Sustainable Communities Bill

I agree. As usual, my hon. Friend is right about that. We would all like local people to have a greater say in what happens in their community. One of the topics that I wish to explore through new clause 6 is the potential for local authorities to free themselves of some powers and hand them down to parish councils. I have a number of parish councils in my constituency. I should declare an interest. My wife, Debbie, was recently elected to Baildon parish council when it was newly formed earlier this year. I would not want anyone to think that I was trying to empire-build for my wife. She has enough power at home, without building on her powers in the local community. There is great value in local authorities giving up some powers and handing them down to parish councils, which are the bodies most closely linked to the local community. Their members have a vested interest in the sustainability of their local village and their local community, and are usually best placed to know what should be done to further that. I hope my hon. Friend, the promoter of the Bill, will confirm that he would like to see the new clause being used to help parish councils gain more powers from the local authority.