Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 100: Leave out Clause 17. The noble Baroness said: My Lords, with this amendment we return to the thorny issue—for me— of the Commission for Rural Communities. In Committee I proposed that we could try restructuring the Commission for Rural Communities. I ran two arguments in parallel—that we should restructure it, or not have it. I listened carefully to the comments in Committee and I have now come down firmly in favour of the presumption that we should not have the Commission for Rural Communities. Our Benches would be the first to say that rural areas need a strong voice as they are always in danger of being seen as expensive by government. They are seen as expensive to service, peripheral, and a problem. I would not accuse Defra of holding that view because it champions rural areas, but every other department tends to see rural areas as a problem. If those areas are to get a fair deal, then Defra needs to be known as a department for bright and ambitious civil servants, and MPs elected to rural constituencies need to have their voices heard. They and the parliamentary mechanism, such as the EFRA Select Committee, need to be a first port of call when a rural issue comes to the fore. With such in mind, our Benches are viewing how a democracy should work and whether a Commission for Rural Communities would further that sort of aim. The rural advocate and his Commission for Rural Communities—if they are assiduous, bright and energetic, and that is not an aspersion on the individuals taking over the roles because I believe that they are all of those—will inevitably lead a lot of the rural agenda and become the focus for comment on rural issues. I believe that that will diminish the role of those with a democratic mandate. I accept that there is a case for rural-proofing and we have just had a brilliant example of why. I was going to use the example in this amendment but now I do not need to—so I am glad for the time saved. But what has the Commission for Rural Communities been saying about the rural housing issue? I have not seen anything that is public and I would be interested to know whether the rural advocate has met with ODPM and, indeed, the Deputy Prime Minister to discuss the matter. What rural-proofing has taken place and what comments have been made, for example about the proposal by the Department for Work and Pensions to end card accounts in post offices? Those are two enormous issues that will affect rural areas and which have emerged in the past couple of months. I have seen no comment from the Commission for Rural Communities on those. I accept that the commission does not exist yet, except in shadow form, but either it will have to take on this role or, if not, it is hard to see how it can be effective in relation to rural-proofing. Regarding the other issues, I am concerned that the focus is being shifted away from those with a democratic mandate. I have a couple of further points. It seems that Defra is moving a little in the opposite direction to other departments because, in terms of quango creation, the government website states that NHS Estates, for example, was wound up as an executive agency; core functions were brought within the department and local functions were transferred to local NHS bodies. Regarding the Ministry of Defence, there is a long list of agencies that have been abolished. I wonder if Defra is alone in not following through opportunities to abolish quangos. I am sure that the Minister can tell me which quangos Defra intends to get rid of. I have pondered long and hard over this issue and I have had some impressive representations, including one from Professor Michael Winter who chairs the South West Rural Affairs Forum. He made several useful points as to why he did not feel that the restructuring that I proposed would work. He said that rural affairs forum chairs were different animals than those who would sit on the Commission for Rural Communities and that sometimes there might be a conflict; although he, I believe, does both jobs. This is all or nothing. We are not going to see a restructuring of the Government’s proposals for the Commission for Rural Communities; so we will either go for a quango or we will not. We on these Benches believe that the right place for a voice for rural communities lies with elected members, whether they are locally or nationally elected; and it is with that in mind that I beg to move.