Clause 1
Sustainable Communities Bill
11:00 am
Oliver Letwin (West Dorset, Conservative)
The interchange between by my hon. Friend and the invisible official is interesting. As I have been reflecting on this rather weird debate, I wonder whether perhaps the Government do not want to have a definition of sustainable communities in any legislation. They want only to have the flexibility of guidance on their own websites. That could be to prevent legal action by someone in planning, for example, who seeks a judicial review on the basis that the Government are not adhering to a particular definition that would enter legislation if it were in the Bill. I wonder whether we should take this opportunity to try to get to the point where the Government accept that, sooner or later in some piece of legislation, there will have to be a definition of sustainable communities if it is to be a meaningful policy.