Caroline Nokes
MP for Romsey and Southampton North · Conservative · United Kingdom
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He will be conscious that there are in the region of 15 more Members wishing to speak in this debate, and we have not yet heard from the Minister, so I am not minded to accept a closure motion at this point.”
“(3) For paragraph (3A) substitute— “(3A) The returning officer shall also provide each polling station with such equipment as is necessary to ensure that relevant persons are able to vote independently and in secret, including— (a) tactile equipment that enables the voter to navigate the ballot paper and accurately mark their chosen candi…”
“(2) During the period commencing 30 minutes before the time appointed for the taking of a poll at an election, and ending 30 minutes after the close of the said poll, a person shall not, in or in the curtilage of a polling station or in any place within 50 metres of such station, for the purpose of promoting the interest of a political pa…”
“New clause 97— Power of Electoral Commission to require disclosure from financial institutions — “In Schedule 19B of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (investigatory powers of Commission), after paragraph 1 insert— “Power to require disclosure from financial institutions 1A(1) The Commission may give a disclosure n…”
“() In paragraph 6 of schedule 6 (Donations from impermissible donors), after “section 54(1)(a)” insert— “or section 55B.” (8) In Schedule 20, in Table after Section 56(3) or (4) (failure to return donations) On summary conviction: statutory maximum or 6 months On indictment: fine or 1 year” Insert— Section 55A(8) (cap on donations) On sum…”
“(2) The specified elections for the purposes of subsection (1) are— (a) UK parliamentary elections, and (b) local government elections in England and Wales.”
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“(2) The conditions are that— (a) an application has been made to a local planning authority for planning permission for development on the area of land, (b) the area of land has not been allocated for development in a local plan or any Land Use Framework, (c) the area of land has been used for agricultural purposes, (d) two or more Agricultural Land Classification assessments have been undertaken in the last 10 years, and (e) the planning applicant and the current owner of the area of land are in disagreement regarding the quality of the area of land. (3) An assessment under subsection (1) must— (a) be conducted by an independent surveying organisation, and (b) determine the area of land’s suitability for development.”
“(2) For the purposes of this section, “relevant activity” means the making of an order or regulations, or any other exercise of power, relating to the reorganisation or restructuring of one or more local authorities under this Act.’ New clause 38— Land quality assessments — ‘(1) Within six months of the passage of this Act, the Secretary of State must make regulations to enable a local authority to facilitate an assessment of the quality of an area of land within its area where the conditions in subsection (2) apply.”
“(2) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.’ This new clause would require the Secretary of State to make regulations to establish a recall process for Councillors who have been found to have breached their council’s code of conduct. New clause 35— Consideration of impact on local elections — ‘(1) The Secretary of State must take steps to ensure a relevant activity does not— (a) delay, (b) postpone, or (c) lead to the cancellation of, any election of members to any local authority affected by the relevant activity.”
“(3) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.’ This new clause replaces the duty to consider an expression of interest in the Localism Act 2011 with a duty triggering a joint review and requiring local authorities to work collaboratively with communities and service users to shape local services. New clause 34— Councillor standards — ‘(1) Within six months of the passage of this Act, the Secretary of State must make regulations to establish a recall process for councillors who have been found to have breached their council’s code of conduct.”
“(4) For the purposes of this section— “relevant authority” means any public body responsible for delivering a local service; “relevant body” means— (a) a voluntary or community body; (b) a body, person, or trust which is established solely for a charitable purpose; (c) a parish council; (d) a group of at least ten users of a local service; (e) two or more persons who are employed by a relevant authority; (f) such other persons as the Secretary of State may by regulations specify.” (2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision that is consequential on this section.”
“(2) A joint review under subsection (1) must— (a) enable the relevant body to shape the provision, commissioning, or design of the service through a set period of consultation with the relevant authority; (b) be concluded within a reasonable timeframe, as prescribed in statutory guidance to be issued by the Secretary of State following consultation with community organisations and public bodies; (c) produce outcomes that, following the conclusion of the review, should be enacted by the relevant authority through any necessary changes to the provision, commissioning or design of the service. (3) The Secretary of State must issue guidance about the form and conduct of consultation under paragraph (2)(a), which must include measures to ensure that a relevant body can participate meaningfully in the decision-making process.”
“(3) Regulations made under this section are subject to affirmative resolution procedure.’ This new clause would allow the Secretary of State to authorise a local authority to engage the compulsory acquisition function under Schedule 15 of this Act if the land is considered dormant. New clause 27— Community right to challenge: duty to undertake joint reviews — ‘(1) In Part 5 of the Localism Act 2011, omit Chapter 2 and insert— “80A Duty to undertake joint reviews (1) A relevant authority must conduct a joint review if a request is submitted by a relevant body.”
“(2) Land of community value is considered dormant if— (a) the land has been included in the authority’s list of assets of community value under section 86A for five years continuously, (b) a notice of relevant disposal under section 86M was issued at least once during the five year period under sub-paragraph (a), (c) there has been a preferred community buyer whose offer was rejected despite the buyer offering the value price determined under section 86T or an agreed price with the owner by the end of the negotiation period (see section 86S(4)), and (d) the owner has not entered into a relevant disposal of the land with any other buyer during the permitted sale period under section 86M(6).”
“(3) The Secretary of State may create guidance for strategic authorities regarding the content of the training in subsection (2)(a).’ This new clause would create a requirement for councillors to receive training following the designation, creation or merging of any class of strategic authority. It allows the Secretary of State to issue guidance about the content of this training. New clause 26— Local authority acquisition of dormant assets — ‘(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations made by statutory instrument enable a local authority to carry out functions relating to compulsory acquisition of land under section 226A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (inserted by Schedule 15 of this Act) where the local authority is satisfied that any land of community value to be purchased within the authority area is dormant.”
“New clause 20— Training for councillors — ‘(1) The Secretary of State must make regulations which require a strategic authority to provide training for councillors following the designation, creation, or merger of any class of strategic authority. (2) Regulations under this section must— (a) make provision for training within six months of any designation, creation or merger, and every four years thereafter. (b) make provision for training to apply to all levels of local government within the area of the newly designated strategic authority, (c) provide that training under addresses any changes to the strategic authority’s governance practice, and (d) specify a period during which councillors must complete the training under subsection (2)(a).”
“(2) The regulations in subsection (1) are subject to the affirmative procedure.’ This new clause would allow the Secretary of State to introduce a proportional representation voting system for local authority councillors. New clause 19— Mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners: alternative vote system — ‘(1) Within three months beginning on the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must by regulations make provision for the use of the alternative vote system in elections of mayors and police and crime commissioners. (2) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.’ This new clause would require the introduction of the Alternative Vote system for elections of mayoral and Police and Crime Commissioner elections within three months.”
“(2) Any resources and support provided by the Secretary of State must be sufficient to ensure that there is no delay to the holding of any future local elections resulting from the implementation of, or delay to the implementation of, this Act.’ This new clause would ensure local authorities are provided with the resources and support they need to deliver the content of this legislation with specific regard to preventing any further delays to future local elections. New clause 18— Councillors: proportional representation vote system — ‘(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations introduce a proportional representation vote system in elections of local authority councillors.”
“New clause 16— Funding for local authority governance reorganisation — ‘The Secretary of State has a duty to ensure that local authorities are adequately funded for any purposes relating to the reorganisation of cabinet governance structures that are required or enabled by this Act.’ This new clause would require the Secretary of State to ensure funding is available for any rearranging of councils’ governance models. New clause 17— Resource and support for local authority implementation of the Act — ‘(1) The Secretary of State has a duty to ensure that relevant authorities are provided with the resources and support necessary in order to carry out any functions conferred on, or required of, them by virtue of this Act.”
“(5) In reckoning any period of 21 days under subsection (4), no account is taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued, or during which the House of Commons is adjourned for more than four days.’ This new clause would require the Government to report annually on the effectiveness of community empowerment measures under the Localism Act 2011. It requires that Ministers assess how well communities can access land, green space, and local decision-making mechanisms. The report must include plans to strengthen these rights, including potential new legislation.”
“(3) The criteria are, in relation to people in England— (a) access to a clean and healthy environment; (b) access to land or space to play, roam, and swim; (c) access to land for food growing; (d) the ability to contribute to and challenge decisions made at a local level; (e) access to, use of, and ability to propose acquisition of assets of community value. (4) Within the period of 21 days beginning on the day in which a Report under this section, a Minister of the Crown must move a motion in the House of Commons that the House has considered the Report.”
“Designation would trigger a framework for temporary community stewardship or pathways to transfer into community use. Further provision would be made via secondary legislation. New clause 13— Duty relating to community empowerment — ‘(1) Within one year beginning on the date on which this Act is passed, and each year thereafter, the Secretary of State must publish and lay before Parliament a report assessing the effectiveness of Part 5 of the Localism Act 2011 (Community empowerment). (2) The report must— (a) consider the effectiveness of the provisions in Part 5 of the Localism Act 2011 against the criteria in subsection (3), and (b) set out a plan for better meeting those criteria, including potential legislative provision.”
“(4) The Secretary of State may by regulations— (a) make provision as to the procedure for listing an asset of negative community value; (b) confer rights of appeal on owners or occupiers of listed assets; (c) provide for safeguards to ensure proportionality and fairness in the designation and management of such assets; (d) make further provision for the disposal, management, or transfer of listed assets to qualifying community groups. (5) For the purposes of this paragraph “community group” has the same meaning as in section 86D of this Act (as inserted by schedule 19 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2025).”’ This new clause would create a parallel category to “assets of community value” by enabling local authorities to designate “assets of negative community value” (ANCVs).”
“(3) Where a local authority has listed an asset of negative community value, the authority may— (a) take such steps as may be prescribed by regulations to secure temporary management or community stewardship of the asset; (b) invite community groups, charities, or other qualifying organisations to bring forward proposals for its use or stewardship; (c) exercise such enforcement or compulsory acquisition powers as may be made available by regulations made pursuant to subsection (5).”
“New clause 12— Assets of negative community value — ‘In the Localism Act 2011, after section 92 insert— “92A Assets of negative community value (1) A building or other land in a local authority’s area is of negative community value if, in the opinion of the authority, the asset— (a) has been the subject of a measurable and sustained increase in anti-social behaviour in the locality, (b) has caused material disruption or harm to the amenity, cohesion, or wellbeing of the local community, or (c) has been vacant or derelict for a continuous period of not less than three years, and during that period no meaningful attempt has been made by the owner of the asset to restore it to use. (2) A local authority may maintain and publish a list of assets of negative community value in its area.”
“(iii) the effectiveness with which any local partners collaborate with the mayoral strategic authority. (3) For the purposes of this section, “local partner” has the meaning given in section 17B of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (as inserted by section 21 of this Act).”’ This new clause would require the introduction of Local Public Accounts Committees within one year of this Act coming into force. LPACs would ensure scrutiny and accountability across the whole of the local public service spending and activity.”
“(2) Regulations made under this section must— (a) make provision relating to the membership of local public accounts committees, including appointment; tenure; and arrangements for chairing of committees; (b) make provision about support for local public accounts committees by the relevant local audit services; (c) empower local public accounts committees to require the provision of information from all providers of public services in the mayoral strategic authority area; (d) make provision about the functions of local public accounts committees, including the power of the committees to report on— (i) the effectiveness with which mayoral strategic authorities exercise any of their functions; (ii) the effectiveness with which any local partners exercise functions on behalf of the strategic mayoral authority.”
“Amendment (a) to new clause 10, at end insert— ‘(4) On the day on which regulations are first made under this section, the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a report setting out— (a) how a strategic authority can apply to the community ownership fund; (b) how the community ownership fund is governed and administered; (c) any other information which in the opinion of the Secretary of State assists strategic authorities and other persons in understanding the purposes of and application process for the community ownership fund; and (d) a timetable for when applications to the fund may be submitted, and by when they should be responded to.’ New clause 11— Local public accounts committees — ‘(1) Within one year beginning on the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must by regulations make provision for the establishment of a public accounts committee in each mayoral strategic authority area (“a local public accounts committee”).”
“(3) Regulations under subsection (1) must make provision for any strategic authority to apply for funding of up to £2 million to support any— (a) voluntary and community organisation, or (b) parish or town council, to purchase of an assets of community value they determine is at risk in their area.’ This new clause would require the Secretary of State to establish a Community Ownership Fund to which strategic authorities may apply for funding.”
“(2) If the relevant local authority identifies deliberate neglect or mismanagement of land of community value by its owner, the authority may— (a) exercise compulsory purchase powers, or (b) refuse planning changes in relation to the land.’ This new clause would require local authorities to oversee the management of land of community value in their area and enable them to exercise compulsory purchase powers in instances of mismanagement. New clause 10— Community ownership fund — ‘(1) The Secretary of State must make regulations which establish a community ownership fund within six months of the passage of this Act. (2) Regulations under subsection (1) are subject to the negative procedure.”
“New clause 1— Consent for local government restructuring — ‘(1) The Secretary of State may only make an order or regulations to create, change, or dissolve a strategic authority with the consent of all 6 constituent councils. (2) The “constituent councils” are any county council, district council, town council or parish council.’ This new clause would mean local government restructuring could not take place without the consent of the constituent councils. New clause 6— Local authority oversight over management of land of community value — ‘(1) A local authority is responsible for overseeing the management of land of community value in their area.”
“With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government new clause 46— Extension of general power of competence to English National Park authorities and the Broads Authority. Government new clause 49— “N ational minimum standard” and “regulated licence”. Government new clause 50— Standards relating to the grant of a regulated licence. Government new clause 51— Standards relating to the suspension or revocation of a regulated licence . Government new clause 52— Standards relating to the renewal of a regulated licence. Government new clause 53— Further provision about standards. Government new clause 54— Guidance. Government new clause 55— Relationship with existing licensing legislation . Government new clause 56— Regulations. Government new clause 57— Interpretation .”
“I thank the hon. Member for his point of order. I am inclined to the view that there are two separate issues here. He will have heard my earlier comments about statements being made to this House first and how deeply regrettable it is when statements are made to the media ahead of being announced to the House. However, with specific reference to the Minister’s comments yesterday, I believe they would far better be addressed as a point of debate. I am sure the shadow Minister will want to raise that later on in this afternoon’s debate. I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.”
“I think some of those points might have been stretching my patience on scope somewhat. I do not intend to put on a fixed time limit. However, Members might like to consider whether they can stay within the bounds of about six minutes, so that I can get everyone in.”
“I will now announce the result of yesterday’s deferred Division on the draft Radio Equipment (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025. The Ayes were 376 and the Noes were 16, so the Ayes have it. [The Division list is published at the end of today’s debates.]”
“I thank the Minister for his responses. I will allow a few minutes for the Front Benches to swap over, during which time it might be helpful to remind Members that in an urgent question, the questioner gets two minutes, the Minister gets three minutes to respond, and the Liberal Democrat spokesman gets one minute. Any Member posing a question that is approaching one minute in length might think about reducing the length of their question.”
“I thank the Minister for her short, sharp answers—perhaps a masterclass for what is to follow. Business questions will run for an hour and no more.”
“Order. I encourage the remaining Members to ask short questions and the Minister to give short answers. There is an important statement and a very heavily subscribed debate to come.”
“Order. Given that the next debate is heavily subscribed, I thought it would be helpful to indicate to Members that I will finish the statement at about 3 pm.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and for giving advance notice of it. He will of course be aware that the combination of statements is not a matter for the Chair—the Government determine statements—but I am sure that the Foreign Secretary has heard his comments.”
“I thank the hon. Member for her point of order. Members should receive timely responses to their correspondence with Ministers, and it is disappointing to hear that the hon. Lady has experienced such a significant delay. Ministers themselves are responsible for the timeliness of their responses, and I hope that those on the Treasury Bench have heard her concerns and will pass them on to the relevant Department. Members may also wish to raise their concerns with the Leader of the House during business questions every Thursday.”
“I thank the hon. Member for his point of order. He is right to say that written questions are an important way in which Members may hold the Government to account. As he will have heard me say earlier, Ministers themselves are responsible for the timeliness of their responses, but I hope that those on the Treasury Bench have heard his concerns and will pass them on to the relevant Department, in this case DEFRA. Both the Leader of the House and the Procedure Committee may also take an interest in these matters, so the hon. Member may wish to raise his concerns with them.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for giving advance notice of her point of order. She has corrected the record, as she did this time last week, and I hope she will not see this as a regular method and opportunity to reiterate her political points.”
“I thank the hon. Member for his point of order. I think that he has raised two points. As we heard in an earlier point of order, the combination of statements does not help, and those on the Treasury Bench will have heard my comments about that; it is a matter for the Government when they decide to schedule statements, and, indeed, the issues and subjects to which they will pertain. As for the second point, regarding the timeliness and the length of statements, I do think it important. It is always regrettable when not all Members can get in during a statement. However, on regular occasions throughout the statement, I exhorted Members and, indeed, the Foreign Secretary to make questions and answers short. We would have been able to accommodate many more Members if others had listened to that guidance.”
“Order. The hon. Lady has an important ten-minute rule motion, and there are far too many private conversations preventing me—let alone the rest of the House— from hearing her comments.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He is of course right, and were Members to refer to the guide on courtesies and behaviours in the House, they would find advice on whether questions, and indeed interventions, should be read, particularly from telephones.”
“Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) is looking at this matter, and I look forward to reading the Committee’s recommendations. I call the Home Secretary.”
“Before I call the Home Secretary to make her statement, I am sorry that Mr Speaker has once again had to ask me to remind Ministers of the requirement in the Government’s own ministerial code that major new policy announcements should be made in this House in the first instance and not to the media. This afternoon’s statement has already been the subject of very extensive media coverage, both over the weekend and this morning, including a lot of policy detail. Hon. and right hon. Members on the Government Benches were very quick to criticise Ministers in the previous Government for this kind of behaviour, but the Home Office seems to have a particular problem with making media announcements before Ministers come to make statements to the House. I know that the Committee chaired by the hon.”
“Before I call the first Back-Bench contribution, may I remind Members that in order to expect to be called to speak in response to a statement, they should have been here from the start of the Home Secretary’s statement? There may be Members bobbing quite unnecessarily.”
“The Home Secretary should know that language that is not acceptable in this House does not become acceptable if it is attributed to others. She might like to apologise for the language that she used.”
“Order. Before I call the next speaker, I inform Members that I plan to run this statement until no later than 1 o’clock, so we need to have short questions and short answers.”
“I inform the House that nothing in the Lords amendments engages Commons financial privilege. Clause 2 National policy statements: parliamentary requirements”
“With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Lords amendment 2, and Government amendment (a) to Lords amendment 2. Lords amendment 3, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 31, Government motion to disagree, and Government amendments (a) and (b) in lieu. Lords amendment 32, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 33, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 37, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 38, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 39, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 40, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendments 4 to 30, 34 to 36, and 41 to 117.”
“Order. I think there will be another intervention, but I want to bring us loosely back to the subject of taxes. While I can see that the career of the hon. Member’s mother at HMRC is related to taxes, it would be unfortunate, would it not, if I had to put a tight time limit on other Members?”
“Order. If the hon. Gentleman had been here for more of the debate, he would have heard that I am being particularly pernickety about the use of the word “you”. I have not identified anything this afternoon, and I do not intend to do so. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will make his intervention short, given his short tenure in the Chamber this afternoon.”
“I thank the hon. Member for her point of order. She will be aware that she had two minutes during the course of the statement to raise her concern. [ Interruption. ] The Secretary of State wishes to respond.”