Sustainable Communities Act 2007 (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Whitty for taking this Bill through your Lordships’ House and delighted to be able to give it the Government’s full support. I am also pleased that it has support across all parties. I will not take up too much of the House’s time, given the matters that we still have to discuss, but would like to make just a few comments. I offer my congratulations and thanks to Mr Alistair Burt, the honourable Member for North East Bedfordshire, for championing the Bill through another place. His efforts have ensured that 287 Members of Parliament have signed Early Day Motion 1095 calling for the Bill to be debated before the end of the Session. That was extremely helpful. I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Marlesford, who took the original Bill through your Lordships’ House in 2007. During Second Reading on that Bill, he said that it offered the Government the chance of a real shift of influence from the centre to the grass roots. He was right. This week I had the pleasure of repeating a Statement made by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which he updated the House on progress being made under the 2007 Act. Grass-roots ideas from a number of councils across the country are influencing government thinking and have the potential to change the lives of thousands of people. I also offer thanks to Local Works and Mr Ron Bailey, whose enthusiasm has been instrumental in the development of the provisions that we are debating today. For those not intimate with the logistics of the Sustainable Communities Act, it may be worth reiterating how the current arrangements have been carried out. The previous Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Member of Parliament for Salford, wrote to local authorities on 14 October 2008. In that letter, she restated her belief that the Act creates a useful opportunity for local authorities to propose new ways to improve local neighbourhoods for their residents, visitors and businesses. She requested that local authorities submit proposals which they felt would improve the economic, social or environmental well-being of the authority’s area, including participation in civic and political activity. Under the Act, the Government appointed the Local Government Association as the body which naturally represented the views of local government. It would be known as the "selector", the gatekeeper of local authority opinion and communities’ inspiration. I publicly thank Councillor Mitchell and the LGA for their hard work and scrutiny of the many proposals which were submitted. As my noble friend outlined, a total of 301 proposals were submitted to the LGA for shortlisting, 18 of which were joint proposals. Those 301 proposals came from 90 lead authorities, with a further 10 district councils contributing to joint submissions. That represents 28 per cent of the total authorities in England—100 out of 353 authorities. The Government have co-operated with the LGA as it examined each proposal, but when the final shortlist was published on 23 December 2009, it still contained 199 proposals. Under the Act, the Government are currently consulting the LGA and trying to reach agreement with it about which proposals the Secretary of State believes should be implemented. As I said, we are making progress with the original Act, but we want to do more. The principles behind the Act have the potential to drive real change, to go far further than we can at present. My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Member of Parliament for Stevenage said in another place that, as with all things in life, legislation must evolve in order to become stronger. The Bill being taken through by my noble friend Lord Whitty will enable that evolution to take place. Although 199 proposals were submitted to the Secretary of State by local authorities, there were 242 requests for the Government to take action: 242 bright ideas to improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of local areas. The Bill will enable the Government to respond individually to each one. That is just common sense. Councils will look at us in disbelief if we turn to them and say that we are required by law to give one blanket response to all the different requests that they make, just because they submitted them on one form as one proposal. Local democracy starts with citizens. The Government have strengthened the rights of local people to shape the area that they live in, including increasing the power of elected local councillors and local authorities to represent their interests. It makes sense that local councillors at both local authority and parish level should assist us in developing and shaping the implementation of the Act ready for the next decade and beyond. My noble friend’s Bill will allow them to do so by providing a full opportunity to contribute to consultation and debate on the regulations that will govern the process of submitting, considering and deciding on proposals in future. That process will ensure that there will be an opportunity for communities to help to influence and shape the future implementation of the Act. The noble Lord, Lord Tope, asked about the particular significance of new Section 5C(1) concerning persons or classes of persons. It was originally intended to include parish and town councils under certain circumstances, but it will be subject to the consultation process under the regulations. The current Act enables grass-roots ideas to be heard and acted on. The Bill will enable grass-roots ideas to influence the Sustainable Communities Act process itself. This Government have given local authorities a much stronger and more expansive role than ever before, placing them firmly at the centre of decision-making. The Bill will make the role of local government stronger still. It will allow the Sustainable Communities Act to evolve, to become more responsive to the needs of citizens and to ensure that it has a future as a permanent part of the architecture of local government. I congratulate my noble friend on moving Second Reading today, and I commend the Bill to all noble Lords.