Sustainable Communities Bill

As a member of the Committee, I want to add to the record my thanks to all those involved in the passage of the Bill. Whether they are bearded or unbearded, they have all made a great contribution, and we are delighted to have reached this point. As other hon. Members have said, the Bill comes from outside this place, despite the efforts of those hon. Members who have ably advanced the case for its introduction. That is a good example how the Bill will work—ideas will come from local communities about how best to solve problems. We have established that the problems will be different in each area, and it would be ludicrous to require a national Government solution to each of them and to expect the Government to legislate. All of us have local issues that we want to see resolved in our constituencies, and we could spend a very long time asking the Government, of whichever complexion, to get around to addressing them. The facility to enable local communities to come up with and effect solutions is a huge change. I want to highlight the issue of the proliferation of second homes in my constituency, which I raised in Committee. At that stage, the Minister felt that the Bill would offer us in Cornwall the opportunity to propose the solutions to deal with that problem and to maintain sustainable communities. I know that, for example, areas where studentification is taking place also feel that this is an opportunity for them to come up with local solutions. They want to welcome everybody, but they want to ensure that there is a balance in the community and that local services can be maintained. Ultimately, the Bill allows local communities to see where they are—that is akin to the parish plan process, which we have discussed—to analyse where public money is being spent and to come up with solutions, which may involve some changes to the provision of local functions in order to deliver plans to deal with their problems. The Bill is highly significant, and it has a great deal of support out in the country. It will be welcomed, and we have done a very good thing today in taking it forward. I look forward to seeing it emerge from another place, perhaps improved even further. It will allow us to show the country that we have listened and acted to create and sustain communities, which are so important to us.