Economic Affairs Committee — hearing of 15 September 2026: transcript & video

00:04 - 00:34

Speaker 4

Welcome to this meeting of the Economic Affairs Select Committee of the Lords, where we're looking at the very topical question of fiscal devolution. And we've got two witnesses today who are very closely engaged in this question, representing mayoralties from different parts of the country. So first of all, if Lord Houchen, you'd introduce yourself.

00:34 - 01:49

Speaker 3

Well, thank you, Chair, and thanks to the members of the committee for inviting me. My name's Ben Houchen, I'm currently the Mayor of the Tees Valley, first elected in May of 2017 as part of the first cohort of directly elected mayors under the Northern Powerhouse reforms of George Osborne. It's been quite a journey over the last nine or ten years. And we were just saying outside, there's a lot of confusion about whether I am a Lord Mayor, a Mayor, a Lord, or some other type of qualification. But it's been a very significant journey and change over the last nine or ten years.

I think there have been different ways in which devolution has accelerated or decelerated depending on the administration and its buy-in. And I think the timeliness of being invited to this committee could not be more timely. The prioritization of devolution, which has been on government's radars of both colors for recent years, has gone into the stratosphere with the new Prime Minister prioritizing devolution. And I think particularly this conversation about fiscal devolution and what fiscal devolution is and isn't is I think going to be particularly pertinent to members here and in the other place around how those rules might come into force, how they could be managed and the accountability for it.

01:49 - 01:52

Speaker 1

Thanks very much. Howard.

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