Alistair Burt (Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government), Communities and Local Government; North East Bedfordshire, Conservative)

I am interested in the comments that the hon. Member for Hazel Grove made on the clause. The clause grants substantial powers, but the Minister indicated that it does not mean what we think it means. Will he enlighten us on why the clause is needed—particularly subsection (1)(b), which may not grant the wide-ranging power that the hon. Member for Hazel Grove believed it to, but about which Conservative Members are also concerned?

Phil Woolas (Minister of State (Local Government & Community Cohesion), Department for Communities and Local Government; Oldham East & Saddleworth, Labour)

The clause allows the Secretary ofState to amend the amounts that are identified in clause 24(1)—the amounts above which consent is required for disposal of land or for certain contracts. Such amendment might be required if, for example, property prices or land values were to increase markedly. The clause also allows the Secretary of State to amend the date of 31 December, which we have discussed. The clause therefore allows the provisions of the Bill to be amended so that they are more workable—in the event, for example, that the decision-making process changed for some reason, perhaps because of the point that the hon. Gentleman madeon stage 2 of the consultation. It gives the Secretaryof State flexibility to make provision for changed circumstances.

Andrew Stunell (Shadow Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Communities and Local Government), Department for Communities and Local Government; Hazel Grove, Liberal Democrat)

Will the Minister assure us that in no circumstances would the Government make the date earlier than the one set out in clause 27?

Phil Woolas (Minister of State (Local Government & Community Cohesion), Department for Communities and Local Government; Oldham East & Saddleworth, Labour)

Not only will I do that, but I will add that the Bill would not allow us to make such a change. The date can only be changed to a later date, not an earlier one. Let me emphasise something else by way of further reassurance. The date is the date after which decisions can be taken into account. Neither an authority nor an official could be held to have acted unlawfully unless the relevant decision was taken both knowingly and after the date of commencement of the legislation, following Royal Assent. A change in date might come about if the Government issued another invitation after a direction made in the circumstances  that we have already discussed—a slight boundary change or a consequential direction to propose, as a result of a solution being needed for an entire county area.

Alistair Burt (Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government), Communities and Local Government; North East Bedfordshire, Conservative)

The hon. Member for Hazel Grove described the clause as one that neatly sidesteps the provisions of clause 27, and the dates set out in that clause. It seems to me that that is exactly what it does. If the Minister admitted that that is its purpose the point would be proved.

Phil Woolas (Minister of State (Local Government & Community Cohesion), Department for Communities and Local Government; Oldham East & Saddleworth, Labour)

I like the word “neatly”, but I amnot sure that I like the implications of the word “sidesteps”. I would say that the clause “neatly” facilitates good local governance, and I commend it to the Committee.