Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

The first partnership that I got involved with in my career was the City Challenge Board, which the Conservative Government insisted that we set up to get some money. We were always a very pragmatic authority. If there was any money involved and we were asked to set up a partnership, we would do that if we could get the money. The noble Lord makes a point about the distinction between voluntary and statutory bodies, because that is not as clear as it might be. LSPs are now major players in monitoring local area agreements, so they do have a role. However, I did not understand what he said about partnerships within an authority area. If we try to map governance, in a sense there are partnerships beyond an authority’s area—sometimes in collaboration, formal or informal, with other local authorities, and sometimes with other bodies and private sector organisations within a wider field. If we are trying to do something that people understand and which means something, my only concern is that we need to ensure we are talking about significant rather than marginal things. Otherwise, there will just be a complex geography map that no one will understand, not least those of us who are actively involved in local government. We need to bear in mind that, if we want something that will mean something and will help people get round the difficulties within local government, it has to be reasonably simple.