Housing and Regeneration Bill

My Lords, in welcoming my noble friend’s amendments, I would like to ask her two questions. Could I first say that I have considerable sympathy with Amendment No. 9, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, to create more of a centre of excellence in planning and design skills? I look forward to my noble friend's comments on that proposal. In fact, my question bears on the same point. On my noble friend's Amendment No. 20, I would like to ask her whether the words, "““the effectiveness with which the functions of the local planning authority””" include good design—the local planning authority’s responsibility to ensure that the design is up to standard. Does ““matters relevant to functions”” in subsection (4)(b) of the new clause of her Amendment No. 34 again refer to the importance of good, high quality design?