Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Hanningfield and Lord Greaves, for the way in which they have spoken to the amendments. On Amendments Nos. 225ZA and 225ZB and on Clause 130 stand part, it may be helpful if I explain our approach in setting out in regulations the type of by-laws that will be subject to the alternative procedures. We have taken this approach to ensure that the Government can retain their function of confirming certain types of by-laws where it is considered important to do so. That is why I cannot simply give a list, as the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, asked. It will be appropriate for some departments not to be devolved in relation to by-laws and for others to be devolved. I shall go through it and we can discuss the matter further if necessary. A large number of different authorities are empowered to make by-laws and a number of Secretaries of State have responsibility for confirming them. These by-laws, which will be subject to the alternative procedure, can be identified by a range of references, including the subject matter of the by-law, to ensure that there is complete clarity about which by-laws may or may not be subject to the regulations. I was asked about that. Our approach puts the position beyond doubt. The clause enables the Secretary of State to make regulations establishing a new procedure for local authorities to follow when making the kind of by-laws specified in the regulations. The changes will mean that once a local authority has consulted on, prepared and advertised draft by-laws locally, those by-laws can then be enacted without the authority having first to seek confirmation from the Secretary of State. The vast majority of by-laws regulate matters such as low-level nuisances in local spaces, such as parks and beaches, and the use of market places. Those are very much local matters on which local authorities and their communities are best placed to decide. We take the view that a reference to central government in those circumstances is an unnecessary bureaucratic step. It may be helpful if I set out the rationale for the approach that we are providing in this clause, whereby the Secretary of State will no longer have a role only in by-laws specified in regulations. While it is clear that most by-laws deal with the essentially local issues that I have spoken about, some deal with matters where it might be thought that some central scrutiny should be retained. For example, as the noble Lord said, certain transport matters might be subject to by-laws made by private operators such as port management organisations which have no direct accountability to local people in the way that local authorities do. Another example might be by-laws that apply to activities in designated countryside sites that could raise issues of a far wider national interest. A regulation-making approach will mean that policy decisions on whether specific by-laws should remain subject to the Secretary of State’s consent can be taken on a case-by-case or subject-by-subject basis. I was asked by both noble Lords why I was not removing the confirming role for all Secretaries of State. This is a decision for individual Secretaries of State to take, taking account of the subject matter and the locations to which the by-laws they confirm can apply. If they decide, following consultation, that a central confirming role is no longer required, they may opt to use the new powers.