Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 215A: 215A: Clause 121, page 77, line 46, at end insert ““and”” The noble Baroness said: This brings us to the community call for action. We support the additional powers being given to ward councillors with this community call for action. We believe that it strengthens a councillor's ability to take action to address local problems raised by their own constituents. I am also mindful of the amendment that I supported previously and which was tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, to make that even stronger. However, some issues prevent this welcome power and we think they should be removed from the Bill. Amendments Nos. 215A, 215B, 215C, 215D and 224A seek to ensure that the community call for action covers all local issues that include crime and disorder matters and to ensure that the Secretary of State cannot use his discretion to exclude matters from the community call-for-action process. It is with some frustration that we think that the Government have not listened entirely to what has been said about this and that there is a widespread consensus, shared by the Local Government Association and people such as the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, that there should be just one community call-for-action process. I cannot grasp why a councillor is able to refer a matter affecting their area to scrutiny by the council but cannot do so if it relates to a crime and disorder matter. There are problems here because of things such as ASBOs, which one should be able to raise. A councillor may have in his area a council estate where ASBOs are being issued. When there is a criminal aspect to a matter, it is of relevance. We cannot see how having two separate community call-for-action procedures—the one set out in this Bill and the one covered by the Police and Justice Act—will in reality operate. It will cause confusion for local people and councillors. The Local Government Association has highlighted some important points that make it essential that these amendments and clauses are added to this Bill. The community call-for-action process has far clearer benefits in this Bill than that in the Police and Justice Act provisions. The additional powers given to ward councillors make certain that less council time is taken up by frivolous and vexatious complaints. That contrasts with the Police and Justice Act, where a member of the public, regardless of the council’s refusal to send the matter to the overview and scrutiny committee, is still able to appeal to the executive. For those reasons, these amendments should be accepted. I beg to move.