Autumn Budget 2026

Baroness Kitching of Penistone Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kitching of Penistone (LD) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, I feel honoured to be addressing this House for the first time on such a pivotal event in the political calendar as the Budget. However, unlike many noble Lords who have made contributions today, I make no claims of any economic expertise and will instead offer some brief personal insights to add to today’s broad-ranging debate.

First of all, some thanks: I have been overwhelmed by the warmth of welcome that I have received since my introduction to the House just 10 days ago. That welcome has come from noble Lords across the House, as well the amazing staff in this historic—and rather baffling—building. My thanks go to Black Rod’s team, the doorkeepers, clerks, attendants, librarians and other staff, many of whom have noticed me looking lost and pointed me in the right direction.

I consider myself truly lucky that I arrived in this House to work alongside noble friends who I have known for many years, and who have been so instrumental in my political career so far. I give particular thanks to my noble friends from Yorkshire who introduced me: my noble friends Lady Pinnock, of Cleckheaton, and Lord Mohammed of Tinsley. They are both passionate champions of the power of local government, of Yorkshire and of the opportunities to change people’s lives by doing politics well. I know I will continue to learn from them and from other noble friends on these Benches for many years to come. I also thank the staff in the Liberal Democrat Whips’ Office, whose knowledge, insight and understanding I have already relied, and will continue to rely, on. We learn by being curious and by asking questions, and I rarely consider a question too stupid to be asked.

I wish to pay tribute to the town that is my home and that has given me my title: the market town of Penistone, in South Yorkshire. But, first, I must make a confession. I am not actually from Yorkshire. When I first stood for election in 2018, for the role of Mayor of South Yorkshire, the campaign involved extensive media coverage and scrutiny. I was well briefed by my noble friend Lord Scriven, but one question caught me out: what football team did I support? I had to admit to my lack of Yorkshire birthright, my lack of interest in football generally and my preference, if pressed, for supporting Leicester City. Perhaps that is why I lost out in that particular election.

Despite having lived there now for more than 20 years, believing that Yorkshire Tea is the only tea worth drinking, and having two wonderful Yorkshire-born daughters and a husband who has never lived, and would never live, in any other county, I know that I will always be a “comer inner”, as they call them in Penistone. Instead of being born and raised in Penistone, I chose it as my home and the place to raise my family—and to represent on Barnsley Council—because it is a place that I love.

For those that do not know Penistone, it is a historic market town, mentioned in the Domesday Book as Pengestone, and situated on the edge of the beautiful Peak District. It is well connected by road—though certainly not by rail—to Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester, and it is forever grumpy about the 1974 local government reorganisation that took it out of the West Riding of Yorkshire and lumped it in with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. That particular move disbanded Penistone Urban District Council and formed the successor parish of Penistone Town Council, of which I am honoured to be a councillor, the current chair and, therefore, town mayor of Penistone, a role I will hold until May next year. In that role, I am a champion of Penistone and all its village communities—something I intend to continue in this House.

We have many wonderful things to recommend Penistone to any visitors. Some highlights are our heritage cinema, the Penistone Paramount, where films have been shown continuously since 1914; a beautifully scenic stretch of the trans-Pennine trail, which is a multi-user route that replaced the legendary Woodhead train line; Penistone Cricket Club, which offers cricket facilities for all ages and genders, with its brand new pavilion that opened this summer; and displays and information from talented local historians who have unearthed a fascinating claim to Penistone being the birthplace of modern association football—with apologies to anyone from Sheffield in the Chamber who may disagree.

What do all these projects have in common? They have an element of support and funding from local government. As a Barnsley borough councillor for eight years until I step down this year, and still as a town councillor, I fight continuously for Penistone to get its fair share of council funding, not just for projects such as those listed above but for everyday basic services. I know that this is a familiar battle for many noble Lords with experience in local government.

But I am not naive. I know that running any council is a deeply challenging job, made harder by a desperate shortfall in funding for even statutory services, such as social care, SEND and home-to-school transport. Colleagues in local government are forced to tinker round the edges of council budgets to secure money for projects that make a positive difference to our communities, while at the same time lacking adequate, long-term, stable funding for essential services. They are creative at accessing grant funding, match funding and combined authority funding—anything to try to do more with less. I know that it is easy in opposition to ask for more for local government, and it is disappointing when this Budget is yet another that does not deliver on that.

As I start my work in this House, I look forward to and welcome the debates and conversations on this and on many other issues. It truly is the honour of my life to be given the opportunity to work here, with noble Lords from all sides, to make a difference to the lives of people in Penistone, Yorkshire and beyond.