Clause 5
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
4:45 pm
Robert Syms (Shadow Minister (Local Government), Communities and Local Government; Poole, Conservative)
We are about to discuss several interrelated clauses. It would help if the Minister would give an explanation of how he thinks the boundary committee will work under the Bill. We have heard that it will have two essential tasks, the first of which is to deal with the bids that have been submitted should the Secretary of State refer matters to it. The second is to deal with the boundaries of authorities, some of which will not be part of the initial process. Clearly the committee will deal with any further bids that come along.
On the issue of boundary committee referral, the provisions clearly state that there may be a referral by the Secretary of State, but will the Minister say when there would not be a referral to the boundary committee? Probably the only case that I can think of is that of a county becoming a unitary authority, with clear boundaries and clarity on governance and on the number of councillors.
The next provision says that guidance must be given. It would be helpful if the Department’s guidance were published before we reach the end of the Bill. I should also like to know whether the guidance will be general guidance for all situations, or guidance that is specific to a bid, such as if there is a cross-county issue or a particular conglomeration when the Secretary of State will require information on item X or item Y.
Essentially, are we saying that there will be broad-brush guidance, with certain issues that may need to be returned to, or will the guidance be specific to particular proposals? We could have a situation in which the Secretary of State made a referral, and said, “I am interested in this bid, but I want to know X, Y and Z.” She would then give guidance to the boundary committee specifically to research and consider those issues. There is not too much more that I want to mention, but I shall probably have further questions as we examine later clauses.