Clause 52 - Applications for licences
Housing Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Matthew Green (Shadow Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Local Government & the Regions; Ludlow, Liberal Democrat)
The hon. Gentleman may have a point. We should perhaps consider going further and stop the Government setting a maximum fee at all, instead allowing local authorities to set the fee as appropriate. I am much more prepared to trust the judgment of local authorities, which know their local area better than central Government. After all, if the public do not like what councils are doing, they can throw them out. One reason why nobody votes in local elections is that they do not think that their council has any powers, so it is not worth bothering to vote for it.