Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

The noble Lord, Lord Greaves, has almost answered some of his questions by analysing this clause. Clause 14(1) provides that authorities must take steps in relation to petitions on relevant matters. These are matters that relate to the authority’s functions. I see that the noble Lord has no problem with that aspect of the clause. In England, for unitary and top-tier principal authorities, relevant matters also relate to any of the range of issues set out in local area agreements. The wording relating to environmental and social well-being is taken directly from Section 105 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act with respect to local area agreements. This could include issues as varied as smoking cessation, knife crime rates or the percentage of people on jobseeker’s allowance. As mentioned in previous debates, district councils in two-tier areas and councils in Wales do not enter into local area agreements, and these provisions are therefore not relevant to them, as they have limited ability to influence wider issues.