Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I do not mean to offend my noble friend Lady Hamwee, whose drafting is of course always perfect. However, over the years I have heard the Government say that they need to take an amendment away and think about it. They then come back with a new amendment that differs by just one word. The objective of my noble friends Lord Greaves and Lady Hamwee is very clear. I urge the Government as strongly as I possibly can, in their interests; even more importantly in the interests of local government; and most of all in the interests of local democracy, not to try to prescribe all this. In my lengthy experience, very few petitions meet all or even most of the requirements laid down in the Bill. For instance, one requirement is that a petition is valid only if the petitioner gives their name, address and the date on which they signed it. I have asked my noble friends how often they recall seeing the date added to a signature on a petition. It happens, but only very rarely. Indeed, my noble friend has some petitions with him. How many of those petitioners have noted the date on which they signed their names? Hardly any. That is the danger of prescribing too much. No local authority will declare a petition invalid because someone has forgotten to note the date when they signed it—at least I hope not. I have said often that we legislate to prevent the worst abuse. If there are those who want to avoid it, they can use almost any excuse. If we put a general duty on them, that is inescapable. Authorities will interpret the duty differently, as they do now. We will continue to have good local authorities, reasonable local authorities and a very few bad ones. No amount of legislation is going to change that; it is a simple fact of life. The point has been made quite forcefully both in this short debate and by the Local Government Association, which we have cited extensively. It is a view borne out by years of experience; indeed, I would suggest rather more experience on this side of the Committee than on the other, with one or two exceptions, and than among the Minister’s advisers. I end by saying that I am sure that the Minister will consider what we have said very carefully.