Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I can give a swift answer to that, but the intention of the amendment is obviously to limit the kind of unitary proposals that councils will be able to bring forward. As the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, said, the type C proposal on county boundaries is the issue. We have proceeded on the assumption that there is no such case as proposed in the amendment for restricting the options open to councils. Part of the devolutionary approach is to allow as much choice as possible for local authorities, but the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, is absolutely right that in the 16 proposals there are none involving type C proposals to cross existing boundaries. I remind the Committee that my noble friend Lord Hunt, who did such a splendid job while I sat silently coughing beside him, told the House at Second Reading that we have no plans for a further round of restructuring. He also said that the Bill provides for a process under which further invitations to councils could be made if that made sense. There may be circumstances—we are not sure that there would be—where it would be appropriate to invite a council to make a proposal. This is an attempt to cover all eventualities; a council should have as much flexibility as possible to put forward whatever proposal it sees fit. The whole Bill is drafted to enable us to respond to the proposals put forward by local authorities, which understand their areas best. We feel that they should have the flexibility to frame any unitary solution that they might want. The only proviso that we have made is that any new unitary should use existing district boundaries as building blocks. The Bill as it stands will allow local authorities to bring forward a wide range of options. They will not be constrained in how they may best administer the local government function. Where the three types are set out, in the type C proposal one might indeed have a combination of whole districts and/or counties that are adjoining, so that they can cross existing county boundaries. Concerns were indeed expressed in the other place about historic boundaries and the meanings that communities quite rightly attach to them. Fears were raised that a type C proposal might be undermined by the lack of local support that it received. I know that your Lordships are thinking about such issues, but I restate that as part of a devolutionary approach it is not for us to restrict proposals; we must allow choices. As cross-boundary working continues to increase, it might be that this is the best solution for one area, and it should be open to areas to put that forward if possible. I am not sure whether the noble Lords involved in the amendment would actually want to limit proposals on this option, or whether that would be wise in allowing scope for local authorities.