Sustainable Communities Bill

I do not intend to jeopardise the Bill’s progress by speaking over-enthusiastically to try to ensure that local communities can participate in their own local policy making. I am pleased that the Bill has returned to the Floor of the House after a rather long and winding journey, with plenty of fits and starts, to get us to where we are today. New clause 6 and whether we need clause 5 have been at the heart of the most heated discussions that we have had on the Bill. As the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) said, the danger of consensus is that we end up with mush and warm words. What I want to be protected is a real sense of narrative in the Bill. It is good news that the Minister has accepted clause 4 and that we will have clear reports on public spending at local level. However, something must flow from that; if nothing does, all we will do is raise expectations at a local level but fail to deliver any action. To provide a narrative and to meet the public’s expectations of what the Bill can deliver, we need a mechanism to flow from clause 4. After everything that the Minister said in Committee, we are disappointed that one of the amendments to the Bill will delete clause 5 without any replacement. I support the new clause tabled by the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd), because we are arguing that there should be a narrative. The new clause is our suggested compromise. As I say, we do not want to jeopardise the Bill, but there must be mechanisms flowing from clause 4, and we still do not see them. It may not be possible to resolve the problems today but, as the hon. Members for Ruislip-Northwood and for Stroud have said, we want to be sure that there is a way forward. If there is not, all that we will achieve is raised expectations. When the public see the public money that is being spent in their local area, they will push at an open door and say, ““Hang on a minute. If x is being spent in this area and we don’t agree with it, why don’t we have a say on how it is spent?”” I imagine that such pressure will be exerted, so I hope that the Minister will anticipate the problem and deal with it before it arises locally.