Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]

I am pleased to catch your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker, in this general debate on several new clauses and amendments. I tabled new clause 8, but anyone reading it would be at a loss to understand what it means. It is an attempt to right the wrong perpetrated when in 2000 the House removed an important discretion from all local authorities, and I shall explain further. It was the tradition of English local government, and of other parts of the UK, that councils deliberated business and reached conclusions through a series of committees. Sometimes those committees fed all their recommendations up to a full plenary council; other committees had delegated powers. The important point was that there was flexibility and discretion in the exercise of that decision-making process. However, under the Local Government Act 2000—section 31, I think—we said, "You can no longer do this. You can opt for a directly elected mayor and this new-fangled cabinet system, but you cannot reach your decisions by a series of committees, unless you are a local authority below a population of about 85,000." There is neither logic nor fairness in Parliament telling councils that they cannot make their decisions in a particular way. That way had endured for 100, and perhaps even 200, years—certainly since the great local government legislation of 1888 and 1889—and still endures in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, where councils can so choose how they reach their decisions. If the House is mindful to support my new clause, it will not be saying to councils, "You will do your deliberations in this way," but "You may"—I repeat "may"—"decide to do your business in this way."