Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]

The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Jim Cousins) should be thankful for small mercies: at least the freemen of the city of Newcastle are not dependent on the Rural Payments Agency to support the cattle grazing on the common. If he had ever dealt with the paperwork necessary to sort out such payments, he would settle for what he has. I note that his football team is top of the Championship, so we all live in hope. I wish to reflect on the remarks on referendums made by the hon. Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer) and to agree with what he said. This Bill is like a gigantic ice cream cone: there are a few tasty things at the top, a thin framework and nothing in the middle. Instead of all this nonsense about petitions—90 per cent. of this Bill could be disposed of without any loss—we should put in something of substance and actually give local people a voice in some of these decisions. The hon. Gentleman listed the areas in which referendums had been held—on congestion charging, devolution, an assembly in the north-east and elected mayors. There are other examples of what might be called mini-referendums. For example, the only ever vote on the future of grammar schools was held in Ripon, although the previous Prime Minister rigged the electorate to ensure that the vote was "No". It could be said that housing transfers are still subject to vote by the tenants, so in a sense that is a referendum. Occasionally, councils have also consulted on options for the level of council tax, so the referendum idea has a good pedigree. I am passionately hostile to referendums at the national level. Such referendums are the nearest thing to a political landfill tip—everybody dumps into it all the rubbish they cannot sort out in any other manner. However, local referendums are much more specific. People cram into school halls if the council proposes closing a school or is considering a house building proposal. If people are really concerned, they will seek to have a say, but at the moment the means that they have for expressing their opinion are too limited. There is therefore a good case for saying that, in specific circumstances in which the question can be closely defined, people should be genuinely empowered to decide—in contrast to the froth of phoney empowerment in the Bill. The hon. Gentleman said that he would not press the issue to a vote, and I respect that, but I hope that this and future Administrations will revisit it so that we can clarify what we mean by "decentralisation" and "localism". Very few people have any idea what is meant by those concepts. The best instrument of empowerment is to give people a vote on specific issues that affect their lives, and we should make that option much more available.