To ask His Majesty's Government whether the fiscal devolution roadmap, to be published alongside the Autumn Budget, will include a weighting for rural sparsity and remoteness within the arrangements for the retention of business rates and income tax by strategic authorities; and whether those arrangements will provide for a minimum...

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the fiscal devolution roadmap, to be published alongside the Autumn Budget, will include a weighting for rural sparsity and remoteness within the arrangements for the retention of business rates and income tax by strategic authorities; and whether those arrangements will provide for a minimum...

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide for the appointment of commissioners in rural areas within strategic authorities that meet a defined rural population threshold such as 20 per cent; and what assessment they have made of the powers to be made available for that purpose...

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide for the appointment of commissioners in rural areas within strategic authorities that meet a defined rural population threshold such as 20 per cent; and what assessment they have made of the powers to be made available for that purpose...

Motion that this House has considered Government support for rural upper tier local authorities. Agreed to on question.

Motion that this House has considered Government support for rural upper tier local authorities. Agreed to on question.

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for rural upper tier local authorities.

I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association, and I am extremely worried about the widening gap in opportunity, social mobility and economic growth between rural and urban areas. Rural areas are being held...

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for rural upper tier local authorities.

I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association, and I am extremely worried about the widening gap in opportunity, social mobility and economic growth between rural and urban areas. Rural areas are being held...

I am sure that the issues in Shropshire that the hon. Lady mentions are the same as those that we in Cornwall have experienced. Does she agree that the move to a mayoral share of income tax is not a detriment to non-mayoral areas like ours but an opportunity to...

I am sure that the issues in Shropshire that the hon. Lady mentions are the same as those that we in Cornwall have experienced. Does she agree that the move to a mayoral share of income tax is not a detriment to non-mayoral areas like ours but an opportunity to...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I would need to see the detail of that proposal and what it would mean. Shropshire is already a unitary authority and is essentially at the bottom of the list for a devolution plan, so that seems too far off. There seems to...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I would need to see the detail of that proposal and what it would mean. Shropshire is already a unitary authority and is essentially at the bottom of the list for a devolution plan, so that seems too far off. There seems to...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this important debate. Like her, I am passionate about local government. I find myself in Cornwall corner here today, but I am proud to be a Member...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this important debate. Like her, I am passionate about local government. I find myself in Cornwall corner here today, but I am proud to be a Member...

The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech, and he is absolutely right about road mileage. Devon has to maintain over 8,000 miles of road, which is the most of any upper-tier authority in the country. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that partitioning Exeter off from the rest of Devon—from...

The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech, and he is absolutely right about road mileage. Devon has to maintain over 8,000 miles of road, which is the most of any upper-tier authority in the country. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that partitioning Exeter off from the rest of Devon—from...

I understand the Devon road network, which is similar to Norfolk’s—Norfolk and Devon’s councils were paired—and there are obvious challenges with it. I am sure the Minister heard the hon. Gentleman’s point about local government reorganisation, but I will not comment on it. I can barely understand Norfolk’s proposals, let...

I understand the Devon road network, which is similar to Norfolk’s—Norfolk and Devon’s councils were paired—and there are obvious challenges with it. I am sure the Minister heard the hon. Gentleman’s point about local government reorganisation, but I will not comment on it. I can barely understand Norfolk’s proposals, let...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship again, Mrs Barker, after a bit of a break since the last time.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for setting out so well the funding challenges facing upper-tier councils. She quite correctly articulated the challenges...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship again, Mrs Barker, after a bit of a break since the last time.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for setting out so well the funding challenges facing upper-tier councils. She quite correctly articulated the challenges...

Meur ras —it is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I congratulate the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) on securing this important debate.

I want to focus on SEND and home-to-school transport. On SEND, Cornwall is the 11th lowest funded of 151 local authorities, receiving less...

Meur ras —it is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I congratulate the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) on securing this important debate.

I want to focus on SEND and home-to-school transport. On SEND, Cornwall is the 11th lowest funded of 151 local authorities, receiving less...

The hon. Gentleman is making an important and fundamental point: everything costs more when it is spread out. For example, bin collections cost a huge amount more for unitary authorities. Home-to-school transport is not just for children with SEND but for children who cannot catch the bus to school because...

The hon. Gentleman is making an important and fundamental point: everything costs more when it is spread out. For example, bin collections cost a huge amount more for unitary authorities. Home-to-school transport is not just for children with SEND but for children who cannot catch the bus to school because...

I do agree with the hon. Lady. I cannot believe that in the 21st century it is beyond the wit of man or woman to calculate the major costs that affect our rural and remote coastal areas compared with the costs for our urban counterparts. We are not trying to...

I do agree with the hon. Lady. I cannot believe that in the 21st century it is beyond the wit of man or woman to calculate the major costs that affect our rural and remote coastal areas compared with the costs for our urban counterparts. We are not trying to...

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for setting the scene incredibly well. It is good to see another supreme example of her fighting for her constituents, as she always does.

As the Member of Parliament...

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for setting the scene incredibly well. It is good to see another supreme example of her fighting for her constituents, as she always does.

As the Member of Parliament...

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this debate, which is important and relevant to me.

I will probably shorten my speech a little, as the Minister is getting a double dose of Cornwall this...

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this debate, which is important and relevant to me.

I will probably shorten my speech a little, as the Minister is getting a double dose of Cornwall this...

It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Barker. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) on securing this important debate. My very good friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover), warned earlier against pitting different...

It is an honour to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Barker. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) on securing this important debate. My very good friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover), warned earlier against pitting different...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan), and I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for rural business and the rural powerhouse.

This Government have rebuilt the local government funding formula...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan), and I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for rural business and the rural powerhouse.

This Government have rebuilt the local government funding formula...

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Barker. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this important debate.

Before moving to rural South Devon in 2007, I had spent all my life living in and around major cities: Edinburgh,...

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Barker. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this important debate.

Before moving to rural South Devon in 2007, I had spent all my life living in and around major cities: Edinburgh,...

The point of combined authorities is to derive economies of scale from placing urban and rural areas together. Some of those economies of scale can be driven by the density in the urban area. Does my hon. Friend agree that it makes no sense to split up the urban and...

The point of combined authorities is to derive economies of scale from placing urban and rural areas together. Some of those economies of scale can be driven by the density in the urban area. Does my hon. Friend agree that it makes no sense to split up the urban and...

I absolutely agree. It makes no sense to any of us in Devon. I have spent the entire summer listening to constituents who are deeply distressed about what has happened, which leaves them in a rump rural local authority with no option for economic growth or regeneration.

I absolutely agree. It makes no sense to any of us in Devon. I have spent the entire summer listening to constituents who are deeply distressed about what has happened, which leaves them in a rump rural local authority with no option for economic growth or regeneration.