Local Government (Structural Changes) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Other Provision) Order 2009

I am grateful for the welcome given by noble Lords opposite. I think that we would all agree that nothing is perfect in the restructuring of local government; we have empirical and historical evidence to show that. I am sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Bates, was not part of our debates two years ago on the 2007 Act. I am sure that we would have some very lively debates around his perspective. I am conscious that a large and lively body is waiting to debate a fascinating report, so I shall make my remarks as swiftly as I can and try to pick up some rather detailed points raised especially by the noble Lord. If he will forgive me, I shall not rehearse any of the arguments that we had about the merits of moving to unitary status, nor shall I pick up most of the comments about the Merits Committee. However, I shall come back to some of the things that he said about restructuring as a whole. In relation to the specific arguments, the name of Durham council has exercised a lot of people. Under the order the council could choose to call itself Durham Council, although we understand that it will call itself Durham County Council. That is slightly perverse, but that is the local choice, which is absolutely fine. I have to say that the council tax in Durham will increase by an average of 2.9 per cent, not nearly 5 per cent, because it ranges from a 1 per cent reduction in council tax for the current district of Derwentside to an increase of 4.75 per cent in Easington. The point on the ceremonial issues is interesting. The parish councils, when they come into being, will be the authorities which inherit the ceremonial rights. It is very much a local decision for the new unitary council on how it manages that. We had a good and extremely detailed debate the other evening on port health authorities. The point is that they are public authorities which consist either of the local authority or a joint board of a number of local authorities. If they occupy portside hereditaments, the same rating arrangements will apply to them as to anyone else. Again, it will be a matter for decision in each individual case. The noble Lord mentioned the combining of these elections with the European elections. All the evidence provided by the electoral authorities suggested that they were perfectly conscious they were handling combined elections and that they had the resources to deal with them. They were not concerned about the combination of elections in that instance. In relation to the River Tweed—we are ranging far and wide—we had discussions with the Scotland Office and will write with details on the nature of those discussions. As for the quotation from the Minister in the other place, he was perfectly clear that the approach we are proposing—elections in June, on the basis of 123 members—will indeed give the council full democratic legitimacy as soon as possible, which will be from 4 June. The noble Lord raised issues about the timetable. The Boundary Committee started work immediately after Parliament approved the order; it did not waste time. Finally, he raised issues about the Boundary Committee’s undertakings on Devon. I am very glad that the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, took part in this debate, given his role in Cornwall. That order related to changes in structure. Here we are talking about electoral boundaries, but I acknowledge that he wanted to put his point on the record. On the questions raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, and the issue that a Member for a Cornish constituency, Julia Goldsworthy, drew attention to, we did not discuss adjusting the boundaries with either the Boundary Committee or the Electoral Commission. Even if those discussions had taken place, it would have been quite wrong, as I said, for the Government to try to adjust the electoral division boundaries on the basis of representations, because they would have been parti pris. It is not a simple decision based on local agreement; there must be objective criteria, concerns about electoral equality and community identity, and effective and convenient local government. I hope that that will satisfy the noble Baroness. The noble Baroness also asked what happens during the interregnum in terms of overview and scrutiny. Central Bedfordshire will from 1 April be a full council and will therefore have normal arrangements for its committees, including overview and scrutiny. Bedford Borough Council is a continuing council and therefore its overview and scrutiny arrangements will continue between 1 April and the election in June. We debated the difference between continuing and full councils when we looked at the original arrangements. The local government pension fund in every case is vested in the responsible administering local authority. Unlike private pensions, there are no trustees and the use of local government pension funds is controlled by the superannuation legislation and pensions regulations. Finally, on the political question raised by the noble Lord, Lord Bates, the councils in Cheshire are in agreement that Cheshire West and Chester, which is one council, will hold the pension funds for all local government employees in Cheshire, so any outstanding difficulties there appear to have been resolved. Motion agreed.