North east devolution questionpublished at 16:02 British Summer Time 12 October 2016
Oral questions
House of Lords
Parliament
We're underway in the Lords, and the first question is on the government's devolution deal with the north-east of England.
Last month Communities Secretary Sajid Javid withdrew a proposed deal for a combined authority in the north east after four of the seven councils involved withdrew from the deal over post-Brexit funding worries. The government had promised an additional £30m a year for the region.
Labour's Baroness Hollis rises to criticise the government's insistence of forcing combined authorities to take elected mayors alongside increased powers. She says an elected mayor isn't right for every area of the country.
For the government, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth says there needs to be "somebody accountable" for the new powers in a devolution deal and that the government believes an elected mayor is the best way of doing that.