English Devolution bill “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”
The MP for Ilkley and Keighley is not a fan of Labour’s “landmark” bill to shift power away from the centre.
The Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley for MP has criticised the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill at its second reading in the House of Commons.
Robbie Moore claimed that he thought that the bill would “cement the damaging present system of oversized unitary authorities and dubiously useful mayoralties”, arguing that they should, instead, be reduced in size.
Responding to a question by John Lamont, the Conservative MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, who asked if Moore shared his concern that the bill would actually centralise more power – as he suggested was the case with devolution in Scotland – the MP for Keighley and Ilkley responded that he did.
“The people across Keighley and Ilkley have long known the dangers to smaller communities when such amalgamations occur,” Moore elaborated. “In 1974, their well liked and well remembered councils were abolished and absorbed into a larger Bradford council unitary authority, which is one of the largest in the country with a population of 565,000
“Since then, Bradford council has consistently prioritised its namesake, extracting ever higher council tax and costs from outlying areas such as my constituency and neighbouring Shipley and funnelling them into city centre projects of no benefit to the people who have paid for them.”
The promise of a breakaway council
Moore went on to say that he would continue to advocate for Keighley, Ilkley, Silsden and the Worth Valley (“and indeed the Shipley constituency”) to be allowed to break away from Bradford Council, despite already having a private members’ bill on the matter falling by the wayside in 2022.
Speaking at the time as the then communities minister, the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said the government was unable to “accept this bill in the way it has been drafted”.
“We would be concerned by a number of aspects of this approach,” she was quoted as saying. “First, parliamentary constituencies may not be a sound basis for establishing the right level of service delivery, that’s got to be a consideration. We also need to make sure the boundaries can be established only where there is a safeguard against anything that might lose the confidence of the local democracy.”
Speaking during yesterday’s debate, Moore also took specific issue with mayoralities, arguing that because they have a wider, geographic remit – the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, for instance, covers a population of around 2.4 million people – they’re far too big to be able to operate at a community level.
“If we were serious about devolution, we would follow the lessons experienced by Keighley and Ilkley and make local government work at a community level,” he went on to say. “We would empower not administrative monstrosities but parish, town and smaller, more regional councils.”
The bill moves on
Moore was one of 164 predominately Tory MPs backing a failed reasoned amendment to the bill that had been tabled by the Conservatives, with a decisive 365 “noes” from Labour MPs and independents ensuring that the bill would progress to committee stage.
It’s worth noting that bills at a second reading tend not to be defeated, with the Institute for Government reporting that the last time it happened was nearly 40 years ago in 1986 (Margaret Thatcher’s “Shops Bill”, which was looking to relax Sunday trading laws).
Describing the passage of the bill on Facebook as “brilliant news for the area”, the MP for Shipley said that it would deliver the “biggest transfer of power out of Westminster to local communities in a century”.
She continued: “New powers will give local people the ability to protect treasured local assets like pubs, provide a bigger voice in their place, and give increased powers to local leaders to deliver regional growth. Power has been hoarded in Whitehall for too long. Labour’s devolution and community empowerment bill changes that”.
Skin in the game
In the foreword to the December 2024 English devolution whitepaper, Angela Rayner, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said that as part of the government’s mission to kickstart economic growth – which has so far eluded Labour since coming to power (the latest headache being news that long-term borrowing costs have reached their highest level in 27 years) – described England as being one of the most centralised developed countries in the world.
This micromanaged, short-termist and sticky plaster approach, she explained, had long stifled “initiative and development” and contributed to regional inequality, slow wage growth and a “relative decline in living standards” – again, compared to other developed countries.
“If we are going to build an economy that works for everyone, we need nothing less than a completely new way of governing – a generational project of determined devolution,” the deputy prime minister went on to say.
“To truly get growth in every corner of the country and put more money into people’s pockets, we must rewire England and end the hoarding in Whitehall by devolving power and money from central government to those with skin in the game.”
More work to do
A long time advocate for devolution, the Local Government Association recently said that the bill as it currently stands risks not delivering on its core goals, with a key problem area being a lack of clarity around how strategic authorities, which will, in part, replace current mayoral combined authorities, work with local authorities.
It cautioned against consolidating too many powers to mayors and instead championed a more collaborative partnership approach, stating that councils were “central to how devolution works in practice and the bill should do more to recognise this”.
“The bill should enshrine the role of councils in shaping and delivering devolution,” the Local Government Association recommended at the end of August 2025. “This means clearly defining the role for councils in delivering each of the competencies, clear expectations for how councils will be involved in regional strategies and strengthening the role of council leaders in the governance structures of strategic authorities.”