Government are trying to get the NHS to have an addition...; Lord Mawson | 852 c612GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I absolutely feel the pain of the noble Baroness, because we also feel the pain from th...; Baroness Scott of Bybrook | 852 c612GC (Link to this contribution)
I thank the two noble Lords for their interventions. I will just say that I do not believe it is ...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 cc612-4GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I echo the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, that this has been a very thoughtfu...; Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 852 cc613-5GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend the Minister for her response, because she clearl...; Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 852 c605GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering
141: Schedule 20, page 225, line 22, at end i...; Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 852 cc605-617GC (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce the amendments in this group. I thank my noble fri...; Earl of Clancarty | 852 cc617-607GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will be fairly brief, because last week we had a considerable discussion on cultural ...; Lord Freyberg | 852 cc607-618GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I also support Amendments 141, 146 and 222 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady McIn...; Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe | 852 cc618-9GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, as my noble friend the Minister knows, I wholly welcome the Bill, and I am delighted to...; Lord Shipley | 852 cc619-609GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the four amendments in this group should be supported in principle. We had a lengthy di...; Lord Jamieson | 852 cc609-620GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak briefly to these amendments that relate to culture. I again welcome the go...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 cc611-622GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Pickering —who never tests my patience, sh...; Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 852 cc622-612GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am grateful to all who have spoken; it goes to show the breadth of knowledge we have,...; Baroness Stedman-Scott | 852 cc618-9GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Baroness Stedman-Scott
148: Clause 42, page 41, leave out lines 35 to 39
...; Baroness Stedman-Scott | 852 cc619-624GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to open this debate on behalf of my noble friend Lady Scott of Bybrook...; Lord Shipley | 852 cc620-5GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will be very brief because we ought to hear from the Minister on the range of questio...; Lord Wilson of Sedgefield | 852 cc622-6GC (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the noble Baroness for Amendments 148, 149, 150 and 153. I will try to clarify t...; Baroness Stedman-Scott | 852 cc626-8GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, the Government have now confirmed a substantial programme of reform of the Local Govern...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 c628GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
151: Clause 42, page 42, line 12, at end insert...; Baroness Taylor of Stevenage | 852 cc628-4GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
154: Clause 42, page 43, line 8, at end insert—...; Lord Wilson of Sedgefield | 852 cc628-9GC (Link to this contribution)
I am intervening as the Whip just to say that this is rather a large group, which will probably t...; Lord Addington | 852 c629GC (Link to this contribution)
Moved by
Lord Addington
158: Clause 44, page 44, line 27, after the first “to” insert...; Lord Addington | 852 c629GC (Link to this contribution)
That is a challenge that the Committee should probably face more often.
The amendment calls...; Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle | 852 cc630-1GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak to Amendment 159 and a number of other amendments in this gro...; Baroness Freeman of Steventon | 852 cc631-3GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 159, to which I have added my name, and a series of amendm...; Baroness Boycott | 852 cc633-4GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I am very pleased to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Freeman. What I have to add is tha...; Lord Hunt of Kings Heath | 852 cc634-5GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, Amendment 165A is in my name. It seeks to
“include wheelchair and community equip...; Baroness Royall of Blaisdon | 852 cc635-6GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, my Amendment 166 would provide a clear mechanism for implementation and accountability ...; Lord Shinkwin | 852 cc636-629GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 165A in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath,...; Baroness Griffin of Princethorpe | 852 c637GC (Link to this contribution)
My Lords, I support Amendment 165A. One in three eligible disabled people are still waiting for a...
Subjects: Compulsory purchase Advertising Construction Devolution Arts Brownfield sites Culture Disability aids Housing Health Land Environment protection Investment Energy Fire prevention Land drainage Local government Planning Parish and town councils National parks Exercise Combined authorities Mayoral development corporations Sports Mayors Local Government Pension Scheme Music venues Local growth plans Agent of change
Legislation: English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill 2024-26
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on hansard.parliament.uk

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Secondary information

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