Clause 2 - Duty to assess, plan and advise
Civil Contingencies Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Richard Allan (Shadow Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office; Sheffield, Hallam, Liberal Democrat)
I should like to cover three areas in a short space of time. First, the question of funding is relevant to the new, comprehensive duty on local government; clause 2 is, in a sense, the meat of part 1 as it places a duty on local government. The hon. Member for Ribble Valley mentioned the figures, and it is clear that between 1991 and 2001, central Government did exactly what we fear that local government will be tempted to do; they de-prioritised civil contingencies. Developments in eastern Europe and the perceived end of the cold war at the end of the 1990s cut the funding from £24.5 million to £14 million over that 10-year period. In 2001—before 11 September—a judicial challenge by the local authorities created the impetus for an increase to £19 million. Since then, local government has contributed from general funds to support the planning work.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland pointed out, we are not in favour of ring-fencing per se; we support local government's view that it is full of big, professional people who are able to manage their budgets. We must ensure that the overall budget for local government is sensible and fair and reflects its needs, but it should then be up to local authorities to decide how to spend the money. Funding is clearly a difficult area and, as I have argued, we must seek commitments from the Government that there will be adequate support for local government to do what it needs to do.
The second area of local government concern raised by the LGA concerns the definitions in clause 2. In particular, if a judgment is to be made about whether local government has fulfilled its obligations under clause 2, the phrase ''likely to occur'', which occurs in several places, causes the LGA some concern. Its worry is that it may be liable for not having planned for something that is ''likely to occur'' where it was not reasonable to think that it could occur. The hon. Member for Ribble Valley mentioned all kinds of incidents that he said are extremely improbable—such as large-scale earthquakes and 11 September-type incidents—which had not occurred before. The test for local government is the extent to which it must plan for incidents at the improbable end of the spectrum. I hope that the Minister will respond to the concerns that have arisen from the phrase ''likely to occur''.
Finally, I should like to refer to the draft regulations that are relevant to clause 2, and which the Minister has made available. Three, in particular, caught my eye. First, draft regulation 9 refers to guidance and risk assessments issued by the Minister. I assume that there will be periodic states of alert when the Government will be notified of a terrorist threat, for example, and will issue guidance to local government, asking whether such a threat has been factored into its plans and insisting that it make changes if it has not been. Can the Minister flesh out how that central Government guidance and risk assessment will work?
Secondly, draft regulation 13 concerns compulsory plans under section 2(1)(c) and (d). It says:
''Each category 1 responder must maintain a plan under section 2(1)(c) and (d) in relation to''—
and then there is a blank space. It is always helpful to have the draft regulations at this stage, but the only important part of the regulations—the matter in relation to which local government needs to have a compulsory plan—is blank. Will the Minister fill in that blank so that we make a judgment about it?
Finally, I congratulate the Government on draft regulation 17, which concerns not alarming the public unnecessarily. I take a slightly divergent view from the hon. Member for Ribble Valley. I remember that ''Protect and Survive'' was a horrible book; it haunted my childhood. It told us that whenever we went into a room we should look for the table under which we should go, and that we should pile heavy material around it and get into the brace position and kiss our backsides goodbye. I remember being aware of sirens, and so forth. ''Protect and Survive'' sticks in my mind as something horrible that I did not want to be issued to my household.