Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I have some concerns and queries about this provision. As a former county councillor from a rural area, I have worked with parish councils for many years. Processes of co-option are pretty much understood by everyone. I am not clear about what the appointment of councillors as opposed to their co-option seeks to achieve. What will be the difference in status on a parish council between someone who has been co-opted and someone who has been appointed? I also wish briefly to mention the report of the sub-committee of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Select Committee of which I am a member. It raised some concerns about the use of the negative procedure to put flesh on the bones of this provision, and that the sort of detail my noble friend Lord Greaves was asking about is to be left to regulation under the negative procedure. I know that there has been a reply to those concerns from government. I want only to put that issue on the table because I know that the Minister will want to respond to the report of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee in the fullness of time—probably when we get to Report. The committee was concerned about the need for clarity on the status of appointed members—whether they can vote, whether they can vote for the chair, indeed, whether they could be the chair. All those things could have a significant impact on how a parish council is run. We come back to the point made earlier by my noble friend: that people tend to think of parish councils as being little village bodies that do not do all that much. I represented 16 parishes in my county division. Three parishes had an annual parish meeting and that was the end of the matter, but the area also included Needham Market town council, which was very active and set quite a large precept. Matters of appointment, co-option and election are very important in larger parish councils, especially in view of the power that we will discuss later, in which it is proposed to give parish councils the general duty of well-being. If they are to do more, the status of their members needs to be properly understood.