I thank noble Lords for all those thoughtful points and for the general support that we have received for the instruments this afternoon. As noble Lords who have heard me speak on this topic before know, and to misquote a phrase terribly, I have always believed in devolution, which is more effective than revolution. I hope we will take this programme forward successfully, but there is a lot of water to go under the bridge—hopefully not so much for these local authorities, which have already taken some very important first steps towards the changes they want to see.
I will take this opportunity to address noble Lords’ contributions and questions, starting with the contribution from the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. First, she asked whether meetings and scrutiny committees would be held in public. Meetings of the combined authorities will be in public and, under the Combined Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Access to Information and Audit Committees) Order 2017, amended in 2024, combined county authorities have overview and scrutiny committees with the usual call-in powers—so they will have call-in powers. I hope that is helpful from that point of view.
The noble Baroness asked whether the disparity between areas had been considered. She was referring particularly to Devon and Torbay, and the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, also referred to this. Devon and Torbay were already in the process of establishing their non-mayoral combined county authority prior to the publication of the White Paper and the announcement of the devolution priority programme. We see these steps as foundational. A list of all those that have applied for delays to their elections has been published on GOV.UK—no decisions have been taken yet—and Devon County Council has requested to delay those elections.
Matters to do with the distribution of funding, responding to disparity or the potential disparity between different constituent councils in an area, are for those constituent councils. It is for them to work out how they will work. That is devolution, but they will work it out between them. If they use that as a foundation step, they may wish to build on their authority in the future. Who knows? We will wait and see what happens with Devon and Torbay but, for today’s business, we are putting through the programme that was set before us previously.
The noble Baroness asked whether the change in Hull and East Yorkshire was a positive move from the residents’ standpoint. It is the Government’s ambition that all parts of England ultimately have a mayor. We recognise that non-mayoral devolution can be an important foundational step for areas, which would see the benefits from devolution in the short term as they assess all options to unlock deeper devolution. The instruments before the Committee to establish mayoral combined authorities and a mayoral combined county authority provide that some functions conferred on those will be mayoral functions.
I think the noble Baroness was particularly concerned with transport issues in Hull and East Yorkshire. I will point only to the significant steps forward that have been made in existing mayoral authorities. Manchester of course is always flagged up as the example of this, but it has done an exceptional job to create a transport infrastructure that, so far—touch wood—works much better for the people of Manchester than the situation they had before. I hope that that continues in these new areas as they continue to use and develop their powers. The combined authority will have responsibility for improving and maintaining local transport and for the creation and implementation of a new area-wide local transport plan. We will see what happens with that.
The noble Baroness asked about funding, I think in the context of transport. Funding is conveyed for transport issues in their area, including those that I just mentioned.
The noble Baroness knows that, in the past, I have spoken widely in the House about district councils and their role. When you look at this, you see that there is clearly an appetite for reorganisation in parts of England. I have seen that in my work with district councils and now in government. In the past, Governments have often not been brave enough to follow through and make this programme really work across the country, but we just need to get on now with delivering what areas need.
We expect all two-tier areas and smaller or failing unitaries to develop proposals for reorganisation. We are going to take a phased approach to that delivery, because not everyone is in the same place at the same time. We will have our priority programme for people who feel ready to move more quickly, taking into account where reorganisation can unlock devolution, where areas are keen to proceed at pace, or where they can be helped to address certain issues that they may have failed with in the past. For those that want to take a bit more time, we will do it at their pace. But it is important that this is driven by local areas, so we are working very closely with our colleagues in local government to make this work properly.
The noble Baroness asked about mayoral precepts, and I think the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, also related to that. Mayors can use their mandate for change to take the difficult decisions needed to drive economic growth. As I said, the Government’s ambition is for all parts of England to have a mayor of a strategic authority. They will have the standing and soft power to convene local partners and tackle shared problems, but it is also important that they have this additional ability to raise funds in a number of ways, of which the precept is only one. The Government will work with them as we devolve funds out of Westminster. This is not necessarily about new money; it is about money and decision-making going from here out to local areas. It is important to stress that about the programme we have set out.
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for his point about hereditary Peers and having a regional element there. That is above my pay grade; I am not going to go there. But I will say that we already have a very effective chamber of national and regional leaders, which is now convened, and mayors from England attend. It is very important that all areas have a say in the Council of the Nations and Regions, as it will increasingly make a large contribution to what goes on in our country.
The noble Lord specifically mentioned Sussex in relation to local places. I think there is a genuine way of strengthening the role of local places within these wider authorities, where they have existed for a while. I do not want to keep citing Manchester, but there is still a very distinctive identity in Oldham, Rochdale and wherever you go around the Manchester area. Those areas still have their distinct identities. I know Sussex a bit and there are some wonderful places there. I am sure they will continue to be their own places, with their own strong identities. If mechanisms need to be put in place to do that, by strengthening local community councils and improving and strengthening the role of community councillors, the Government are there to assist with that. Boundary issues must be driven locally, but the Boundary Commission stands ready to do what it needs to do to help.
The noble Lord spoke about cherished assets, such as downlands, and how to protect them. There is always a place for a local voice. Mayors have been real champions of these types of local assets, and they will continue to be champions in those local areas. The noble Lord also spoke about independent local panels. We are currently conducting a whole review of standards issues. I have a round table tomorrow, I think, and another at the end of the week, with partners from across local government and outside. We are doing that work as we speak and, if the noble Lord would like to contribute to it, I would love to hear from him.
On the AI issue, I will have to refer to a specialist answer, because it is not my area of expertise. I will find it in a moment.
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Taylor of Holbeach—whom I always think of as Lord Holbeach, because he is Lord of Holbeach—for his huge contribution to Lincolnshire, in both business and horticulture. I agree with him about local government being the most important institution; I have spent most of my life in it. When you walk out of your front door, it is what you see, and what will you the impression of whether or not things are right with the world. That is the way I look at it; that is how important it is. The noble Lord spoke about the confusion between councils. I live in a two-tier area and it is very common to have that confusion between councils. That is one reason why we need to sort this out now: just get on with the job and do it properly.
The noble Lord asked whether there was flexibility with the 500,000 figure. There certainly is. We set the 500,000 figure to give a guideline about what we see as strategic. If something slightly less or more than that works better for the local area, that is fine. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Porter, for all the work that he has done. The federational, or shared, services that the noble Lord spoke about will form a good foundation for these bigger authorities.
On UK Food Valley, seafood farming, and flowers and bulbs, mayors are there to create the infrastructure that will make that work better than it does at the moment. They will have oversight of a strategic spatial plan and I hope they will do a great job on that.
I turn to the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson. I agree about the unique nature of local areas. I know that the noble Lord has made a huge contribution to central Bedfordshire, so I am grateful for that. Devon and Torbay and Lincolnshire have both applied for election delays, so they are obviously thinking through their next steps very carefully. Hull and East Yorkshire and Lancashire are going ahead with their programmes, as set out in these instruments.
The noble Lord spoke about mayoral precepts and asked whether they were for genuine additionality. That is certainly the idea; they are not there to fill gaps in local government funding but to drive the mayor’s priorities and ambitions for the area. As we have seen, the areas that already have mayors drive forward their own priorities—and they are very strategic priorities. Mayors are not there to run the councils that sit underneath them; they are there to drive the strategic capability of the area concerned.
I hope that I have covered everything. If I have not, I shall write to noble Lords—and we will look through Hansard to make sure that we have covered everything. These instruments deliver the commitment made in the devolution agreements with Devon and Torbay, Greater Lincolnshire and Lancashire to establish combined county authorities for their areas and with Hull and East Yorkshire for a combined authority. I beg to move.