Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I welcome back the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. It is good to have her back posing challenging questions. This group of amendments comprises two specific parts. The first seeks to impose a duty on connected authorities and the second focuses on the need to have regard to statutory guidance. In the former, the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, wants to ensure that all those on the list of connected authorities will provide the requested information to the principal authorities by placing a statutory duty on them to do so, with a time limit of three months from the request. An additional point is that if at a later stage the noble Lord brings back the substance of Amendment 51, which we considered last week, this would include any bodies added to the list of connected authorities by the principal local authority. There is little, if any, evidence that, where principal authorities are currently engaged in such activities, they have encountered resistance from the relevant organisations in providing them with the information that they seek. In discussion with representatives of these organisations prior to the introduction of the Bill, there was a general readiness to provide such information. Of course we cannot assume that all the organisations asked by principal authorities under their duty to promote democracy to provide the necessary information will invariably provide it, but the Bill makes allowance for this by giving the appropriate national authority the order-making power to impose requirements relating to the provision of information to principal authorities. Given that we want to minimise the imposition of new duties unless it is necessary, the Bill’s approach is preferable to adding another duty when there is no evidence to support the need for it. The amendment to introduce the additional duty is, therefore, on present evidence, not necessary. We would argue that Amendments 74 and 75, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, and the noble Lord, Lord Tope, to issue guidance on how to comply with this duty and to consult on that guidance, are also not needed. We would not seek to issue guidance where no duty exists. However, if local authorities and connected authorities want to develop their own best practice advice to guide local authorities and connected authorities, that is up to them. We would be happy to support this and help in whatever way we can. I should add, in response to the question put by the noble Baroness, that we would consult all stakeholders when producing any guidance, which would certainly include the connected authorities. The noble Lord, Lord Greaves, proposes in Amendment 66 that the appropriate national authority should be able to impose requirements other than those relating to the provision of the relevant information covered in the Bill. However, in the context of the duty to promote democracy, it is not clear what other requirements we would want the appropriate national authority to have order-making powers to impose. Accordingly, this amendment would not meet any identifiable need. I move to the question of whether councils should have regard to statutory guidance. Under Clause 6(1), the appropriate national authority, which would be the Secretary of State in England and Welsh Ministers in Wales, may give guidance to principal local authorities in relation to the discharge of their duties under Chapter 1. The guidance must be published and would apply to all local authorities in England, including county and district councils, London borough councils and the City of London. Wales will produce its own statutory guidance. The clause allows flexibility to produce guidance, which may apply generally or to one or more particular principal local authorities, and which must be consulted on. Amendment 76 would remove the requirement under Clause 6(4) for principal local authorities to have regard to any guidance issued under subsection (1). To ““have regard to”” guidance does not mean ““slavishly adhere to”” it, in that the body taking the decision must genuinely have regard to the guidance, and certainly cannot ignore it. It may depart from it, but only if it has good reasons for doing so. The decision to be made remains its decision, to be taken in view of all the relevant circumstances. Moreover, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, acknowledged, the form of words used does not actually make a huge difference to whether the clause contains express provision for the principal local authorities to have regard to the guidance. Because the Secretary of State has the power to issue guidance to principal local authorities as to how to fulfil their duties, they would in any event be acting unlawfully if they failed to have regard to it. It is important that these amendments have provoked a debate on the principle behind the provision of guidance, specifically on the point that councils should be able to decide for themselves what actions should be taken to fulfil their duties relating to the promotion of democracy. In the Bill, we have sought to achieve a balance between enabling councils to be clear about what they are required to do and overloading legislation with detail that is too prescriptive. We want to be able to provide help to councils in their new role and to make it easy for them to understand what is expected and to get on with taking that work forward. Traditionally, this has been done through guidance from the Government—incidentally, such guidance is often asked for by councils themselves—which assists councils as they begin to set themselves up for a new role. There is nothing sinister in that and it is certainly not unique to this legislation. Our debates so far have absolutely proved the case for statutory guidance in relation to the duty to promote democracy. There have been multiple occasions in these sittings when we have pledged to ensure that the aims of the legislation are made clear to councils via the guidance, in response to requests for clarity from Members of the Committee. Statutory guidance will help to ensure consistency of approach in terms of the information being provided, but I state for the record that, in exercising the powers under Clause 6, we envisage that the guidance issued by the Secretary of State will strike the appropriate balance between, on one hand, ensuring that the response by local authorities to the proposed duty is robust and consistent across England and, on the other, providing for local flexibility to take account of local circumstances. We do not intend to tell local authorities exactly what they must do. We will not be saying that they must deliver a leaflet to every property every year, or that they must arrange meetings with particular community groups on a regular basis. We intend the guidance to clarify the responsibilities that the clauses place on the different players and to suggest—and I mean suggest—some useful ways in which that might be done. Statutory guidance could also demonstrate links between these duties and other legislation, such as the code of recommended practice on local authority publicity, which we discussed last week, and the Electoral Administration Act 2006. Statutory guidance would under Clause 6(3) be subject to public consultation, which we will undertake with the relevant people and bodies before it is finalised. In fact, we are already talking to the LGA about how it can be involved in its production. I therefore urge the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment. Statutory guidance could cover a number of areas. I could go into some detail about each of them, but for the sake of time I will just briefly highlight the headline issues and, unless requested to do so, will not put lots of meat on the bones. We will be looking at how duties relating to the promotion of democracy link to other legislation; guidance on what information should be made available and what is meant by promoting understanding; the councillors’ role and the support and advice available to them; and what information connected authorities should provide to local authorities and the areas on which they should be probing. We will also be covering councils’ relationship with the connected authorities, how the duty will operate in two-tier areas—a recurring issue—and how to ensure that information is accessible. That brings us to the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Low, last week, to ensure that underrepresented groups, especially disabled people, are accessed, to consider what information they should have, and to urge those points more pressingly. We made several specific pledges last week on subjects where Members of the Committee felt that clarification was needed. Statutory guidance will ensure that principal local authorities understand their responsibilities in those areas in promoting democracy. It will also facilitate consistency in the type of information provided to local people. It may help the Committee to know our plans for producing the guidance and the consultation that will be involved. Subject to parliamentary approval, the proposals will be subject to further development and discussion with partners—all partners. The legislation will require us to consult the principal local authorities to which guidance is given, but we will of course ensure that all relevant bodies are consulted: principally, local government representatives such as the LGA family, those representing the parish sector and representatives of the connected authorities and of the roles covered in Clauses 3 and 4. The views of other partners, such as the community sector and representatives of those with specific accessibility requirements, who were mentioned, will also be sought. Subject to parliamentary approval, we will formally consult on the draft guidance after Royal Assent, with a view to publishing the final guidance in 2010. To encourage a strong and innovative response to the duty, we also plan to encourage and support the local government sector to produce and promote best practice advice. We anticipate that that would include examples of current and future good practice on promoting democracy, advice on how best to reach and involve underrepresented groups, how the duties to promote democratic understanding can be embedded in all local authority activities and how councils can work most effectively with partner organisations. This will work in harmony with statutory guidance to ensure that councils have a clear idea of how the legislation works, what the requirements are and what their future responsibilities will be. I am of course aware that noble Lords have concerns about statutory guidance, but I am sure that they would not wish to see councils being unclear about how best to meet these duties and where their responsibilities lie.