UK Parliament / Open data

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]

Debate on bills on Monday, 1 June 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Hazel Blears. The answering member was Caroline Spelman.
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill (HL). Second reading debate. Agreed to on division (276 votes to 154). Programme motion on proceedings in Committee, on Report, Third reading and any other proceedings. Agreed to on division (274 votes to 153). Queen's recommendation signified. Money resolution agreed to on question. Ways and means resolution agreed to on question. [Relevant Document: The Fourth Report from the Business and Enterprise Committee, HC 89, on Regional development agencies and the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill.]
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
493 c22-133 
Session
2008-09
Legislative stage
Second reading
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 493 c65 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to withdraw that—
John Healey | 493 c125-6 (Link to this contribution) No, I am saying that councils do not have specific powers to do that. If the right hon. Gentleman co...

Show all contributions (235)
Lord Swire | 493 c124 (Link to this contribution) Elected regional assemblies, the brainwave of the right hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr...
John Healey | 493 c124 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman and then finish off.
John Healey | 493 c123-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that, Mr. Deputy Speaker, as I am trying to respond to points made by hon. Members...
Speaker | 493 c123 (Link to this contribution) Order. There are far too many private conversations going on; that is discourteous to the Minister, ...
John Healey | 493 c123 (Link to this contribution) I was talking about the response to those floods by the regional development agencies, which the Opp...
Martin Horwood | 493 c123 (Link to this contribution) The Minister cites the regional authorities' response to the floods, but they responded to the 2007 ...
John Healey | 493 c125 (Link to this contribution) I will give way one last time, and then, if the right hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I want to resp...
John Healey | 493 c124-5 (Link to this contribution) I knew that I would regret giving way to the hon. Gentleman. His point relates to a debate for the f...
John Healey | 493 c121-3 (Link to this contribution) This has been a very good debate. It follows full proceedings in the other place, which were ably le...
Alistair Burt | 493 c113-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes his own point. Once again, a Government with good intentions fall down at ...
Alistair Burt | 493 c115 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a fair point. It is an immensely difficult process, and I am sure that he share...
Peter Luff | 493 c115 (Link to this contribution) On this important point, is my hon. Friend's area experiencing the problem encountered in my constit...
Alistair Burt | 493 c115-6 (Link to this contribution) The inspector turns down local feelings expressed by a local planning decision on the grounds of num...
James Gray | 493 c115 (Link to this contribution) Is it not an added absurdity that if a local authority turns down an application for an illegal Gyps...
Speaker | 493 c117 (Link to this contribution) Order. Did the right hon. Gentleman inform the hon. Member for Ipswich (Chris Mole) that he was goin...
Lord Deben | 493 c116-7 (Link to this contribution) I did not intend to speak in this debate, until it became clear that the Government were making what...
Lord Goodman of Wycombe | 493 c118-21 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) has just made a brief speech combi...
Lord Deben | 493 c117-8 (Link to this contribution) I am very sorry. I see that the hon. Gentleman is in the House at the moment, and it is therefore no...
Dan Rogerson | 493 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point about the current level of accountability, but there is also the q...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c60-1 (Link to this contribution) Yes. Having attended several Westminster Hall debates on the issue, I could bore for most parts of E...
Dan Rogerson | 493 c58 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. If I may return her to an earlier comment that she made...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c56-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point and uses another word, "choice", that has been bandied...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c56 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has rightly identified a problem with our democracy: people do not feel that they are ...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) I was not aware that the Conservatives were happy for local authorities to press forward with varian...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c60 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way, although I am conscious that Front Benchers have abso...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) Actions speak louder than words for all parties, which is why I am proud of the Liberal Democrats' t...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c59 (Link to this contribution) It is interesting that it was the Conservatives who abolished the Greater London council and the met...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c58-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very valuable point, which draws my attention to a specific example in my con...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c93 (Link to this contribution) There would still be a private sector. Although I am a fan of DLOs, I do remember that some were not...
Peter Luff | 493 c93-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins). I agreed with some of ...
Lord Deben | 493 c96 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend not being too kind to the Government? They have just passed the Planning Act 2008 ...
Peter Luff | 493 c96 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes an extremely powerful and important point, as he usually does. The sense ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c91-2 (Link to this contribution) I have thought for a long time that we should have two-day voting over a weekend, which would solve ...
Lord Lilley | 493 c92 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said earlier that it was wrong that councils were required to accept the lowest b...
Peter Luff | 493 c96 (Link to this contribution) That would be entirely acceptable out of the 300 days. We could have an entirely local process. The ...
Peter Luff | 493 c97 (Link to this contribution) I think that would be procedurally tricky, but my right hon. Friend might try to catch my eye later....
Martin Horwood | 493 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman seems to be advocating the policy of urban extension that has been a feature of r...
Paul Beresford | 493 c84-7 (Link to this contribution) I just wish that the right hon. Member for Streatham (Keith Hill) had stopped a little earlier, as a...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c87 (Link to this contribution) Because I agree with a great deal of what many Members have said, I will not repeat it but will try ...
Keith Hill | 493 c83-4 (Link to this contribution) I hope that my hon. Friend will forgive me if I have misled him. It was certainly not the purpose of...
Martin Horwood | 493 c91 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making some important points, many of which I agree with—except for the one ab...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c90-1 (Link to this contribution) I did not realise that my hon. Friend was sitting behind me, but I agree entirely with her. I made e...
Diane Abbott | 493 c90 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the merits of the first-past-the post system is that it helps ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, I would like capital receipts and, indeed, business rates and the borrowing powers that loca...
Paul Beresford | 493 c89 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the finances that one would think local authorities would keep—th...
Martin Horwood | 493 c104-6 (Link to this contribution) Pompous inspectors, then. I made a freedom of information request to discover exactly how much time...
Lord Garnier | 493 c109-10 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree. Only the Co-operative Wholesale Society could jump on that bandwagon in the hope o...
Peter Soulsby | 493 c110 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. and learned Gentleman give way?
Peter Soulsby | 493 c111 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. and learned Gentleman sits down, will he return briefly to the powerful case that he...
Lord Garnier | 493 c111 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is entirely right. The Co-op's proposal is that only one car would be allowed for...
Bob Spink | 493 c112-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who is being most generous. Will he allow me to give another re...
Alistair Burt | 493 c111-2 (Link to this contribution) It has been an interesting debate, and two identifying characteristics perhaps stand out at the end ...
Peter Luff | 493 c97 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has caught my eye. At the risk of being an intermediary in a debate between two...
Lord Deben | 493 c97 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that that issue is totally different from institutionalising a mechanism w...
Lord Deben | 493 c102 (Link to this contribution) Is it not also true that the towns themselves value that gap? People in Felixstowe in my constituenc...
Martin Horwood | 493 c102 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman puts it extremely well. I agree with him entirely on that point. In fact, t...
Peter Luff | 493 c97-100 (Link to this contribution) I think I shall let my right hon. Friend's wise intervention speak for itself before I receive an ad...
Martin Horwood | 493 c100-2 (Link to this contribution) Despite her current difficulties with The Daily Telegraph, with the Prime Minister and with various ...
Martin Horwood | 493 c103-4 (Link to this contribution) I have a lot of sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman says. Parish councils in my constituency have ...
Bob Spink | 493 c102-3 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman is talking about safety and flooding, does he share my disappointment that the...
Peter Luff | 493 c65 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a characteristically powerful point, but is he aware that with only t...
Nick Raynsford | 493 c72 (Link to this contribution) As always, the right hon. Gentleman is making an extremely interesting and provocative speech. He ta...
David Curry | 493 c72-3 (Link to this contribution) First, we must, where possible, give competence to the people who are elected, so that the citizen k...
Lord Swire | 493 c73 (Link to this contribution) Because there is now a democratic deficit as regards those who are involved in representative democr...
David Curry | 493 c73 (Link to this contribution) On the whole, I subscribe to that point of view. We see disaffection in all sorts of people. The con...
Nick Raynsford | 493 c66-8 (Link to this contribution) It has been my experience over quite a few years that the Opposition make huge fuss at the start of ...
David Curry | 493 c68-71 (Link to this contribution) I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members' Interests as a columnist for the Local Gove...
Graham Stringer | 493 c71 (Link to this contribution) I agree with what the right hon. Gentleman is saying, but is he not in danger of taking the Governme...
David Curry | 493 c71-2 (Link to this contribution) It may be. I occasionally make the perhaps naive mistake, after only 22 years in this place, of thin...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c62 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I have already been inundated with representations from busi...
Nick Raynsford | 493 c63-5 (Link to this contribution) May I first draw attention to my interests, as recorded in the Register of Members' Interests, and t...
Andrew Mackinlay | 493 c65 (Link to this contribution) May I invite my right hon. Friend to fast-forward to chapter 5, clause 28, on honorary titles? An ab...
Alan Whitehead | 493 c62 (Link to this contribution) I have a minor, modest intervention to make. Is it not the case that economic prosperity board areas...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) As I said, the economic prosperity boards could be useful forums for debate, but what worries me, lo...
Speaker | 493 c65 (Link to this contribution) That is very kind of the hon. Gentleman.
Lord Lilley | 493 c78 (Link to this contribution) That would mean even more ambitious plans to invade and take over local authorities.
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c78 (Link to this contribution) I understand precisely what the right hon. Gentleman is talking about in our locality. However, woul...
Lord Garnier | 493 c78 (Link to this contribution) I sympathise with my right hon. Friend's point, even more so now that I have heard what the hon. Mem...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c79 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way again. The problem arises where there is no possibil...
Lord Lilley | 493 c79-81 (Link to this contribution) I hate to tell the hon. Gentleman about his own constituency, but his constituents—his councillors—f...
Lord Garnier | 493 c82 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman might think that this is a rather impertinent intervention. He has said tha...
Keith Hill | 493 c82 (Link to this contribution) I hear the hon. and learned Gentleman, but I would not for a moment accuse my right hon. and hon. Fr...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c83 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether my right hon. Friend could explain further his conversion. The earlier legislation ...
Alan Whitehead | 493 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has perhaps anticipated some of the comments that I was going to make about the l...
Lord Swire | 493 c74 (Link to this contribution) In my constituency of East Devon, we have about 4,500 people on the waiting list for housing, yet we...
Alan Whitehead | 493 c73-4 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with what my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsfor...
Lord Swire | 493 c75 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to what the hon. Gentleman is saying, and we are going through this argumen...
Alan Whitehead | 493 c76-7 (Link to this contribution) The conclusion that I was going to reach in my description of the journey of sub-national government...
Peter Luff | 493 c75 (Link to this contribution) My understanding, from evidence that my Select Committee received during its consideration of the Bi...
Alan Whitehead | 493 c75 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's journey of discovery goes back even further in history than my journey of under...
Lord Lilley | 493 c78 (Link to this contribution) I will certainly give way to the hon. Gentleman because his council is one of the guilty parties.
Lord Lilley | 493 c77-8 (Link to this contribution) I draw the House's attention to my declaration in the Register of Members' Interests. It is a privi...
Martin Horwood | 493 c54 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an interesting speech and a powerful case. Is there not a risk that the...
Graham Stringer | 493 c54 (Link to this contribution) That is one possibility. A stronger possibility is that deals will be done without the involvement o...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c55 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer), who made a th...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c55 (Link to this contribution) I feel that I should correct the record. The bin tax is driven by central Government's desire to est...
Andrew Mackinlay | 493 c51 (Link to this contribution) Before my hon. Friend moves on from the history of local government over the past few years, may I i...
Graham Stringer | 493 c51-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a point that I am coming to in about two minutes. However, to return to the poin...
Peter Kilfoyle | 493 c50-1 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has moved on now, but I was quite taken by his reference to the efficiency, or lack o...
Graham Stringer | 493 c51 (Link to this contribution) I cannot do that. There is no set of laws or rules that apply to Ministers or civil servants that ar...
Alan Whitehead | 493 c46 (Link to this contribution) I am somewhat puzzled by the distinctions that the hon. Lady is drawing as regards voluntary arrange...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c46-7 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman waits for a couple of minutes, I am about to discuss multi-area agreements. T...
Speaker | 493 c45 (Link to this contribution) Order. As the hon. Gentleman knows, interventions must be brief. I think that he got his point acros...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c45-6 (Link to this contribution) Madam Deputy Speaker, you will agree with me, I think, that this afternoon is turning out to be inte...
Nick Raynsford | 493 c48 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady believe that it is right for all council tax valuations to be based on notional 1...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c48-9 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is very knowledgeable about local government, and we have debated revaluati...
Graham Stringer | 493 c47 (Link to this contribution) I have listened carefully to what the hon. Lady has said, and I agree with her, not my party's Front...
Andrew Mackinlay | 493 c45 (Link to this contribution) I am being goaded by my party's Front Benchers about this business of partnership. My case is this. ...
Graham Stringer | 493 c49-50 (Link to this contribution) The history of the last 65 years is one of increasing centralisation of democracy in this country, i...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c43 (Link to this contribution) As always, the Conservatives focus on owner-occupation. Last week, however, there was a report that ...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c43 (Link to this contribution) I hear the hon. Gentleman, but I have said nothing about tenure, and from evidence we all know that ...
Dari Taylor | 493 c43 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with great care to the hon. Lady, and I hope that she will reciprocate. She was right...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c44 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady perhaps misunderstood me, because at no point did I say that local authorities do not ...
Paul Beresford | 493 c44 (Link to this contribution) The previous intervention backs up my hon. Friend's point, because some local authorities have worke...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c44 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has real hands-on experience of running a local authority, and there is the proof tha...
Hazel Blears | 493 c44 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady not accept that the Bill is based entirely on the premise that such organisations...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c44-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State. The point is, however, that the artificial regions created by her Go...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c45 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is a Liberal Democrat, so I do not blame him for not having read the Conservative...
Martin Horwood | 493 c45 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady clarify something? She has recommended a purely economic role for the regional de...
Hazel Blears | 493 c32 (Link to this contribution) If development is not sustainable, it will not be the kind of development that will drive economic p...
David Drew | 493 c32 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend include an explicit definition of sustainable development in the Bill? Man...
Hazel Blears | 493 c31 (Link to this contribution) It will be an awful lot faster than the previous process, and I say that to the hon. Gentleman for t...
Martin Horwood | 493 c31 (Link to this contribution) The less integrated approach that we have had to date has taken about five years to move from initia...
Hazel Blears | 493 c32-3 (Link to this contribution) I would say that the position is almost exactly the reverse. Although the regional development agenc...
Peter Kilfoyle | 493 c32 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State is being very patient with us. I have nothing against regional strategies; in...
Hazel Blears | 493 c32 (Link to this contribution) We could probably embark on an interesting philosophical discussion and I am always keen to explore ...
David Curry | 493 c32 (Link to this contribution) When someone embarks on a strategy, how do they know whether it is going to be sustainable?
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c30 (Link to this contribution) Will that duty to participate also extend to partnership organisations, such as local strategic part...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c33 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has just described this as a much more coherent arrangement. I am sure that i...
Peter Luff | 493 c34 (Link to this contribution) On a point of detail about the sub-regional consideration of development issues in particular, recom...
Hazel Blears | 493 c34 (Link to this contribution) That is a fair question. So far the architecture has been designed to achieve system change, and it ...
Hazel Blears | 493 c34 (Link to this contribution) Again, that is a fair question, because the whole purpose of moving to an EPB is that some continuit...
Martin Horwood | 493 c33 (Link to this contribution) Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury are collaborating on a joint core strategy that will implement...
Hazel Blears | 493 c33 (Link to this contribution) I see no reason for those authorities simply to call a halt to their discussions and plans. It is no...
Peter Luff | 493 c33 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way again?
Hazel Blears | 493 c29-30 (Link to this contribution) I am going to make a little progress, otherwise I will take up everybody else's time. The best coun...
Martin Horwood | 493 c29 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the Secretary of State that petitions and large-scale participation by the public are w...
Hazel Blears | 493 c29 (Link to this contribution) If someone has a problem with litter and graffiti on their street, the Bill requires the council to ...
Hazel Blears | 493 c29 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been an effective advocate in relation to some of the spatial strategies. He ...
Hazel Blears | 493 c28 (Link to this contribution) That is an excellent idea. I am delighted that we managed, after three or four debates in the House,...
Peter Luff | 493 c29 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State not understand that the real problem with councils explaining themselves...
Hazel Blears | 493 c28-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know that the Youth Citizenship Commission is looking at exactly those issues an...
Brian Iddon | 493 c28 (Link to this contribution) Now that we have a Youth Parliament, would it not be a good idea to encourage all councils, not just...
Hazel Blears | 493 c38-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know that there was £100 million in the Budget to encourage precisely such activ...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c39 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that everyone in the Chamber with an interest in local government will have spent the past...
Hazel Blears | 493 c38 (Link to this contribution) It might not be a matter for these clauses, but the way in which we carry out our procurement more g...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c38 (Link to this contribution) During the recession in the 1970s, when I was a member of a local authority, local authorities were ...
Dari Taylor | 493 c37 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way and I am keen to support the points that a...
Hazel Blears | 493 c37 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton, South (Ms Taylor), who has not spoken.
Sally Keeble | 493 c38 (Link to this contribution) The Bill makes provision for more transparency in the contractual process. Will there be more guidel...
Hazel Blears | 493 c38 (Link to this contribution) That point is similar to one that was raised earlier. I am very conscious that we should ensure that...
Joan Walley | 493 c38 (Link to this contribution) On the issue of small businesses and the part of the Bill that deals with construction companies, wi...
Hazel Blears | 493 c37-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that point. As ever, she is practically focused on doing the thi...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c41-2 (Link to this contribution) Unless I am very much mistaken, the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle) has serious mis...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c42 (Link to this contribution) A number of amendments were tabled by the Conservatives in the Lords to withdraw from the regional s...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c42-3 (Link to this contribution) I am rarely embarrassed by Liberal Democrats; usually, the most I feel is sorry for them. The strong...
Nick Raynsford | 493 c39-40 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady asked why there should be a voice for tenants in addition to the Tenant Services Autho...
Peter Luff | 493 c40 (Link to this contribution) In the light of the criticism admirably made by the hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) abou...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c40 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has considerable knowledge about local government, but my point concerns th...
David Curry | 493 c40 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend think that it is a promotion of democracy to seek to bring the Bill out of Commi...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c40 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for referring hon. Members to where they can better understand the language u...
Peter Kilfoyle | 493 c41 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady rightly emphasises the prescriptive nature of parts of the Bill. She implies, in her c...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c40-1 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend highlights a problem that is part of the general frustration felt by the public...
Lord Garnier | 493 c35 (Link to this contribution) This is not a humorous matter, although there have been some humorous moments this evening. Before w...
Speaker | 493 c35 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. and learned Gentleman knows that whether or not to give way is entirely up to the Mi...
Hazel Blears | 493 c35 (Link to this contribution) Now, I was—[Interruption.] There is lots of democracy in this Chamber; I have been speaking for quit...
Hazel Blears | 493 c35 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not going to give way.
Lord Garnier | 493 c35 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to ask the same question as the hon. Gentleman.
Hazel Blears | 493 c35 (Link to this contribution) I do not regret giving way, because it always good to have a healthy debate. All I would say to my h...
Andrew Mackinlay | 493 c34-5 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend will regret giving way. If she looks at the Official Report tomorrow, she will ...
Hazel Blears | 493 c34 (Link to this contribution) Goodness, I am spoilt for choice. I shall give way to my hon. Friend.
Hazel Blears | 493 c37 (Link to this contribution) The provisions in this part of the Bill are primarily about trying to improve cash flow, but I take ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c36 (Link to this contribution) On the basis of what my right hon. Friend was saying about ordering locally, will she urge all publi...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 493 c37 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State is glossing over the construction provisions at the end of the Bill, which ar...
Sally Keeble | 493 c36 (Link to this contribution) On the issue of construction contracts, would my right hon. Friend consider giving local authorities...
Hazel Blears | 493 c35-6 (Link to this contribution) I have no doubt that the hon. and learned Gentleman will be pursuing that question on a regular basi...
Mark Prisk | 493 c36 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the intentions of part 8 of the Bill, but much of the industry is concerned that the payme...
Hazel Blears | 493 c36 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a thoughtful and practical point. We can be more creative, when it comes to Gov...
Lord Garnier | 493 c35 (Link to this contribution) And partnerships. How many such bodies will this Bill create? How many such bodies will it replace—o...
Hazel Blears | 493 c24 (Link to this contribution) I am more than happy to give my hon. Friend that undertaking. Increasing numbers of town councils, p...
Peter Soulsby | 493 c26 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is vital that the RDAs are accountable to the communities th...
Hazel Blears | 493 c26 (Link to this contribution) It is important that all our organisations are accountable, and when I come to the single regional s...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c25 (Link to this contribution) That being the case, would it not be far more appropriate for the regional development agencies to b...
Hazel Blears | 493 c26 (Link to this contribution) With great respect, I shall make a similar point to the hon. Lady to the one I made to the hon. and ...
David Kidney | 493 c25 (Link to this contribution) Alongside the imperative to improve economic performance, should we not give equal weight to social ...
Hazel Blears | 493 c25 (Link to this contribution) I hope to be able to reassure my hon. Friend, because I know that he is a champion of this issue. Th...
Lord Garnier | 493 c24-5 (Link to this contribution) We are in danger of having a fairly sterile argument, because the Secretary of State clearly does no...
Hazel Blears | 493 c23 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will table amendments at the appropriate time. I do not accept that simply having a c...
Hazel Blears | 493 c24 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that the hon. and learned Gentleman does not recognise that the implications of the c...
David Drew | 493 c24 (Link to this contribution) With regard to a duty, will my right hon. Friend say explicitly that there is a role for parish and ...
Hazel Blears | 493 c22 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Every one of us understands the degree of p...
Alistair Burt | 493 c23 (Link to this contribution) We all understand the desire and need to promote greater involvement, but I am puzzled by the concep...
Hazel Blears | 493 c23 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Getting the balance right between powers and duties alw...
Andrew Mackinlay | 493 c23 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend understand that one of the mistakes we made on this side was to prevent ma...
Hazel Blears | 493 c24 (Link to this contribution) I can reassure my hon. Friend that I am absolutely committed to ensuring that parish councils, town ...
David Leslie Taylor | 493 c27 (Link to this contribution) May I press the Secretary of State a little harder on community involvement in the regional strategy...
Hazel Blears | 493 c27 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that my hon. Friend is an advocate of environmental issues, especially biodiversity. I ...
Philip Dunne | 493 c27 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in the Secretary of State's comments about taking cognisance of the desire for RDAs ...
Hazel Blears | 493 c27 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend's concerns and those of other hon. Members to ensure that we maximise co...
Ann Cryer | 493 c28 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that in promoting democracy in our areas, it would be useful if loca...
Hazel Blears | 493 c27-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that RDAs throughout the country, including in the west midlands, have play...
Hazel Blears | 493 c28 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. Obviously we have important elections later this week, but ...
Peter Kilfoyle | 493 c26 (Link to this contribution) I am intrigued by the fact that, although my right hon. Friend rightly says we ought to encourage gr...
Joan Walley | 493 c26 (Link to this contribution) Further to the intervention of my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney), will the Secreta...
Hazel Blears | 493 c26 (Link to this contribution) I hope my hon. Friend will see that the proposals in the Bill are designed to address the issue that...
Graham Stringer | 493 c51 (Link to this contribution) That takes me away from what I was saying, but it is a substantial point.
Paul Beresford | 493 c29 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Hazel Blears | 493 c36 (Link to this contribution) That will be the subject of discussion. I remind the hon. Gentleman that this Government have provid...
Nick Raynsford | 493 c97 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman like to ask the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) how man...
Lord Deben | 493 c109 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. and learned Friend add to the list of ridiculous expressions the phrase "eco-town"? Wha...
Nick Raynsford | 493 c65 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with much of what my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay) has sa...
Lord Lilley | 493 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) That would probably add to the incentive. I have enormous admiration for the hon. Member for Luton, ...
Keith Hill | 493 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Mr. Lilley) ended his speech with a number of wide-...
Julia Goldsworthy | 493 c51 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for being so generous in giving way. I will attempt to bring him...
Caroline Spelman | 493 c47-8 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman rose to intervene before he heard my last sentence. Putting an end t...
Hazel Blears | 493 c30-1 (Link to this contribution) All the partnership organisations should certainly be under a responsibility to involve local people...
Joan Walley | 493 c24 (Link to this contribution) Could my right hon. Friend give the House some indication of whether her broad welcome for parish co...
Hazel Blears | 493 c25 (Link to this contribution) People who commit offences or get involved with the criminal justice system live in places and commu...
Lord Garnier | 493 c23 (Link to this contribution) I am looking at clauses 3 and 4. Could the Secretary of State explain what business it is of a local...
Lord Lilley | 493 c125 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Minister for giving way and for responding to my point. Is he saying ...
Lord Garnier | 493 c106-9 (Link to this contribution) I sympathise hugely with what the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) has said. I was much a...
Hazel Blears | 493 c37 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend will continue to be a champion for Luton and the people who depend for...
Kelvin Hopkins | 493 c88-9 (Link to this contribution) Obviously each case should be viewed on its merits, but something must be done to help people who de...
Hazel Blears | 493 c33 (Link to this contribution) In a moment. I want to finish what I was saying about the multi-area agreements. The fact that 10 ha...
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