Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 63: 63: Clause 33, page 19, line 15, leave out ““such”” and insert ““local electors and such other”” The noble Lord said: In moving the amendment, I shall speak to the other amendments in the group, all of which repeat two amendments applied to three different circumstances. I propose that there should be adequate consultation before a local authority takes a decision to change electoral arrangements. The Government are proposing that the council should have, "““taken reasonable steps to consult such persons as it thinks appropriate””." I want to make absolutely certain that local electors are among those consulted. Secondly, I propose that the minimum requirement for consultation of local electors and others is a notice in at least one local newspaper and a notice on the council’s website. These are important matters. The Government may say, ““Well, they will do that anyway, won’t they?””, and a good, sensible council would take those steps. However, again this comes back to the point that changing electoral systems is a sensitive matter, because people’s motives for doing it may, on the one hand, be entirely virtuous, or, on the other, somewhat selfish in that they may think that a new electoral system will be to their advantage. Electoral systems are sensitive in that way and it is important that councils take proper steps to consult people reasonably and that, having consulted, they consider the representations made before making decisions. We all know of councils that are models of consultation and consider the responses. We also know of councils that are not so good. It is a fundamental point. I beg to move.