Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

This is the first debate on the implications of the regional structures, but I will save my longer contextual speaking note until we come to the later group because that will allow us to have something of a clause stand part debate. However, I have not forgotten the main points the noble Lord made in his remarks earlier this afternoon. I shall deal specifically with the two amendments before us. Amendment 165A specifies that the regional strategy is established by the responsible regional authorities. I think that the meaning of the word ““establish”” is unclear. A key part of our proposals is to embed stronger democratic accountability throughout the entire process of preparing the regional strategy. That is why the Bill establishes a genuinely collaborative approach between RDAs and local authorities in the drafting of regional strategies to achieve the objectives. It has buy-in from local authorities, communities, business and other stakeholders. The leaders’ board will be comprised of local authority leaders with sufficient authority to act on behalf of all local government in the region. Together with the RDA they will have joint responsibility for the regional strategy: drafting, implementation and monitoring. However, there will obviously be others who also have a key role. The whole set of professional staff employed by the RDA and leaders’ boards will lead the process, but the reality is that local authorities, and particularly planning and economic development departments, hold much of the evidence and local knowledge that will go into the development of the strategy. Communities and stakeholders will therefore be vital contributors, including business, community groups and so on. Government agencies will be vital, because government make such a major investment in major infrastructure, such as transport or flood defence. Of course, the Government are responsible for much of the investment underpinning the delivery of these strategies. Many of these roles are set out in subsequent clauses, and we will debate them as we come to them. The effect of the probing amendment would essentially be to duplicate that. The noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield did not speak to Amendment 172. I do not know if it is listed in this group.