I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
Let me begin by thanking the members of the Public Bill Committee, who did such an excellent job in ensuring that the Bill was subjected to thorough scrutiny. We benefited from the wide range of experience that a number of colleagues from all parties had of working in and being part of local government and I thank them for committing their expertise to the Bill.
In particular, I should like to thank the hon. Member for Corby (Andy Sawford), who fulfilled his commitment to give the Bill robust but fair scrutiny. In the other place, Lord McKenzie commented that audit is sometimes
considered “boring but important”. I would say that the often passionate critique put forward by the Opposition in the course of this Bill’s passage certainly proves the latter while arguably testing the former assertion. I am particularly grateful to the hon. Gentleman and his Opposition colleagues for their support in helping us to introduce new measures into the Bill in Committee.
The new provisions to modernise parish polls respond to amendments from the Earl of Lytton, who, in his role as president of the National Association of Local Councils, highlighted the urgent need to reform that outdated legislation. The measures to open up local council meetings will break down the doors of town halls and increase the transparency of local decision making. I am pleased that we have achieved consensus on that as it shows that in this digital age, as the way the public consumes information changes, it is no longer right that decisions should be made out of the sight of local taxpayers. We will, of course, work closely with interested parties to ensure that, as we agreed in Committee, we strike the right balance in the regulations between allowing members of the public to film council meetings and minimising disruption.
The Bill is the culmination of a great deal of work with a number of third parties, particularly the Audit Commission, which I would also like to thank for its support and healthy challenge throughout this process. During the Bill’s passage through the House, we have made, as has been noted, a number of amendments to strengthen it. In addition to the two new measures we have added, we have also made amendments to enable the sector to set up collective procurement arrangements, through which relevant authorities can choose to have an auditor appointed on their behalf. That has been welcomed by the Local Government Association and we will continue to work with it in developing the regulations that will set out the approach in more detail.
Also prompted by debates in the other place, we have amended the Bill to extend the purposes for which data-matching exercises may be used. That will enable the future owner of the national fraud initiative to continue to undertake data-matching exercises on the detection of errors and inaccuracies, as the Audit Commission can under its existing powers.
In addition, we have made a number of other technical and clarifying amendments to several of the local audit provisions, which will ensure the smooth and effective operation of the new audit regime after the Audit Commission’s demise. In addition to the amendment we have made today to support the transparency of the auditor appointment process, we have also clarified how the provisions apply to parish meetings, the qualifications and eligibility criteria for local auditors and how local auditors will recover costs for undertaking all their statutory functions.
We have had a lengthy debate about the local government publicity code. I think it is safe to say that we are all agreed on the content of the code, but that there is a difference of opinion about how that code should be enforced. I say again that it is right that action should be taken when authorities are failing to comply with the code. By ensuring compliance, the Bill will support local accountability by protecting the local free press from unfair competition and preventing taxpayers’ hard-earned money from being squandered on propaganda and competing with the local independent press.
The Bill further protects the taxpayers’ pound by ensuring that levies will be included within the council tax referendum principles. No longer will a local authority be able to raise council tax through back door levy increases, making taxpayers pay more for services that councils down the road do in-house and within the referendum principles. That levels the playing field for local authorities and the amendment we have made today will provide certainty for those authorities.
In conclusion, the Bill is another important step in delivering the Government’s localist agenda. It deals with some of the fundamental principles of good governance and good government, it promotes responsible and robust public accounting, it drives decision making down to the local level and it protects local taxpayers and defends local democracy. To return to my opening remarks, it is an important—and I would say interesting—Bill and I commend it to the House.
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