The leviathan that is the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill continues to wend its way through Parliament, after 14 gruelling days in committee in the House of Lords.

Introduced more than a year ago in May 2022, it was delayed first by ructions within Government – Michael Gove, its sponsor, was sacked by Boris Johnson in one of his last acts as Prime Minister before later returning as secretary of state. Further delay was caused by a Conservative backbench rebellion about centrally-set housing targets, which have been scrapped – although everyone knows that housing growth is still required and probably at higher levels given known and probable future levels of immigration.