Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

Again, I thank noble Lords for their contributions. As the Committee will know, we are developing the guidance with a group of stakeholders. They will be taking great notice of this afternoon’s discussion in Committee. As both the noble Lord and the noble Baroness have said, we want this to be as flexible, light and user-friendly as possible, ensuring that we still have the practical outcomes we are looking for. The guidance is being developed and note will be taken of this discussion. We think it is highly desirable that principal councils should consider the wider picture of community governance in undertaking their reviews. Clause 95(5) makes such considerations a requirement, and Amendment No. 204CJ removes that requirement. If the amendment were to be agreed—I understand that it is probing—it would be to the detriment of the overall schemes that we are now considering for establishing community governance. We wish people everywhere, including in London, to have the chance to argue in favour of parish councils. If those arguments carry the day during a community governance review, they should get the results they desire. However, in some areas, particularly urban areas, there may be good reasons why establishing a parish could be unwise. If in good faith a local authority concludes that it cannot sensibly define areas in which elected parish councils, with all their attendant powers and duties, would reflect the identities and interests of the community and provide effective and convenient community governance, as required in Clause 95(4), it should not create parishes there, and indeed we would not want it to. On the other hand, we wish to make sure that communities are as cohesive and engaged as possible and that people have as much influence over what happens in their neighbourhood as possible. Many local authorities have introduced innovative mechanisms to achieve that. For example, there are area forums in many places, and many communities have their own initiatives and have established powerful and effective organisations that make a huge contribution to the promotion of well-being in their area. It seems to us that it would be natural and sensible for authorities, when conducting a community governance review, to have overt regard to the arrangements that are already in place, many of which are very good. Indeed, we think they should be required to do so. We see nothing to be gained by the removal of subsection (5) and much to be lost in terms of achieving the best outcomes. Therefore, I hope that the amendment will be withdrawn.