Sustainable Communities Bill

I associate myself with the concluding remarks, and many others, of the hon. Member for Hove (Ms Barlow). In that spirit of cross-party co-operation, I shall speak in support of the Bill. I congratulate its promoter, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd). It is an honour to be a co-sponsor of the Bill. We have heard a number of interesting speeches, one of which will go into my personal record book for its length. I lost track of the points that the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. David) was making after about half an hour, and the will to live after about 40 minutes. Nevertheless, I commend him for whatever operation was going on. I compliment the hon. Members for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) and for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on a key point that they made in support of the Bill—that it does not represent a trickle-down, Lady Bountiful approach to giving power to local authorities. It presents a challenge to local government, as well as empowerment. It is a challenge to communities and local government to address local problems, and it is a challenge to Government to promote the Bill’s premise that communities and councils are the experts on their own problems and the solution to them. It was that premise which took me into local government, and it is a theme of what I have been trying to achieve in my constituency. The solution to what has been called ““ghost town Britain”” lies not in this place or in Whitehall, but with those living in communities. The Bill is about trusting those people. Hon. Members who support the Bill tonight—[Hon. Members: ““Today.””] Indeed, today. It feels like tonight, after the speech from the hon. Member for Caerphilly. Hon. Members who support the Bill will be judged for that trust. Those who oppose it will have to face the rainbow alliance of organisations that supported it and the many people in their constituencies who have called for the principles of the Bill to be enacted. Many people look at tiers of government—Westminster, regional, county, district and parish government—in linear form. I prefer to see it as a pyramid, with a large number of councils getting closer to the people at the base of the pyramid. The Bill seeks to invert the pyramid, making central Government act in support of local government. That principle finds a ready home in the hearts of Members in all parts of the House. I commend it to all sections of the House. Among the written depositions in support of the Bill are a number from rural communities. There is a myth, which needs to be dispelled, that the Bill is directed at rural communities. My constituency is largely rural, but the Bill is as important, and in some respects even more important, for many urban communities. My hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood would not introduce a purely rural Bill.