English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Baroness Prashar Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Prashar (CB)]

My Lords, I too am delighted that the Government have decided to bring forward this amendment to include culture as the eighth area of competence within the Bill. I hope that the term culture will encapsulate arts and heritage as well, as the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, has argued. I regard this as a very significant and constructive step, and I too have been very pleased to work closely with colleagues across parties in developing amendments which have helped to bring the issue to the fore.

I also thank the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, for the time and care she has taken to engage with us. I would also like to acknowledge the role played by Trevor MacFarlane and Culture Commons for the support they provided to us and across both Houses.

At Second Reading, I argued that devolution cannot succeed with structures which promote only growth—important though that is. Devolution will succeed only if people feel more connected to the places in which they live, and if they are able to participate and see themselves as part of shared civic and cultural life. On that, in turn, rests the strength of the place’s social and cultural fabric. In a society such as ours, the question is not whether we live together alongside difference; the real question is what holds us together. The answer is culture, which is fundamental. It is a thread which weaves difference into unity. Culture is the quiet architecture which shapes values and relationships.

As this agenda moves into implementation, there will be important questions to address about how local mayors will make this a reality, what guidance will be given, how we maintain the arm’s-length principle at the subregional level and how strategic authorities can add value rather than cut across the work local authorities are already delivering in this policy practice.

I am delighted that this has been included. I will not develop the arguments, but it is important to understand why culture is a social glue in building communities at a local level. Therefore, I commend the Government for bringing this forward.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, like others, I commend the Government for their Amendment 2. We had a good debate about this in Committee, with significant support from across your Lordships’ House for the Government to expand the list of strategic competences in this way. As I hope the Minister can hear, we are very glad that she has done so. As she can see from the other amendments tabled in this group, however, there remains enthusiasm for ensuring that we do not just look at culture but think of culture, heritage and the contribution that our creative industries can make across the board.

In Committee, the Minister argued that this was implicit in many of the other strategic competences. Indeed, when one looks down the list, one sees immediately the huge role that culture and heritage can play in skills and employment support, housing and strategic planning, economic development and regeneration, the environment and climate change and health and well-being. She was right to argue that culture and heritage should play a part in the work of the new authorities in tackling these, but I am very glad that there is further encouragement, because we know that not all local authorities have been as enlightened or have taken advantage of the opportunities that culture and heritage can bring.

As I said in Committee, when I had the pleasure of being the Arts and Heritage Minister, I was critical of local authorities—of all parties and at every tier—that were cutting their spending on culture and therefore missing out on savings in their health and well-being budgets, for instance, and missing out on opportunities for economic development. When one sees what is going on in some of the coastal towns around the Kent and Sussex coasts, such as Margate and Eastbourne, and when one looks at the rippling effect down the Tyne and up the north-east coast in towns such as Whitley Bay, one can see the huge value that arts, culture and heritage can play in delivering the priorities of local authorities, so I am glad that this nudge is being put in. However, I am curious to hear from the Minister why the Government have chosen their minimalist description of just “culture”, rather than some of the alternatives that we looked at in Committee and that other noble Lords have proposed.

I echo the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and the noble Baroness, Lady Prashar. Often, when people think about culture or heritage, they think of it solely as a subsidised sector. The noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, is right to talk about the importance of that: this is where the new, the experimental, the avant-garde, and the works that we will come to love in years to come can first be tried. However, most theatres in this country are commercial rather than subsidised, and most of the live music venues that are struggling but surviving in our counties are small businesses. It is important to stress the commercial element of culture and heritage, and the symbiosis between the two. Most people going to the theatre do not know whether they are going to a subsidised theatre or a commercial theatre; they are just glad that there is one there that is putting on things that attract people and boost tourism.

While there is enthusiasm for the opportunities presented by the visitor levy that the Government are embracing, as we heard from the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, and others, there is concern that this could be spent on fixing potholes rather than fixing the deficits in cultural and heritage spending that we see in some local authorities. If the Minister has some comments to make on that at the end of this group, I know that would be welcomed. I commend the Minister for government Amendment 2, and I hope that, even at this late stage, she will look at some of the alternative wordings and have some words of reassurance for your Lordships.