Clause 55
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
7:15 pm
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)
Co-option is a power that parish councillors have already, provided that there is an unfilled vacancy on the council. It is a second-best situation, so to speak, in order to make up the numbers to the total of the council’s representation. The Government’s proposal is perhaps for the Minister to explain, but I understand from the clause and explanatory notes that they believe a wider range of people might serve on parish councils as a result. But, that might be said of Parliament and of principal councils. I wonder whether the Government think that in order to get a wider range of people into Parliament it would be a good idea just to appoint them. Actually, I suspect they do think that that is rather a good idea. If parish councils are to be, say, residents associations or some sort of sounding boards, that is fine as we need all sorts of representatives. However, if they are to be democratic institutions, they should comprise those who have stood for election and been voted in, regardless of whether or not they are community leaders.
On a separate and rather important practical point, the selection of appointees will be in the hands of parish councillors whose views on whom should be selected might vary quite a lot from those of the Minister. We therefore believe we should retain parish councils as democratic institutions and not—as was suggested in a sedentary comment—turn them into a version of the House of Lords where the great and the good are added to those who can be bothered to get elected. In very many parish communities, if people know that they have two means of getting on to the parish council—going through the hassle of standing and getting elected or sitting back, waiting and getting appointed—the number of people offering themselves for election will not increase. The process proposed by the Government will undermine the democratic nature of parish councils and I hope very much that the Minister will accept the amendments.