UK Parliament / Open data

Localism Bill

Debate on bills on Monday, 7 November 2011, in the House of Commons, led by Greg Clark.
Queen's recommendation signified. Money (No. 2) resolution agreed. Programme (No. 3) motion relating to consideration of Lords amendments and subsequent stages agreed to. Consideration of Lords amendments. Lords amendment 1, discussed with amendments 2 to 13, 231 to 233, 242 and 399 to 403. Agreed on question. Lords amendment 14, discussed with amendments 15 to 49 and 95 to 111, 112 and amendment (a) and 235, 248, 256, 261, 263 to 333, 404 to 413 and 441. Agreed on question. Lords amendment 50, discussed with amendments 51 to 94, 227, 228, 230, 234, 241, 244, 246, 247, 250, 252 to 254 and 260. Agreed on question. Lords amendment 113, discussed with amendments 114 to 150, 236, 251, 334 to 349 and 414 to 417. Agreed on question. Lords amendment 151, discussed with amendments 152 and 153, 154 and amendment (a), 155 and 156, 157 and amendment (a), 158 to 165, 237, 238, 240, 257, 262 and 350 to 368, 369 and amendment (a), 370 and amendment (a), 371 to 382 and 418 to 425. Agreed on question with amendment (a) to 154 negatived on division (205 to 305). Commons financial privileges waived in respect of various Lords amendments.
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
535 c76-133 
Session
2010-12
Department
Department for Communities and Local Government
Legislative stage
Lords amendments
Procedure
Programme motions
Money resolutions
Queen's recommendation
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Localism Bill. Lords amendments with explanatory notes also published (Bill 244-EN).
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Bills
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Greg Clark | 535 c128-9 (Link to this contribution) That is often the case with legal advice. This is a matter for the courts. The Under-Secretary of St...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c102 (Link to this contribution) It is not democracy I fear; it is people who may not be fully informed going to the ballot box. Let ...

Show all contributions (135)
Lord Stunell | 535 c97 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to hear the rest of the hon. Gentleman's point in case I was missing something fundamental,...
Heather Wheeler | 535 c87 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for the clarity he is giving. In respect of this provision, district councils h...
Speaker | 535 c77 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to consider Lords amendments 2 to 13, 231 to 233, 242 and 399 to 403...
Lord Stunell | 535 c84-5 (Link to this contribution) The Bill does not encompass matters relating to city region mayors. That would require a separate pr...
Alison Seabeck | 535 c123 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to say that the frustration I felt in Committee is now overflowing. The Minister is talki...
Greg Clark | 535 c115 (Link to this contribution) I am moved to tell the hon. Lady that I was born and bred in Middlesbrough, and that no resident of ...
Andrew Percy | 535 c108 (Link to this contribution) To assist my hon. Friend in his point, I add that in my constituency the people of Old Goole are see...
Mark Reckless | 535 c104-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's Labour council, like every other council in the country, has set a 0% council t...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c101 (Link to this contribution) I have a brief question. If the amendment is pressed to a vote, would my hon. Friend support it if i...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c101-2 (Link to this contribution) I would not support the amendment for the reasons my hon. Friend just mentioned, because if someone ...
Lord Stunell | 535 c111-2 (Link to this contribution) We have had an interesting and wide-ranging debate, with plenty of interest added by Members' person...
Martin Vickers | 535 c110 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. My view—I can speak only for myself—is that democracy means ...
John McDonnell | 535 c110-1 (Link to this contribution) That is incredibly helpful, because although amendment (a) might not be pressed to a vote, the House...
John McDonnell | 535 c109-10 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the House for coming so late to the debate. I am afraid I have been chairing a meetin...
Greg Clark | 535 c123-5 (Link to this contribution) That was considered in the House of Lords. These things have always been captured in policy. I could...
Clive Betts | 535 c125 (Link to this contribution) We on the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government received much evidence on the importa...
Greg Clark | 535 c125 (Link to this contribution) I concur with that. Overall, the amendments improve the Bill. I am grateful to their lordships for ...
Greg Clark | 535 c122-3 (Link to this contribution) I hope to convince the hon. Lady when I say more on that in a few minutes. As we are considering Lor...
Speaker | 535 c128 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister looking to speak again?
Greg Clark | 535 c128 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful, Mr Speaker; I do not know what to make of that comment. I will respond to a few of th...
Speaker | 535 c128 (Link to this contribution) We are grateful to the Minister. If one pops the question, one is likely to get the answer.
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c109 (Link to this contribution) I am listening very carefully to my hon. Friend's points. I think Members of all parties have been g...
Martin Vickers | 535 c109 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very interesting point, and my response is obvious—I am arguing in favour of ...
Martin Vickers | 535 c108-9 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes an extremely valid point, and I am sure Members of all parties can ...
Martin Vickers | 535 c108 (Link to this contribution) I agree, it was outrageous that a decision of the electorate that had been arrived at democratically...
Martin Vickers | 535 c108 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak about the referendum issue. Members will note that I am one of the signatories to th...
Bob Blackman | 535 c106-8 (Link to this contribution) I want to make three points. The first is about the codes of conduct and the abolition of the Standa...
Mark Reckless | 535 c105-6 (Link to this contribution) As I said, I believe that in this respect the Bill is a marginal improvement on what we had before. ...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c105 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend think it is fair that the Government can impose a cap and say, ““That's it—you'r...
Annette Brooke | 535 c102-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a privilege to follow that interesting contribution from the hon. Member for Elmet and Rothwel...
Mark Reckless | 535 c103-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall address my remarks to the amendments relating to referendums—Lords amendment 112 and the exc...
Graham P Jones | 535 c104 (Link to this contribution) I remind the hon. Gentleman that my left-wing Labour council is setting a 0% council tax level for t...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c102 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for intervening again, but my hon. Friend's argument is exactly an argument in favour of...
Lord Stunell | 535 c101 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether I may help my hon. Friend by reminding him that any body or organisation that spend...
Graham P Jones | 535 c101 (Link to this contribution) It actually comes directly from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c100 (Link to this contribution) But there is something called the Serious Fraud Office—the fraud squad—and there is a law of the lan...
Graham P Jones | 535 c100 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the thrust of what the hon. Gentleman says, and I do not want to be controversial, but ...
Graham P Jones | 535 c100 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Robert Neill | 535 c97 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman suggesting that every voluntary organisation that receives public funding shou...
Robert Neill | 535 c98 (Link to this contribution) Surely the hon. Gentleman accepts that the local authority remains the accountable body, and the nor...
Graham P Jones | 535 c98 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that, but, having a lot of experience in local government, I think that the Minister is...
Graham P Jones | 535 c99 (Link to this contribution) I was a victim of a vexatious complaint, on a very minor technicality, to the Standards Board. It wa...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c99-100 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who makes my point. The complaint against him was politica...
Graham P Jones | 535 c96-7 (Link to this contribution) I want to return briefly to the local code of conduct and how it will work. We all know that the Sta...
Graham P Jones | 535 c97 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for his intervention, but I think that his answer is more smoke and mirrors. I ...
Hilary Benn | 535 c95 (Link to this contribution) The example that the hon. Gentleman gives seems to be covered already by subsection (2) of his amend...
Hilary Benn | 535 c95 (Link to this contribution) We have just heard about one potential weakness of the hon. Gentleman's amendment, and I would like ...
Bob Blackman | 535 c95 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful case in favour of referendums. He referred to overwhelming turno...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c94 (Link to this contribution) To be honest, I do not know what options were offered, but a large percentage of the population turn...
Helen Jones | 535 c91-4 (Link to this contribution) If, as the right hon. Gentleman says, the reason was that the Hutton committee had not reported, one...
Greg Clark | 535 c90-1 (Link to this contribution) Once again the hon. Lady is being rather churlish. The Hutton committee had not reported by that tim...
Helen Jones | 535 c94 (Link to this contribution) Did the question include where the incinerator should go?
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c94 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief, as I have made this point many times to Ministers. The coalition agreement states...
Helen Jones | 535 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) The only people who can stop vexatious claims by Lib Dem councillors are the Lib Dems, but I am sure...
Lord Stunell | 535 c87 (Link to this contribution) It is neither our intention nor what is provided for in the Bill.
Graham P Jones | 535 c87 (Link to this contribution) May I extend that question? We are going to have neighbourhood forums in respect of neighbourhood de...
Nick Raynsford | 535 c120 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way. He will know that the Government have taken the v...
Martin Vickers | 535 c109 (Link to this contribution) That is the word I am looking for; I thank my hon. Friend. Such referendums could therefore easily b...
Speaker | 535 c116 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to consider Lords amendments 114 to 150, 236, 236, 251, 334 to 349, ...
Lord Stunell | 535 c116-8 (Link to this contribution) The amendments focus on the community right to challenge, on assets of community value, and on counc...
Helen Jones | 535 c115 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that the Minister, who we all know is from the soft south and cannot deal with stroppy no...
Lord Stunell | 535 c119 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the hon. Member for City of Durham (Roberta Blackman-Woods) to the Front Bench and welcome...
Lord Stunell | 535 c82 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendment 14.
Speaker | 535 c77 (Link to this contribution) I must draw the House's attention to the fact that financial privilege is involved in a substantial ...
Greg Clark | 535 c77-80 (Link to this contribution) For the best of a century, most Bills that have passed through this House have taken power from comm...
Helen Jones | 535 c81 (Link to this contribution) I remind the Minister that there is such a thing as Report stage in the elected House, and that he i...
Greg Clark | 535 c81 (Link to this contribution) We discussed these matters quite extensively in Committee. I think there was a shared view across th...
Helen Jones | 535 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for that intervention, but while their lordships add much to our debat...
Helen Jones | 535 c85 (Link to this contribution) What is the Minister's response to the view of the Electoral Commission that if council tax referend...
George Howarth | 535 c84 (Link to this contribution) May I ask the Minister a question about Lords amendment 112? As he will know, there are proposals—wh...
Lord Stunell | 535 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend the Minister eloquently set out in respect of the last string of amendments,...
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 535 c125-6 (Link to this contribution) I want to try to deal with a number of issues arising from the Lords amendments very quickly indeed....
Tobias Ellwood | 535 c126-7 (Link to this contribution) I welcome this Bill and these amendments as we pass powers and responsibilities away from Westminste...
Annette Brooke | 535 c127 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Lords amendments and will comment on two aspects of them. I agree that transitional a...
Greg Clark | 535 c121-2 (Link to this contribution) Among the areas where centralisation has increased over the years is in the planning system. The reg...
Joan Walley | 535 c122 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the Minister says about Baroness Andrews, but the Government's response to the Environme...
Tobias Ellwood | 535 c128 (Link to this contribution) Bournemouth borough council received legal advice encouraging it to continue with the legal process ...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c101 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for assisting me with that line of debate. There are protection...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c100 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but the money comes from the council, and that is the point: it comes from the local authority ...
Graham P Jones | 535 c100 (Link to this contribution) If my community group decides that it is going to spend money on a project for which it has ownershi...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c100 (Link to this contribution) I invite the hon. Gentleman to intervene again on me. Who is awarding the grants to those people to ...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c101 (Link to this contribution) Through local communities and local government, projects are being identified—[Interruption.] I give...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c100 (Link to this contribution) I will give way. I think I know what is coming.
Graham P Jones | 535 c97-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for trying to clarify that. Many of the organisations to which the Gov...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c98-9 (Link to this contribution) I shall comment on a couple of amendments, but, starting with amendment 15 and following the remarks...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c96 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I will not argue on that point, because I do not necess...
Bob Blackman | 535 c96 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend once again makes a powerful case for referendums, but the point is that although the ...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c96 (Link to this contribution) We are getting into a technical exchange—[Interruption.] It is very technical, and I think that the ...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c95 (Link to this contribution) I can give the right hon. Gentleman one exception that covers many more than three: matters that are...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c95 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. There is a safeguard, although it may not be enough. Th...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c94 (Link to this contribution) To reinforce the point that my hon. Friend makes about councils listening, when the then governing c...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 535 c94-5 (Link to this contribution) We could go on. I shall take the opportunity to give one more example of a mad council ignoring the ...
Helen Jones | 535 c90 (Link to this contribution) I think that, as Ministers keep saying from the Front Bench, it is for local authorities to make dec...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c90 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady think that local authority money is better spent on libraries or on an internatio...
Helen Jones | 535 c90 (Link to this contribution) If the Government believed that this issue was so important, they could have put it in the Bill to s...
Robert Neill | 535 c90 (Link to this contribution) I am shocked at how little attention the hon. Lady has paid to our debates up to now. Does she not r...
Graham Stringer | 535 c89 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend could not be more accurate, in that most of the vexatious claims under the previous l...
Helen Jones | 535 c88-9 (Link to this contribution) We are dealing with a broad group of amendments relating to local authority governance. I wish to be...
Lord Stunell | 535 c86 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that wise remark. One can envisage such binding referendums having a vari...
Alec Shelbrooke | 535 c86 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on making those comments. It is important that such referendums be non...
Lord Stunell | 535 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. We are clearly setting out what councils have to do and have in place, and the safeguard...
Clive Betts | 535 c87 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the fact that the Government at last recognise they may have some responsibility for appro...
Lord Stunell | 535 c87 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman might be confusing different processes. The Standards Board regime applie...
Speaker | 535 c120 (Link to this contribution) Order. I do not think the right hon. Gentleman has been in his seat long. He really ought to think a...
Lord Stunell | 535 c120 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps it would be appropriate for the hon. Gentleman to make sure that the report of this exchange...
Lord Stunell | 535 c120 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is being a little naughty. As he knows, the material consideration is a mat...
Greg Clark | 535 c121 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendment 151.
John McDonnell | 535 c120 (Link to this contribution) May I clarify that I am not enticing the Minister to criticise the local authority? However, there i...
Speaker | 535 c121 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Lords amendments 152 and 153. Lords amen...
Mark Reckless | 535 c112 (Link to this contribution) It might be that for local authorities we are just about doing as the Minister states, but it is not...
Speaker | 535 c114 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments 51 to 94, 227, 228, 230, 234, 241, 244, ...
Greg Clark | 535 c114 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the House agrees with Lords amendment 50.
Lord Stunell | 535 c112-4 (Link to this contribution) I am disappointed to hear my hon. Friend say that. Local people have as much right to take a view on...
Lord Stunell | 535 c116 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendment 113.
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 535 c118 (Link to this contribution) Labour Members broadly support the amendments, which support some of the points made earlier by my h...
Greg Clark | 535 c114-5 (Link to this contribution) The Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Haz...
Helen Jones | 535 c116 (Link to this contribution) I stand corrected. I should have said that the Minister has probably spent too long down in the sout...
John McDonnell | 535 c119 (Link to this contribution) I shall be extremely brief. I wholeheartedly welcome this part of the Bill and the amendments propos...
Greg Clark | 535 c77 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendment 1.
Helen Jones | 535 c80-1 (Link to this contribution) The Minister always sounds terribly reasonable and persuasive, and one could almost fall for his vie...
Greg Clark | 535 c81 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has pointed out that her noble Friend is indeed in the House of Lords. Unlike her, I a...
Graham Stringer | 535 c85 (Link to this contribution) The Minister and I were involved in the congestion charge referendum in Greater Manchester, and I th...
Lord Stunell | 535 c85-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman reminds me that we sometimes make common cause on issues, and he is right to say ...
Lord Stunell | 535 c85 (Link to this contribution) We will, of course, take careful account of all the advice we receive. The powers are to be changed ...
Nick Raynsford | 535 c83 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister will know, the amendments include a requirement for the deletion of clauses 42 to 58...
Lord Stunell | 535 c83-4 (Link to this contribution) Given that the right hon. Gentleman spoke and, I believe, voted against the inclusion of that provis...
Speaker | 535 c82 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Lords amendments 15 to 49 and 95 to 111. ...
Subjects
Council tax
Elections
EU law
Fire and rescue services
Local government
Police
Powers
Payments
Referendums
Regional planning and development
Legislation
Localism Bill 2010-12
Link
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