Clause 32
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
11:00 am
Angela Smith (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Basildon, Labour)
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the clarity with which he expressed his views while seeking enlightenment. I will say something about the clause and then respond to his comments.
The clause enables an eligible council—that is, a district that currently holds elections by halves or thirds—to move to whole-council elections. As I said, we will reflect on the amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Hazel Grove. If a council wishes to make such a change, it must do so in a specified period, because the date of whole-council elections, as set out in clause 33, is different for metropolitan authorities and shire districts. It is 2008 for metropolitan districts and 2011 for shire districts. The specified period will run from 1 October to 31 December in the year before the elections are due and will ensure that, to stabilise existing arrangements, members of the public know about the change in good time but not too long before the first whole-council election.
The clause also enables the Secretary of State to extend the periods during which a resolution can be made, but we envisage doing so only in very limited circumstances, perhaps to give a council a bit of extra time and the flexibility to consider the proposals properly. The clause allows councils to hold council elections if they wish to do so.
On the point made by the hon. Member for Poole, there is a difficulty in hung, or finely balanced councils, but they still have to make decisions on their budget, which stands for a year. They have to stand by their decisions in the same way as other councils. We have to accept the decision of the electorate in choosing the council, and the decisions that that council produces. When a council has taken a vote and made a resolution, it will inform the Electoral Commission, but the commission has no role in ratifying the decision, which is taken by the local council. The council may want to consult and to have wide-ranging discussions on the best way forward, but the council’s decision, as in many other issues, is binding.