English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill Report Stage: New Clause 17

Parliament voted on 25 November 2025 on New Clause 17, a Liberal Democrat amendment to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill at Report Stage. The clause would have placed a statutory requirement on the government to guarantee funding to strategic authorities and mayors whenever new responsibilities were placed on them. The amendment was defeated by 321 votes to 87. The practical effect of the clause, had it passed, would have been to enshrine in law a financial protection for combined authorities, combined county authorities, and mayoral bodies against unfunded mandates: new duties from central government would automatically have carried a funding guarantee. The government argued that an existing administrative process, the new burdens assessment, already ensures that new responsibilities come with appropriate resources, making a statutory clause unnecessary. Opponents of the clause accepted this process as sufficient; supporters argued it lacked the legal force of a statutory commitment. The Liberal Democrats provided the core of the 87 ayes, with 68 of their MPs voting for the clause. Reform UK (5), the Democratic Unionist Party (4), the Green Party (3), and three Independents also voted for it. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voted almost unanimously against, providing the bulk of the 321 noes. Only 1 Labour MP voted for the clause. The Conservatives had 115 MPs with no vote recorded, contributing just 1 aye. The vote reflects the broader Liberal Democrat position on the bill, which their spokesperson Zoe Franklin argued concentrates power upward rather than genuinely empowering local communities.