Clause 11
Local Democracy, Economic Developmentand Construction Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Julia Goldsworthy (Falmouth and Camborne, Liberal Democrat)
Thank you, Mr. Amess; that is helpful.
I shall confine my remarks to the amendments tabled in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall. They would ensure that local authorities will not be penalised if they seek to go beyond the base line of the scheme established under the Bill. Amendment 38 would amend subsection 6 of the clause, so that it reads:
“A principal local authority must comply with the statutory provisions of its petition scheme.”
Essentially, therefore, if an authority wishes to go beyond the scope of the statutory provisions and then fails to meet its ambitions, it will not be penalised for having done so.
As with so many other things, including planning guidance, the lowest common denominator is established and local authorities are averse to the risk of going beyond that, which means that people are not encouraged to go further. I hope that the Government want councils to do whatever they can to be as responsive as possible and that, rather than penalising councils that are slightly over-ambitious and are unable to deliver on those ambitions, they ensure that a minimum requirement is delivered. Similarly, amendment 39 would ensure that, if the requirements are applied more widely, there will be no impact on councils if they wish to go further.
The amendments are straightforward, and I hope that the Minister will take them in the spirit in which they were tabled—they are all about seeking reassurance that authorities that wish to go further and, perhaps, push best practice even further will not be penalised for doing so.