Question
Under these proposals, big planning decisions that are currently taken locally will be taken miles away, in a big population centre with no understanding of the local ground. Is that not against the devolution powers that the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, and you yourself have championed as being good for the country?
Answer
I am delighted that the hon. Member has managed to find his seat today—he looks quite comfortable there, and there is not a prayer card in sight, as far as I can see. Actually, he makes the important point that local politics matters. What we do not want to do through reorganisation is take away the local, so the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 requires us to bring forward neighbourhood governance arrangements before Christmas. We want to try to have a unit of government within a council—to hardwire it and mainstream it, so that local councillors are given the respect that comes with being frontline councillors with the powers and resources to get things done in their area. We can do that at a bigger level and in a different way. To be clear—although I know the hon. Member did not mean it—the Reform party is not taking the Government to court; local authorities have decided to issue claims. We need to make sure that we are not using local authorities for party political reasons.42% point-scoring 17% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (33/100)
The reply only partly answered both parts of the question. On local accountability, it agreed that local politics matters and said reorganisation should not remove the local element, but it did not say whether planning decisions moving to a distant population centre would lose local understanding. On devolution, it cited the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 and neighbourhood governance, but did not say whether the reorganisation proposals are consistent with the devolution principles raised. The reply was mostly hedged, so the questioner would likely need to ask again for specific commitments.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Does the Government accept that the proposals would move big planning decisions currently taken locally to a large population centre far from the areas affected, without local understanding of the ground? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply acknowledges that local politics matters and says reorganisation should not take away the local, but it never states whether the Government accepts that planning decisions would move to a distant population centre without local understanding. "We can do that at a bigger level and in a different way" is a general assertion rather than a direct answer. |
| Is the Government's view that the proposals are consistent with the devolution principles that the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Minister have championed? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply points to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 and to neighbourhood governance and a council-level unit of government, which are concrete devolution-related measures. It does not say whether the reorganisation proposals are consistent with the devolution principles the question cites, so the item is only partly answered. |