Sustainable Communities Bill

In that case, the answer to the right hon. Gentleman’s question is yes; we believe that we achieve that objective. At the heart of the policy is the desirability of changing financial arrangements at local level. It is clear from evidence from the health and social care sectors that preventive money is the way forward. As a nation, we must be able to spend money on prevention as well as on acute services, but the existing architecture does not allow us to do that sufficiently. We could all give many illustrations of that point; for example, the same arguments apply very much to early years. Evidence shows that intervention in the early years can save significant sums in teenage life. If we provide problem children with child care, Sure Start and other back-up mechanisms, we save three times as much as we spend over an 18-year period. The problem is that the agencies making such decisions have, of course, to abide by the law and by financial imperatives; they are not free to act in the best interests of the case. I concur with the right hon. Gentleman about the objective, but I shall explain a bit more. I can tell from his expression that I have not yet convinced him and I want to do so. Under new clause 1, if a local authority wants to recommend a transfer of funding or function, it may do so, but through the selector. That point may have posed a difficulty, so I shall explain the process. The selector is a person who is representative of local authorities. If the selector believes that the local authority has a strong case, they would include that recommendation in the shortlist of proposals. The Secretary of State would be duty bound by my proposed new clause to co-operate with the Local Government Association, which is a significant change since Committee. Furthermore, the Secretary of State would then have to consider the proposal. We shall be considering related amendments, but I can see the House is getting restless so I shall move quickly on. If local partners cannot settle their differences, the issue should be taken to a sector body—the selector. In my view, it should not be referred directly to the Secretary of State. It is not practicable or desirable for the Secretary of State to intervene in every local dispute by taking functions from one body by force and placing them with another. That is not how we see the relationship either between local partners or between the Government and local partners. In short, the proposed new clause—which I think comes from the Committee even though it is in my name—would allow proposals in any context, not just that of the local spending report, important though it is. It would provide a practical process and a framework for decisions, which would avoid the danger of mischievous or vexatious proposals—although I do not believe that would be common—and would give the public the reassurances they need. I hope that I have convinced the right hon. Gentleman.