Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)

There are strong guiding principles here that have been part of the core mission of this Government. Our belief is that, to drive the economic growth we want, decisions have to be taken at local level, where people understand the economies, the base of the workforce and skills, and the way that they can shape the economy in their local area. With regard to the delivery of public services, back in 2015, I did a report with another member of my ministerial team and other people, including the leader of Manchester City Council and the then mayor of Hackney, which talked about making sure that we start tackling public services from the prevention point of view, which is much better done at local level than at national level, and that we deliver services properly. These key services—adult care, children’s services and, to some extent, community safety services—are delivered much better at local level. The result of all that is that we get economies and local services that are tailored to local need far more effectively and efficiently. That is our mission. That is what we want to do. Britain has been one of the most centralised countries in Europe for as long as I can remember, and it is time that we turned that around. That is the mission of this Government, and it will be good for the country and for the communities that we all serve.