Power is being ‘snatched upwards and away from local voices' by the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, the Lib Dems have claimed.
Speaking in Parliament, Lib Dem spokesperson for local government Zoe Franklin said the Bill ‘strengthens combined authorities and concentrates power with a statutory authority mayor at the expense of constituent, unitary, parish and town councils' as well as enabling ‘key planning decisions to bypass local authorities'.
