English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 24th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Best (CB)]

My Lords, I will speak in support of Amendment 310 from the noble Baroness, Lady Royall of Blaisdon, while also supporting all the other amendments in this group. I declare my interests as a vice-president of the Local Government Association and of the Town and Country Planning Association, and as an honorary member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Amendment 310 would create a duty for strategic authorities to consider the needs of rural communities. It specifically covers land use, development of land and regeneration, housing, employment, health and well-being. Several noble Lords have made the point that there are quite different considerations for these functions when addressing rural needs as opposed to those of urban communities. For example, on housing, many rural areas will see competition for available accommodation from those commuting from elsewhere, from rightsizing retirees and, in many places, from second-home buyers and those letting on a short-term basis of the Airbnb variety. Yet, on average, social housing accounts for just 11% of homes in rural locations, compared with 17% in the country as a whole. Younger people brought up in the locality, including those badly needed for public and private sector jobs, are forced to move away to find somewhere affordable.

On land use, there will be severe constraints on rural areas including green belts, areas of outstanding natural beauty—now known as national landscapes—and local constraints. But urban-rural differences apply to opportunities as well, as the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, said. For example, rural exception sites allow development that would not be permitted elsewhere, and there are opportunities to work with major landowners.

In many respects, there are substantial differences that require different policies and actions for rural communities, yet these communities are likely to comprise only a small fraction of the total population of a mayoralty or combined authority, and pressing priorities from the majority urban areas may drown out the rural voice. A duty to take on board the needs of rural communities would counter this imbalance.

Of course, the mayor or the combined authority could take a far-sighted approach to embracing the rural agenda for their area without any legislative prompting, but this is by no means guaranteed. The amendment provides the safety net that would make sure that rural issues are not neglected in places where towns and cities dominate. I strongly support the amendment.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, I support all these amendments, and in particular the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Best. The tiny village where I have a house, 10 miles from Exeter, is not just a rural community but a farming community. For years, Exeter City Council has wanted to take over the area; those of us living in this tiny village and the other villages round about it know perfectly well that there is not a single person in the city council who has the slightest knowledge of anything to do with rural affairs. It is very important that the Government pick up and take on the fact that rural affairs need to be separately considered.

[Baroness Andrews (Lab)]

My Lords, I regret not having taken part in Committee. If you come to the arguments on Report quite fresh, they have a curiously powerful impact. This afternoon, we have heard speeches on aspects of the amendments on rural needs and ambitions that have been very powerful. We do not have planning and development Bills that often, and I know my noble friend the Minister has been extremely flexible and engaged on many aspects of the Bill, but I do think that a Bill that claims to speak for the whole of development, in terms of the devolution settlement across the UK, and community empowerment has a duty to address the needs of the whole country.

We have had these debates about the absence of the rural voice, rural priority and rural needs as long as I have been in this House, for 25 years. The same arguments have been made by many of the same noble Lords and have grown in urgency rather than diminished. The loss of the unit for rural-proofing was very seriously misjudged.

If the Minister could give some further thought to Amendment 310 in the name of my noble friend, it would be incredibly welcome. It is reasonable, proportionate and comprehensive in what it would achieve, to flag up the seriousness with which the Government take the contribution of rural areas to growth, building community and their specific needs, which have been neglected for far too long.

UK Domestic Visitor Levy

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We would not have such a problem with the cost of living if the previous Government had not driven up cost of living pressures, as evidenced by the action we had to take in this Budget to take an average £150 off household energy bills from April and to freeze rail fares and prescription fees for a year. We understand that potential visitors may have concerns about the effects of a new levy. That is why local leaders will run a formal local consultation before making use of the new power.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

Will the money raised from visitor levies stay with the local area?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

There is a very simple answer to that question, and it is yes.

NHS Industrial Action

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Lord has pre-empted my answer: I am very happy to write to him to give him the details he requested.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

Like everyone else, I think that this strike is unacceptable. Nevertheless, instead of consultation, would it not be possible for the Government to organise extra jobs with the NHS? That is one of the problems that I gather the resident doctors are so concerned about.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The initial offer would have increased the number of training places by 1,000 over three years. The offer has since gone up to 2,000. We recognise that there are shortfalls—it is very patchy and there are differences between departments—which is why we need to have detailed consultations to make sure that the vacancies are in the places that need them. I absolutely agree that we need to increase the number of places available for those doctors.

Fair Funding Review

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I do not agree with the presumption in the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. For too long, an outdated council funding system, based on decades-old data, has entrenched the inequality of which she speaks—we all know that—with those least able to raise council tax and business rates given less favourable funding settlements. This has left some councils on a cliff edge and communities in deprived areas facing service cuts and rising bills, as well as being unable to deliver the economic growth and housing that we know those communities need. Some councils in less deprived areas have benefited disproportionately, building up their reserves. Our reforms will reverse this injustice and make sure that councils will be funded fairly, enabling them to deliver for their communities on services and on the growth that we all want to see.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

In the part of Devon where I live, there are half a dozen separate building projects. As far as I can see, almost none of them is doing much in the way of affordable housing. What are the Government doing to encourage affordable housing in all such projects?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, may be aware that the Government have allocated an unprecedented £39 billion of funding for a new social and affordable homes programme. Our ambition is to deliver around 300,000 social and affordable homes over the programme’s lifetime, with a target to deliver at least 60% of the homes under the programme as social rent. This is really important in both urban and rural communities to make sure that we are able to allocate social and affordable housing in those areas. We will be enabling councils to use their right-to-buy receipts to pair up with the funding from the social and affordable homes programme.

Election Law

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for her question. As we set out in July’s strategy, the Government have committed to introducing more automated approaches to electoral registration. We are actively exploring some very innovative approaches to registration, including leveraging some of the public sector data and digital services to boost registration rates and improve the accuracy of electoral registers. Any new registration processes we bring in will be tested properly to make sure that they work well before we roll them out.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, what are the Government doing to help those who do not have passports, driving licences or other easy identification for being able to vote?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We are looking very hard at expanding the identification forms that we can use to make sure that nobody who is entitled to vote is excluded, including bank cards and so on, so that we make sure to give the widest possible spectrum of ID that people can use to exercise their vote.

New Homes Target

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Tuesday 21st October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I know the paper to which the noble Lord refers. With his ministerial experience, he will know that I cannot comment on leaked documents. However, let us make no mistake that London and the mayor are extremely ambitious about delivering the housing that London needs. The Government recognise its unique challenges, including higher build and labour costs, which have contributed to falls in starts and completions in the capital. We are working in partnership with the mayor and the GLA to accelerate housing delivery and are supporting the development of an ambitious next London Plan. We are already taking action to accelerate housebuilding through planning reform and unlocking large-scale developments such as at Euston. We are also supporting stalled sites in the capital via the new homes accelerator. London will be allocated up to 30% of the £39 billion social and affordable homes programme, granting approximately £11.7 billion to the GLA to support housing delivery in London.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

Just after the war, a large number of prefab houses were built, with great success, and they lasted very well. Is there any good reason why one could not put up a lot of prefabricated houses, which would go a long way towards this number the Government want?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I remember those days and know how fond some of the inhabitants of those prefabricated homes were. Things are moving on; we are now looking at modern methods of construction homes, which could make an important contribution. They deliver high-quality, energy-efficient homes more quickly while creating new and diverse jobs in the sector. We have undertaken bold action to support housebuilders, including in the modern methods of construction sector, reforming the planning system, unblocking sites and increasing supply. We have developed a publicly available specification for MMC homes, which will bring greater clarity to the insurance and warranties market and support the delivery of the quality homes we all want.

Housebuilders: Information Sharing

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The issue of skills and capacity in planning departments has been a real focus of this Government since last July when we were elected. We know that that is one of the areas in which we need to support local authorities. We have put large sums of money into creating 300 new skilled planning roles in local government and improving the pipeline of planners coming through, as well as addressing some of the other skills issues in the sector, which we know are critical to delivering this. Lots of developers have mentioned the building safety regulator, which is another aspect to this, and the noble Lord may know that we have made rapid changes there. That is moving on very quickly now.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, what are the Government doing to encourage more skills and expertise, which I gather are lacking?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble and learned Baroness is quite right. The age profile of some of the skilled workers in the construction sector is higher than we would want it to be. We have put £600 million into improving skills, setting up 10 new technical colleges so that we can encourage young people to take up trades in the construction industry. It is an exciting industry to be in, so I hope that they will follow that through. We are trying to encourage some of those people in the construction sector who are getting closer to retirement age to take on roles as trainers of young people, so that we pass on the skills of the current generation to the next generation.

Planning: Energy Efficiency and Fire Safety

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I do not know if the noble Lord was in the Chamber when I spoke about this last week, but we are aware of the building safety regulator’s difficulties. We have put in additional funding and are working with the regulator to improve performance, particularly on the gateway issues. It is very important that we get this balance right. We want our buildings to be safe, and the building safety regulator must be able to do its job properly. We also want to move things on for the development industry so that developers can get through the gateways as quickly as they can; both things are important. I will not give the noble Lord an exact date—I do not suppose he would have expected me to—but we are working with the building safety regulator to move this on as quickly as possible.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, I am absolutely delighted about the solar panels measures, because I have been asking questions of this Government about the fact that locally, in east Devon, there is about to be a new town of 20,000 people with not a single solar panel on any of the buildings. How tough will the Government be in seeing that the solar panels regulations are actually carried out by entrepreneurs who have no desire whatever to put them on roofs.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

As this is incorporated into the planning process, it will become part of how planning is done so that it will be put in from the outset. We will accelerate the specific types of infrastructure, including making sure that, as people put planning applications in, we look at them to make sure that buildings are fit for purpose, do not need retrofitting and will have solar panels and, where appropriate, ground source heat pumps. Our commitment is to get to net zero as quickly as we can while making sure the planning system is fit for purpose in delivering that across the country.

Religious Hate Crime

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, on the unfortunate stats that the noble Baroness raises, she is quite right. The Question today is about how there is too much religious hatred. Out of all hate crimes, 25% are religious hate crimes. I am working and engaging with all communities, of all faiths, and she can rest assured that that includes the Muslim faith. As I said before, I am visiting the Woolf Institute tomorrow to hear from Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders in particular and to talk about how interfaith—to go to the very premise of the Question—is playing a part to alleviate hate crime and religious hatred in our country.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, can the Minister advise us as to what the Department for Education is doing in relation to advice to schools?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

I will just say to the noble and learned Baroness that it is for the Department for Education to better advise her. I am sure that she does not need any advice from me, knowing her experience in this area.

European Union

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The Prime Minister has been unambiguous on that point, and that is not up for debate.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, do the Government support the free movement of young people between Europe and the UK?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The UK has no plans for an EU-wide youth mobility scheme. There will be no return to freedom of movement, and that includes in relation to school trips. Although the UK recognises the deep importance of cultural and educational exchanges between the UK and other nations, any discussions and decisions relating to our policy on school trip travel have to be made with due regard to the proper functioning of our immigration system.