Communities and Local Government/Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Does the hon. Gentleman’s last point not sum up the precise problem? If we examine local authorities only in terms of the number of people who live there, we are taking the centralised approach of ““Whitehall knows best.”” Surely the real issue is whether there is a community of interest. A unitary authority could represent only a few hundred people, on that basis. It makes no difference whether Southend is bigger, smaller, or the same size as Basildon, or any other town.