Speeches by Berry.

“The Secretary of State rightly talks about prisons reeling from historic funding and staffing cuts, yet he admits that other current Ministers have added to this problem by changing the visa rules in July, which will force many overseas prison officers out of the country. He just called them “much beloved” staff and ju…”

“Having spoken about clause 57 as a whole, I will now speak to amendment 315 and the other amendments in the group, which support its goals. As the Government will not listen and have not removed the clause, the amendment is essential. It is about fair play. While maintaining the prohibition on new systems other than le…”

“I am grateful for the Minister listening to those important points, which I stress again are cross-party points. I look forward to seeing further developments on the clause, I am happy to beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”

“I beg to move amendment 336, in schedule 25, page 253, line 25, at end insert— “Duty to introduce code of conduct, inductions and ongoing training (England) 4A (1) Every local authority must adopt and enforce a code of conduct for elected members that— (a) includes provisions addressing harassment, discrimination and o…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”

“I beg to move amendment 264, in clause 58, page 60, line 25, at end insert— “(e) requiring that local engagement activities under paragraph (d) meet minimum standards to ensure meaningful community participation, including— (i) the use of deliberative processes such as citizens’ panels, assemblies, or community convers…”

“I appreciate the detail of the answer that the Minister is giving me, but I would like some further reassurance that poorly performing councils will face some sort of redress under the system that she is talking about.”

“I am content with the Minister’s response, so I beg to ask to leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”

“Amendments 312 to 314 aim to achieve the same thing: formally guarantee the introduction of the supplementary vote system, which is already being legislated for, at next year’s local mayoral elections, including the newly established combined authority areas of Greater Essex; Hampshire and the Solent; Norfolk and Suffo…”

“I want to clarify that I am talking about the supplementary vote for mayoral elections in clause 59. To return to some examples of mayoral elections under first past the post with results that are not optimal for democracy or public confidence: the 2025 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election saw Paul Bristow …”

“I stopped reading out turnout results, but turnout was 42.8%—much higher than in previous examples. To be honest, I would prefer a ranking of all candidates down the ballot paper, but I believe that when people are able to use their votes to express both their first and second preferences they are not discouraged from …”

“I would not claim that a turnout of nearly 43% is a triumph, but the hon. Member has to admit that it is a good turnout compared with that of most local government elections.”

“I will speak briefly on new clause 51. It is really encouraging that there is a cross-party effort to reinvigorate community ownership funding, which has lapsed. Although I am excited about the pride in place funding, which is quite extensive and goes into local areas in quite an intensive way, I think the community ow…”

“I implore the hon. Member to listen to the rest of my speech and further points I shall make on other amendments. In Sheffield, at the same time, the council resolved unanimously that “Sheffield benefits from fairer, more representative governance arrangements, and that people expect the Councillors they elect to have …”

“I quite agree. We have heard a lot about the benefits of this new model, and this change is a sign from the Government that they are not even going to trust their new unitaries to choose their own governance systems. I find it a really strange addition to the Bill. The Electoral Reform Society, in its 2015 report “The …”

“I do not disagree with the essence of that point, but the Government are seeking to impose reorganisation, which could abolish a whole tier of councillors overnight and cause a spike in casework and the need for advice services. I do not believe they have really considered the impact of the transition. This week, I met…”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair this afternoon, Ms Vaz. I rise to speak against clause 57; I believe it is extreme control freakery and overreach from the Government and in no way essential to this Bill. Why impose a leader and cabinet model on all councils, even against their will, along with all these other …”

“I beg to move amendment 315, in schedule 25, page 251, line 1, leave out “Duty to move” and insert “Moving”. This amendment, alongside Amendments 316 to 325 makes the Bill’s provision for legacy committee systems match the provisions for legacy mayor and cabinet executive systems, while maintaining the prohibition on n…”

“Having been a local councillor, I can see the other side of the Government’s argument. A local councillor based further away, representing a larger ward, will have to work very hard to maintain the face-to-face interaction with their community that makes residents feel represented. I do not believe the Government have …”

“It is great to have you back in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. I also wish to speak against this clause and against the Government suddenly pushing through local government reorganisation in this form. Of course, local government reorganisation does happen. Councils can, by consent, currently make such changes. The Governme…”