Clause 2
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
10:45 am
Alistair Burt (Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government), Communities and Local Government; North East Bedfordshire, Conservative)
I echo the comments made both by the hon. Member for Hazel Grove and the Minister in welcoming you, Mr. Benton, to the more familiar surroundings of Committee progress in Committee Room 12. Having safely got a vote under our belt, we already feel that we are in much more familiar territory, including a hostile intervention from the hon. Member for High Peak. Therefore, we feel like we are up and running, and that is a great start to this phase of the Committee.
I would like to begin the discussion on this set of major amendments by referring back to the point of order that I raised earlier. This is a central part of the Bill. A certain amount of our discussion of amendment No. 92 concerned what is left on the face of the Bill in an attempt to understand what effect the Government are looking for. Our central concern is that the Bill provides the Government with significant, unlimited power to make directions to local authorities to merge and change shape, and effectively to redraw the local government map of England and Wales.
The fact that that power to direct was not mentioned in the White Paper—everything was to be by invitation only—came as a surprise to the local government world when the Bill was published.