Select committee: Constitution Committee
16th Report - English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Published 13 January 2026
Constitution Committee English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill Report on parliament.uk ↗
At a glanceGovernment response published 5 March 2026
The government's response
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.
The government's letter addresses the Committee's two questions, explaining the Bill's territorial extent and setting out why it is using a new statutory test for the Secretary of State's power to direct the establishment of a Combined Authority.
- On extent, all provisions apply in England only, except three measures (and Part 6 final provisions) that also apply in Wales.
- The government says that, although the three measures "do not require a legislative consent motion", it has consulted the Welsh Government on all of them.
- The government is "of the view" that tying the test to the Bill's areas of competence, rather than to "economic, social and environmental well-being", will align it more firmly with the new devolution architecture.
- The power under paragraph 16 of Schedule 1 "would only be commenced by regulations if needed", and the government says it is intended as "a last resort" where no viable locally-led proposal has been provided.
What the committee recommended
No recommendations or conclusions have been extracted from this report. This is normal for correspondence and for special reports.
Sources
- 16th Report - English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill ↗The committee's report, parliament.uk
- Letter from Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Local Government to Lord Strathclyde, Chair of the Constitution Committee, responding to the Committee's report on the English Devolution and Empowerment Bill ↗The government's response, 5 March 2026, parliament.uk