Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

My Lords, I support this important legislation for it has the potential to empower local communities and to enhance the capacity of local government to provide more effective and more accountable strategic leadership, to which the noble Lord, Lord Graham of Edmonton, has just referred. This Bill also offers an opportunity to rectify an anomaly that has existed since 1980, which discriminates against some of the very local authorities whose role the Bill seeks to enhance for the benefit of their local communities. I refer to the Cinque Port towns in Kent and East Sussex. They have not been raised so far in this debate, and I hope that noble Lords will forgive me for raising them now. Until 1974, all but one of the 14 Cinque Port towns were municipal boroughs with a history and civic traditions dating back almost 1,000 years. As boroughs, they enjoyed the ancient right to confer the freedom of their towns on distinguished national figures and those who had devoted a lifetime of voluntary service to their local communities. The Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect in 1974, abolished all the ancient municipal boroughs. Many, including 12 of the Cinque Ports, were too small to become local government districts in their own right. In the majority of cases, they became ““successor parishes””, which exercised the right to be called ““town councils”” and for their chairman to be known as the ““town mayor””. Some of the larger towns did not meet the Government’s criteria. From 1974, they were represented by ““charter trustees””; that is, the district councillors for the wards comprising the ancient borough were recognised as having the continuing right to elect a town mayor and such honorary officials as had been appointed previously by the borough council. A number of these have since become town councils, leaving only Margate and Ramsgate represented by charter trustees. However, the 1972 Act stripped all former boroughs of the right to confer the freedom of their towns. My main purpose in speaking is to give notice that I will seek to introduce an amendment in Committee to restore that right, but I will not, of course, go into the detail today because I would be going against the Companion if I did. It is a very modest, but significant, amendment. In January, I was approached by the registrar and seneschal of the Cinque Ports, Mr Ian Russell, to support that aim and I agreed to do so. A number of noble Lords support this idea, including my noble and gallant friend Lord Boyce, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. After that, I approached the Secretary of State. I am delighted to say that a recent letter from Mr Phil Woolas, Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion, stated that the Government are sympathetic to this idea, but are not convinced that this Bill is the right vehicle. I hope and will seek to convince them in due course. I declare an interest. I was approached by the registrar and seneschal because of a Cinque Ports connection. In another place, I represented the Faversham constituency, as it was then called, which included the town of Faversham, an associate Cinque Port. Furthermore—I must give another declaration of interest—my arms, granted not long ago, also have a Cinque Ports connection. The Cinque Ports arms have three stern ends of ships—half-hulls, in effect—each attached to three front halves of lions. For my arms, I chose to have just one half-hull attached to one half-lion. I felt that it would be a trifle presumptuous to seek to have all three, so I aimed to settle for just one. Iam glad to say that that was approved by College of Arms and incorporated into my arms. I was assisted greatly by the Richmond Herald of Arms, Mr Patric Dickinson. I apologise for describing my half-hull and lion in layman’s terms. But knowing your Lordships, I realise that you will require it in heraldic terms. It is described, "““per pale gules and azure a lion passant guardant dimidiated with a ship’s hull or on a chief argent””." Noble Lords of course will know that ““or”” refers to gold. I should like to thank the Public Bill Office for its considerable and most helpful advice and guidanceon this matter. I am advised that my proposed amendment is relevant, so I trust that that will give some comfort and encouragement to the Ministers dealing with this Bill, not least the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews. I wish those Ministers every success with the passage of this Bill.