The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)

My Lords, I shall also speak to the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority Order, the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority Regulations and the Lancashire Combined County Authority Regulations. Regulations were laid before Parliament on 26 November 2024 for Lancashire, as well as for Devon and Torbay. The Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority Order was laid on 4 December and the Greater Lincolnshire regulations on 11 December. The other place debated these instruments on 21 January 2025. Knowing how much noble Lords appreciate brevity, I hope they agree—while recognising that combined authorities and combined county authorities are distinct legal bodies with different types of enabling statutory instruments—with me simply using “combined authorities”, unless there is a reason to be specific, over the course of our debate. I hope that that is okay with everybody. In December 2024, the Government published the English devolution White Paper. At its core, the White Paper sets out how the Government will widen and deepen devolution across England as part of our central mission to drive economic growth and improve living standards. These instruments deliver on that ambition and are significant steps in the devolution journeys for these four areas. The instruments provide for the implementation of the devolution agreements confirmed on 19 September 2024 between the Government and the upper-tier councils in each of the areas concerned. On 18 November 2024, all the respective constituent councils consented to the making of these instruments. The three sets of combined county authority regulations will be made, if Parliament approves, under the enabling provision in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. If approved, the combined authority order will be made under the enabling provision in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. The combined authorities will be established on the day after the day on which the instruments are made. The Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority have chosen to adopt a mayor for their combined authorities, with the inaugural elections to take place on 1 May 2025. The elected mayors will take up office on 6 May with a four-year term. The instruments make provision for the governance arrangements of the combined authorities. In each case, the constituent councils nominate one or more of their members to form the combined authority, alongside the elected mayor where a mayor is being adopted. Each place has specific arrangements, enabled by either the 2023 Act or the 2009 Act, as set out in these establishing instruments. For the three combined county authorities, district councils will play a key role in ensuring the success of devolution in these areas. District representation and input to the combined county authorities is determined locally within the framework provided by the 2023 Act. The instruments confer public authority and local authority functions on the respective combined authorities, as agreed in their devolution agreements and set out in each area’s proposals. Alongside the regulations, we have laid reports under Section 20(6) of the 2023 Act and, for the order, Section 105B of the 2009 Act providing details about the public authority functions being devolved to the combined authorities. These functions include Homes England’s concurrent regeneration functions and powers over transport, as well as mayoral development corporation functions for the mayoral combined authorities. The agreements include the devolution of certain education and skills functions, together with the adult skills fund. The Government will devolve the adult skills fund to the combined authorities from the 2026-27 academic year. The Department for Education will work with the combined authorities to support their preparations and ensure that they meet the necessary readiness criteria; it will legislate in due course when the Secretary of State for Education is assured that the combined authorities are operationally ready and is satisfied that the required statutory tests have been met in each area.