A busy week in Westminster, with important discussions on council housing, the Budget and the future of local government. Here’s a run down of 
The week started with the significant work to get ready for the budget (more below on that), and the internal meetings not seen as we lay the ground for public announcements and interventions. But it is also important that MPs who have issues can raise them directly with ministers, and the local government brief which covers finance, standards, devolution and investment is probably one of the most central the local communities MPs care about. To support that, in the same way we hold our constituency advice surgeries, I also hold a regular MP drop-in session, seeing around 10 MPs on a Monday evening to discuss issues of concern.
𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲
This week by the 2026 Budget being delivered by the Chancellor, with important decisions affecting the economy, public services and household finances such as giving millions of households £150 in energy bills support (£100 payment plus zero VAT worth £50), the minimum wage going up, relief for small businesses, and funding our defence investment plan to back Ukraine.
There was a huge number of preparations ahead of the budget as we announced ten new devolution areas to add to the priority programme, and alongside them billions in new investment. Each required a lot of hard work by local leaders and engagement over many months to secure agreement. Time well spent on my part and a credit to those who did the hard work at a local level.
We also launched the Fiscal Devolution Roadmap which set out how mayors and strategic authorities will have new freedoms and powers including 100% business rate retention, local income tax retention, and an overnight visitor levy, where I’ll move the Bill in parliament next week.
It also meant publishing allocations for the £125m Derelict Buildings Fund, the list of areas in line to share the £10m regional co-operative development fund, and the £285m Good Growth Fund allocations.
To drive growth in every postcode we published the Hope on the High Street Strategy, setting out how we can address the decline seen in many places so we create the thriving centres people deserve and demand.
This went alongside further cuts to business rates for around 70,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure users who will be taken out of business rates completely! In addition relief was increased from 20% to 35% for pubs and live music venues.
We also announced the £100 per household payment which will be made to council tax bands A-D to help with the rising cost of energy.
A lot of work went into those announcements in preparation of the budget and I’m really pleased to see such a comprehensive local government and communities focus of the day.
𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
We spent the last two months reviewing the Local Government Reorganisation programme to ensure it was robust and aligned to the new governments priorities. It will see the remaining 21 two-tier council counties, covering a third of England reformed to a single more accountable and efficient system of unitary councils, where all services are delivered by a single council for that area, rather than two.
To report on the review I delivered an oral statement from the despatch box to update the Commons on our review into Local Government Reorganisation up. Decisions about the future structure of local government will have a lasting impact on how services are delivered and how communities are represented.
I was able to announce five counties where we have determined a preferred option and issued alongside it ‘mind to’ decisions to allow local areas to share their views.
The morning of the statement involved extensive engagement – I wasn’t sure a week full of a cold and hours of back to back meetings would allow my voice to hold out, thankfully it did, just about!
𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴
I represented the government in a Westminster Hall Debate on the delivery of council housing, discussing the importance of ensuring councils have the ability to deliver the homes their communities need. Access to secure, affordable housing is vital, and it is important that we continue to look at how we can support councils to increase supply and meet local housing needs.
𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 & 𝗨𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill passed its Second Reading in the Commons without a division. For too long, families and leaseholders have been short changed by years of absolute Tory failure that left people stuck in unsafe homes, but this Bill finally turns the tide.
𝐂𝐨-𝐨𝐩 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 
The end of the week was focused on recruiting the new General Secretary of the Co-operative Party, with the venue hosted by our friends at the GMB trade union in London.
I’m pleased to say we had a great field of candidates and our search for the right person who understands our movement and has a track record of delivering co-operation is nearly complete. We will announce the successful candidate soon!
A full week of parliamentary business, with plenty of important work continuing, and back on Monday for Oral Questions.
