Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

The Minister talked about responses to petitions and in particular about a YouGov poll that said that people have become rather cynical because councils do not respond. However, I return to a theme that I started earlier; sometimes councils’ ability to respond is hindered by what is laid down nationally. I used the illustration of a pedestrian crossing. When I presented a petition in 1982 or 1983, local councils had a lot more discretion. We eventually got a crossing, despite the fact that we got it from a district council and we had to get some money from the county council. There was, however, some devolution. These days, my experience is that if you petition for a crossing in a particular place, local people will think that it is absolutely the right place to have it—indeed, sometimes there will even have been a death there—but that the crossing will not meet the national criteria and therefore the council cannot provide it. I am sure that my noble friends could think of other examples of people being hindered by national criteria that are set down. That certainly results in people becoming very cynical about the ability of their local authority. As I said earlier, when you come up against that time and again as a local councillor, you think, ““Why am I giving up my time and not being with my family when this is what happens?””.