Clause 4
Local Democracy, Economic Developmentand Construction Bill [Lords]
4:45 pm
Julia Goldsworthy (Falmouth and Camborne, Liberal Democrat)
I have been trying to follow the hon. Gentleman’s remarks, but either I was too young to be aware of the politician he mentions, or I was not even born at the time. However, his theme is relevant.
In the Minister’s closing remarks on the previous clause, she talked about the “do nothing” approach. The Liberal Democrats are not saying that nothing needs to be done, but the Government’s approach seems to be, “If in doubt, legislate.” That seems to be the case in so much Home Office legislation, which has demonstrated that legislation is not a proxy for action. Putting provisions into primary legislation does not mean that we will end up with the results that the right hon. Lady hopes for. In fact, the Councillors Commission and the “be a councillor” campaign have shown that the most effective advocates for encouraging wider participation in civic life are individuals who recruit and head-hunt others, and explain the role to them. That is better than a corporate approach, although it is available as back-up, but all the campaign’s excellent work was achieved without the need for an Act to support it. The work was all about supporting individuals, but unfortunately the Bill is presumably about providing corporate material and putting a duty on councils, rather than stating that there should be a duty for everybody involved.
I strongly feel that such a silo mentality needs to be broken down. It would have been refreshing if the Bill had mentioned how some of the issues could be dealt with by cutting across different Departments. Perhaps the issues would be best addressed through guidance and a best-practice manual, but by trying to deal with them through primary legislation, the Government are boxing themselves into a corner, which will not achieve their stated aims.