English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill Report Stage: New Clause 69

Parliament voted on 25 November 2025 on New Clause 69 to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill during its Report Stage (the stage at which MPs debate and vote on proposed changes to a bill after it has been examined in committee). The clause, which would have added provisions to strengthen local democracy and community empowerment beyond what the government had already included in the bill, was defeated by 320 votes to 189. The defeat means that the additional local democracy and community empowerment measures proposed in New Clause 69 will not be included in the bill as it progresses toward becoming law. The bill, which covers areas including local government structures, a community right to buy, local audit arrangements, taxi and private hire vehicle licensing standards, and the ending of upward-only rent review clauses in commercial leases, will continue in the form the government has shaped it. Critics had argued that the bill, despite its title, risks drawing power upward toward combined authorities and statutory mayors rather than downward toward parishes, town councils and individual communities. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted did so against the clause, providing the bulk of the 320 noes. The 189 ayes came from a cross-opposition alliance: 99 Conservatives, 67 Liberal Democrats, 8 Reform UK members, 5 Democratic Unionist Party members, 3 Greens, and a handful of independents and smaller party representatives. There were no Conservative or Liberal Democrat MPs voting with the government. The same day, a related division on New Clause 80 produced an almost identical result of 187 ayes to 320 noes, and the bill passed its Third Reading by 322 votes to 179, confirming that the government retained a comfortable majority throughout the day's proceedings.