Clause 2
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
11:00 am
Alistair Burt (Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government), Communities and Local Government; North East Bedfordshire, Conservative)
I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but that is not a universal view. There is plenty of evidence that the financial pressures of restructuring do not of themselves produce economies. There have been economies across the board because the Government control the purse strings to an extraordinary extent. The hon. Gentleman will remember that Mid-Bedfordshire district council was rate-capped last year because its band D council tax went up by £1 per month. In percentage terms that was deemed to be above the limit, so controls were imposed. If one is working under that degree of financial control it is no wonder that economies are happening across the board.
The question is whether restructuring of itself achieves the job that it is meant to achieve, and on that the jury is well and truly out. There is no current reason to go down the road that the Government want to go down, and we are wary of the consequences to which savings will lead. The Minister has confirmed that all of us would be right to be wary of those who back up their plans for reorganisation with claims of savings. I presume that he is right in that proposition, and that the hon. Member for Bedford is rising to support him in making it.