Clause 14 - Information
Local Government Bill
10:45 am
Mr Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton, Liberal Democrat)
I do not want to detain the Committee for too long on this group, but hon. Members may like to consult clause 14. It is very short—possibly the shortest clause in the Bill. It allows the Secretary of State to demand that a local authority supply him with information on a time scale set down by him. There are no ifs or buts; it is a clear new power and the Minister can demand such information almost irrespective of the cost or difficulty that it might impose on a local authority.
Our amendments Nos. 64 and 65 attempt not to get rid of the power but to curtail it a little. Amendment No. 64 seeks to add the word ''reasonably'', so that the Secretary of State ''may reasonably request''. I hope that the Minister will agree with it; I am sure that he would not want unreasonably to request information from a local authority. It is a slight protection for local authorities so that the Minister—not this Minister, but a future Minister—may not suddenly wake up one day and decide to ask every single council in the country to provide a huge amount of information by the following week. We want to guard against such possibilities.