English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill Report Stage: Amendment 25

What happened: The House of Commons voted on Amendment 25 to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill during its Report Stage (the stage at which the full House examines and proposes changes to a bill after it has been scrutinised in committee) on 24 November 2025. The amendment, tabled by the opposition, sought to modify the government's devolution proposals for England. It was defeated by 367 votes to 99.

Why it matters: The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is the government's flagship legislation to transfer powers from Whitehall to regional mayors and combined authorities across England. The bill grants elected mayors new powers over planning, transport, skills and economic development, and introduces measures intended to strengthen community rights, including over assets of community value. The defeated amendment reflected Conservative opposition concern that the bill concentrates rather than disperses power, and that local authorities and communities are being subject to compulsory reorganisation without adequate accountability. The vote preserves the government's original framework, including provisions for mandatory local government reorganisation and expanded mayoral planning powers.

The politics: The division split almost entirely along party lines. All 276 Labour MPs and all 29 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the government by voting No, as did all 57 Liberal Democrats. The 90 Conservative MPs who voted all backed the amendment, joining 6 Reform UK members and 3 Democratic Unionist Party members in the Aye lobby. Two independents voted Aye and four voted No. The Conservatives framed the bill as centralising rather than devolving, with shadow minister Paul Holmes describing it as giving local areas "the powers that the government wants them to have" rather than genuine devolution. The bill sits within a broader government programme that also includes planning reforms and fair funding changes, all of which critics argue are being rushed through while existing local authority structures are simultaneously being reorganised.