Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 204CA: 204CA: Clause 81, page 55, line 16, at end insert— ““(4) Where a council has carried out a parish review under the provisions of Part II of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 (c. 29) (parishes and parish councils) and sent recommendations to the Secretary of State, but the Secretary of State has not made an order relating to it under that Part on the day that this Chapter comes into effect, either— (a) the Secretary of State may by agreement with the council continue to deal with the parish review under the provisions of Part II of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997, and the provisions of that Part shall continue to apply for the purposes of that review, or (b) in any other case the Secretary of State shall send the parish review back to the council to be dealt with as a community governance review under this section. (5) Where a council has received a petition under the provisions of section 11 of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 and sent it to the Secretary of State, but the Secretary of State has not made an order relating to it under that Part on the day that this Chapter comes into effect, either— (a) the Secretary of State may by agreement with the council continue to deal with the petition under the provisions of Part II of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997, and the provisions of that Part shall continue to apply for the purposes of that review, or (b) in any other case the Secretary of State shall send the petition back to the council to be dealt with as a community governance petition under section 82 of this Act.”” The noble Lord said: The amendment probes the Government’s intentions in relation to those district councils that have pending parish reviews under the existing legislation and how they are going to deal with those parish reviews in view of the proposed changes to community governance reviews, which can be carried out by district councils themselves. The Government are making a welcome change from having to have the parish reviews approved by the Secretary of State towards a system in which district councils can do their own parish reviews under the regulations. That is welcome; it is a small act of devolution and we should recognise that. It is not a major shift of power from the centre to the localities, but it is a useful small shift, and would that there were far more of them in the Bill. I declare a specific interest as a member of Pendle Borough Council, which has a pending parish review, which initially instigated my interest. I asked the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, a question, and she very helpfully replied that there are 41 outstanding parish reviews with the Secretary of State at the moment, ranging across the country in alphabetical order from Alnwick to York. Interestingly, in view of our previous discussions, that includes Birmingham and Leeds, although I do not know how substantial their reviews are. The list includes Pendle. The details of the amendment are not that important, in a sense, although I shall outline them briefly. My suggestion is that if, when this clause comes into effect, any parish reviews remain with the Secretary of State, he and the district council concerned can come to an agreement that he either continues to deal with the matter under the existing legislation for the purpose of that review, or sends it back to be dealt with by the district. Those seem to be the two options if any parish reviews remain to be dealt with. The amendment refers to parish reviews—some may be parish petitions independent of requests for a parish council. I do not know whether any of the 41 reviews listed by the noble Baroness in her Written Answer is a petition. That does not really matter. The underlying question is whether the Government can give a commitment that they will have cleared all outstanding parish reviews and petitions before the Bill is enacted, and if so, when. Secondly, I wish to know whether the Government believe that any of the reviews submitted in the hope of elections to set up new parish councils next May will be dealt with in time. My specific question is a Pendle question because, as I have said, we want to set up town councils in Nelson and Colne and complete the parishing of the borough. That is incidental to my general question and proposal. I beg to move.