My Lords, before speaking to this group, I must say that our colleagues, my noble friends Lady Randerson and Lord German have been struck down with Covid, so, although there are amendments in their names, we will struggle on without them. Happily, my noble friend Lord Bruce has been restored from his bout, so at least we are not completely bereft.
I would characterise the purpose of this group of amendments largely as trying to avoid levelling down. I would put it down as damage limitation, and I think
many of these amendments go some way towards that process. On Amendment 1, in the name of the noble Viscount, Lord Chandos, having dealt with the dual meaning of the word “equity”, I agree with him that this is a really important principle that ought to be enshrined in the Bill. It is not too late, and I hope the Minister can once again reflect on the wise advice of the noble Viscount and bring something back when we get to Third Reading.
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Government Amendments 2 and 14 in the name of the Minister and countersigned by the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, and the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, really are a step forward. An amount of delight has been expressed from various Benches and I have a modicum of delight myself that some movement has been made. I would characterise this as important movement by the Government on a number of fronts throughout the Bill. However, Amendment 9, as eloquently proposed by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, is ideally where we would be. If there had been room, I would have signed it too, but others got there first.
The central failing of the Bill, as set out, is the absence of a definition of social and economic deprivation. Without that, there is no guide for how the Bill will work. The Minister repeatedly parades the virtue of this Bill as being that it is permissive. I am sure that phrase will come up, if not in this context in others. We would counter that that is also its weakness because it is not well defined within that permissive world. As it was set out, areas that need subsidies the most need to be targeted. Yet, in the way this Bill is structured, the authorities that have the money will be best able to deliver subsidies.
Those authorities with a low council tax base, which almost always have high levels of social need at the same time, are the ones that will not have the wherewithal in the context of how the Bill will work to deliver the subsidies needed. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, said, there is a real danger that the rich get richer in a regional sense, which is why I framed this as damage limitation. The noble and learned Lord sets out a rational definition for the role of subsidies in promoting equity across the United Kingdom. This was backed up by a very good speech from the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, and the noble Lord, Lord Wigley. This sets out the reasons the Minister should think again, look at this advice and find a way—either in the law or through other routes suggested—to fix a central flaw in this Bill.