Draft West Midlands Combined Authority (Functions and amendment) Order 2017

Colleen Fletcher Excerpts

Monday 27th March 2017 General Committees

[Kelvin Hopkins]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Evans, however briefly. I endorse everything my hon. Friend said about the great metropolitan counties of the past that were abolished by a Conservative Government. We seem to be inching back in that direction, though we are not going fast or far enough and, of course, the moneys allocated are not much in real terms.

I have one simple question. I think the Minister mentioned an authority in Bedford in his list of towns, after Stratford-on-Avon. Did he mean Bedford?

[Colleen Fletcher (Coventry North East) (Lab)]

It is Bedworth, I believe.

[Kelvin Hopkins]

I represent a town in the county of Bedfordshire, which is not in the west midlands. That was my simple point. If the Minister said Bedworth, I must have misheard him.

[Colleen Fletcher]

No, he did say Bedford, but it is Bedworth in actual fact.

[Kelvin Hopkins]

I did not mishear, then.