Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I have to say that I disagree. When subsection (6) in particular reaches the light of day, it will result in belly laughter throughout local government and will not do the Government’s reputation any good at all. I admire the Minister for her attempts to defend this part of the Bill, but the Government should look at themselves and consider the whole thing again. The Minister said that these are areas that we have not previously put in legislation. Do we have to legislate to tell councils that they can hold a public meeting, as the Bill does? All the councils with which I have been involved have held public meetings of various kinds fairly frequently. My own council holds an astonishing number of public meetings. Depending on how you define a public meeting, never a week goes by without two or three of them. Residents can turn up and take part in single-issue or community meetings—they are not ordinary council meetings. In my experience, most public meetings do not arise from petitions; most of them are from deputations. Deputations go to committees of the council—in particular, to area committees—and they raise an issue. That area committee will then say, ““Let’s have a public meeting””. Alternatively, they are regular public meetings connected with ongoing investment projects. The idea that we need in legislation to tell councils that they can hold a public meeting, and to do so in legislation referring specifically to petitions rather than to anything else that the council may do or receive representations on, is fatuous. The Government will make themselves look ridiculous, and I am trying to stop them doing so. The Minister then said that the scope of the steps to be taken is by way of illustration, but it ought not to be in primary legislation. It is ridiculous that the Government are saying in primary legislation that: "““A … local authority’s petition scheme must secure that the steps which may be taken by the authority … include the following””." Perhaps they can put in lots of other things as well if they have time to waste doing it. If the Government really want to prescribe how a council deals with petitions, they should set out the process. Much of what is in the Bill is halfway outcomes. Since we have just had Burns Night, I am tempted to quote Burns, although I am not sure that it is a good idea with a Yorkshire accent. He wrote: ““O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us””. The poem ends by saying that you will not engage in ““foolish notion””. This is foolish notion. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment at this stage, but it will have to come back. Amendment 123 withdrawn. Amendments 124 and 125 not moved. Clause 14 agreed. Clause 15 agreed. Debate on whether Clause 16 should stand part of the Bill.