Member

I turn now to Amendment 266, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, which seeks to change the Title of the Bill. It will not surprise noble Lords that I do not agree with the change to the Title. The Bill is a landmark piece of legislation that will deliver the biggest transfer of power in a generation out of Whitehall to our regions and communities. It is deserving of the Title English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The new devolution framework introduced by the Bill reflects the Government’s commitment to bring about a permanent shift of power out of Whitehall. It will confer ambitious new powers on to strategic authorities, moving us away from the current bespoke patchwork of devolution. As the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, recognised, the Bill is the floor, not the ceiling, of our ambition for devolution, which is why new powers will be able to be added to the devolution framework over time.