Environmental Offences (Use of Fixed Penalty Receipts) Regulations 2006

My Lords, on these Benches we think it is certainly a good idea to allow councils to spend these fines in the best interests of their localities and, to that extent, we support the regulations and I thank the Minister for introducing them. However, we do have difficulties with them and I shall first address the problems at parish level. It may be very difficult, for a number of reasons, for a parish to gain quality status. We have previously heard from the National Association of Local Councils several reasons why this might be a difficult status to attain. When will the Government review whether the whole quality status issue is working? Indeed, very small parishes are at a particular disadvantage in terms of scales of economy, the kind of clerk they can employ and whether that clerk will be able to spend time on training and so on. All of these things lead to quality status. But a parish may not be able to attain it and is then penalised, in effect. This is magnified many fold when you get to the next level. The Government were correct to want to raise the standards of some, quite frankly, abysmal local authorities, and to that extent the comprehensive performance assessment is a good idea. Where it becomes a bad idea is when the Government start to use it to impose centralised targets and centralised ideas of what is good or excellent without allowing nearly enough input from local people as to how they feel their council is performing. I feel that the application of these regulations will exacerbate the situation. You may have two neighbouring districts, one of which is allowed to spend more because it is excellent. It may be much better off than its neighbour and in a better financial situation, which in itself allows it a more easy path to becoming excellent than a council representing a very deprived area. Such a council will have bigger problems with litter, graffiti and fly-posting and it may be that the Government are introducing a vicious circle here. I shall keep an eye on the regulations and see how they go. In the mean time, we shall certainly not oppose them.