My Lords, Amendment 26, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, would prevent the executive of a combined county authority being able to represent the political make-up of its members. As I made clear in Committee, that is not something that the Government can agree to. A CCA will be made up of members from each constituent council on a basis agreed by those councils through their consent to the establishing regulations, which will provide for the make-up of the CCA’s executive. It is essential that the CCA’s executive properly reflects the local political membership of that CCA, which this amendment would prohibit. It would also place the CCA’s executive in a different position from those of a local and combined authority, which do not require political balance under existing legislation. I do not believe I can say any more but I hope the noble Lord will see why I cannot accept his amendment and that, on reflection, he will agree to withdraw it.
Amendments 28 and 29 from the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Stevenage, seek to allow a combined county authority’s non-constituent members to be able to be made full constituent members and to give non-constituent members the same voting rights as full constituent members. Conversely, Amendment 30 from the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, would prevent associate members being given any voting rights, and his Amendment 31 would make planning authorities constituent members.
A key underlying factor of the CCA model is that only upper-tier local authorities can be constituent members and have the associated responsibilities. That is the key difference between it and the existing combined authority model, which, I remind the House, remains available to areas. A non-constituent member of a CCA is a representative of a local organisation; it will not necessarily represent a local authority. I make that point because, since a CCA is a local government institution, it would be inappropriate for any organisation other than an upper-tier local authority to be a constituent member. Constituent members are those who collectively take the decisions of the CCA and are responsible for funding it.
It would also be inappropriate for the same voting rights to be conferred on all non-constituent members, given the range of potential bodies. The CCA should have flexibility to vary voting rights to reflect its membership. We want there to be genuine localism in this area, as in others. Depending on the decision of the combined county authority, its non-constituent members can be given voting rights on the majority of matters.
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As associate members will be appointed by a CCA for their expertise on a particular topic—for example, a police and crime commissioner on public safety—the CCA may deem it suitable for the associate member to be given voting rights on that subject. Again, in line with the Government’s policy, the model allows for genuine localism; it is down to the combined county authority to decide whether or not associate members should have voting rights on CCA matters and what those voting rights should be, rather than that being imposed by Westminster.
We believe that associate members should be permitted to be appointed to CCAs because of the expertise they have in certain matters, and that they should be able to vote on those matters if the CCA decides that that is appropriate. It is important to emphasise that the whole CCA has to agree to the decision to confer voting rights on non-constituent and associate members. It is not a mayoral decision, so it cannot be abused by one individual for their own gain.
While we appreciate the intention behind Amendment 31, it would undermine the CCA model, in practice removing any differences between it and the existing combined authority model. The result would be to prevent devolution in areas with two-tier local government.
Noble Lords should be reassured by two things. First, the drafting of Clause 16 means that planning functions, or indeed any functions, cannot be stripped from district councils and conferred on a CCA. Secondly, our arrangements provide for CCAs to be able to liaise with district councils on important matters, such as planning, via flexible methods that reflect local circumstances, without impinging on the role of district councils.
I turn to Amendment 43 by the noble Lord, Lord Shipley. The Bill already provides mechanisms for fiscal devolution powers of local authorities and public authorities to be conferred on a CCA under Clauses 16 and 17. The Government trust local government and its strong and accountable local leaders.
Level 3 devolution deal areas can look to finance local initiatives for residents and business through a mayoral precept on council tax and supplements on business rates, as set out in the levelling up White Paper. We are exploring further fiscal devolution, initially through the trail-blazer devolution deals with the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Combined Authorities, and we will consider putting power in the hands of local people through greater fiscal freedoms. We are currently doing so, as I have just explained, through those two trail-blazer deals.
Lastly, I turn to Amendment 51 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath. Devolution deals are agreed and implemented over sensible geographies. Local consent under the new arrangements in Clause 57 would be given by the mayor and the council that wishes to join the combined authority. The mayor is democratically accountable to the whole existing combined authority area, so it is right that they should be the decision-taker on decisions on changes to that whole area.
Incidentally, we have not, as the noble Lord suggested, put forward any amendments to Clause 57. The noble Lord indicated his view that this was all about gerrymandering. I must emphatically repudiate that suggestion. Warwickshire County Council’s plans are part of a local process for the area—the county and district councils—to apply to join the West Midlands Combined Authority. If Warwickshire decides to pursue this, it must undertake a process.
Any proposal to expand an area of a combined authority comes from the local area. It must make a strong case that doing so will deliver real benefits to the local area and include a public consultation within it. Before making regulations to change the area, the Secretary of State must consider that doing so is likely to lead to an improvement in the economic, social and environmental well-being of some or all of those who live or work in the area, and have regard for securing effective and convenient local government, reflecting the identities and interests of local communities. This provision still requires the triple lock of consent: from the local area via the mayor and the submission to the Secretary of State, including a public consultation; the Secretary of State, on behalf of the Government; and parliamentary approval for laying the legislation enacting any such changes.