Clause 79
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
3:45 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)
I wish to say a few words about the clause and the direction of travel. It is entitled “Application of Chapter: partner authorities”, and I wish to draw to the Committee’s attention what is self-evident: that by far and away the most significant and biggest partner of local government is national Government. The Secretary of State—I am sorry, I mean the Minister; I got a little ahead of his promotion schedule there—referred to Secretaries of State and said that, of course, there is only one Secretary of State. I guess the collective noun for Secretaries of State is Government. That emphasises the point that it is a relationship—hopefully a partnership—between central Government and local government that is at the core of delivering services and ensuring that democracy works well. It is certainly the Liberal Democrats’ view that that partnership should be seen to be and should actually be a partnership of equals, where there are clear boundaries on the responsibilities and the rights to interfere, to directand to innovate, and where both local government and national Government are seen as having a separate and legitimate constitutional existence.
I draw the Minister’s attention to the European charter of local self-government, which sets out some of the constraints that a national Government should have in mind when they are in, or developing, a partnership with local government. Is the Minister satisfied that, in the light of the clause in particular and the Bill as a whole, he will be in a position to say that the Government are compliant with that charter? If so, will he move towards seeing the UK ratify that charter?
My colleagues and I attempted to table a new clause that would have made more explicit the need for that partnership arrangement to be formal, and to establish a concordat between national and local government. We were unable to do that because it was outside the scope of the Bill. However, I would like to hear from the Minister whether, on behalf of the Secretary of State, he would undertake to initiate a dialogue with local government, so that we could lead a move towards a situation where that ratification could take place and we could see in place a concordat that clearly sets out the relevant powers and responsibilities of the two tiers of government, local and national.
Underlying many of the debates that we have had so far—and many of the debates that lie ahead on the Bill—are the problems, the difficulties, the suspicion and the mistrust between the two layers. The Government do not trust local government and, let us be blunt, local government often does not trust national Government. Perhaps both have some right on their side, but surely we should be working to draw together a stronger partnership of equals. I hope that the Minister can respond positively to developing that over the coming years.