Clause 5
Local Democracy, Economic Developmentand Construction Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall, Liberal Democrat)
I echo the comments of other members of the Committee in that it is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr. Amess, providing a style complementary to that of your fellow Chairman, whom we had the pleasure of serving under earlier.
As the hon. Member for Wycombe pointed out, this aspect highlights the weakness in all that has gone before. It obviously felt unreasonable to ask the local authorities to do something over which they have no control—that is, where they need information to provide it to local people, they must be able to request it from the bodies concerned. If those bodies turn out to be far too busy or have other priorities and do not provide it, it is only reasonable that the local authority is not held to that duty.
However, it strikes me that it would be far more reasonable not to impose that duty in the first place, which is what we have been talking about throughout. This really highlights the nonsense that is the early part of the Bill—imposing a duty on a local authority rather than issuing guidance on best practice. As I and other hon. Members said during consideration of previous clauses, that would be a far more sensible way forward.
The Liberal Democrats see the clause as highlighting the problem with the whole of this part of the Bill. It is there so the Government can be seen to be acting and forcing local authorities to do something that in many circumstances they may not be able to do. This part of the Bill is pretty pointless and clause 5 serves to highlight that.