English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: Government motion to disagree to Lords Amendment 13

**What happened**: The House of Commons voted on 21 April 2026 to disagree with Amendment 13 made by the House of Lords to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The motion passed by 297 votes to 147, meaning the Commons rejected the Lords' change and restored the government's original position on that clause of the Bill. **Why it matters**: The vote is one of several on the same day in which the Commons pushed back against Lords amendments to this significant piece of devolution legislation. By rejecting Amendment 13, the government maintained its preferred approach to the relevant provision, which concerns the structure or scope of devolved powers and community empowerment arrangements in England. The outcome keeps the Bill on the government's intended trajectory as it moves toward becoming law, with practical consequences for how local and regional government in England is structured and empowered. **The politics**: The vote divided almost entirely along government-versus-opposition lines. All 295 Labour and Labour and Co-operative Party MPs who voted supported the government's motion, while Conservative (80), Liberal Democrat (55), Green (5), and Democratic Unionist Party (3) MPs all voted against. Two independents voted on each side. This pattern repeated across multiple related divisions on the same day, with the government winning each comfortably. The Lords amendments therefore face a collective rejection from the Commons, sending the Bill back to the upper chamber and potentially triggering further ping-pong between the two Houses.