English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Baroness Andrews Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[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.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab)]

My Lords, I rise to speak about this based on my experience and the report I helped author for the Co-op commission on rural poverty some four years ago. What was clear to us then was the growing disparity between our towns and villages and our cities. The disparity manifested itself in the flight of public services: principally transport, but other services too. Unless we get the balance right with the creation of the new strategic authorities, villages and small towns will feel very much left behind, and that is not right or just. I know that that is not the Government’s intention. Amendment 310 goes a long way to trying to ensure that we get that balance in the right place.

Combined mayoral authorities are, by and large, a very good thing, but applying them to rural areas is difficult. In creating these new combined mayoral authorities, we have to ensure that a balance is sought between town and country. Otherwise, the smaller communities will feel left behind, left out and disadvantaged. We have to take measures to adjust and remedy that disconnection. Otherwise, I fear that the flight of public services and professional services in rural communities will continue apace. As I said earlier, that is not right or just, and it undermines the need in those communities for, in particular, new housing and new services related to housing.