Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008

rose to move, as an amendment to the Motion, at end to insert ““but this House calls on Her Majesty’s Government not to proceed with the draft order until the residents of Cheshire have been fully and properly consulted and have been able to express a view on the division of their county.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness for the rather lengthy explanation that she gave us of how the Government came to this decision. I listened to it with great care. I thought that, if she had come to a different conclusion, she would have said something very similar. I have lived in Cheshire all my life. My family has lived and farmed in Cheshire for a couple of hundred years at least and I was a county councillor in Cheshire in 1973 when we went through a reorganisation. My family business is in Chester and I have many interests in businesses and organisations—charitable and social—throughout the county. I know it extremely well. I decided to bring forward this amendment and to question the Government’s decision because of the weight of influence that has been brought to bear on me from various parties who are very dissatisfied with the decision made by the Government. I do not agree that the evidence received indicated a strong view in Cheshire for the two unitary authority solution. Throughout Cheshire, the view is entirely the opposite. There is no strong feeling against the idea of unitary authorities—I personally approve of unitary authorities because they are more efficient, more competent and can more sensibly deliver a range of services to the citizens—but I strongly believe that any change should have the one purpose of producing a better arrangement for the delivery of services to the citizens, to the ratepayers, to the businesses, to those who use all the services of a county council, to the elderly, to those who need social benefits, to education and to schools. Those should be of the best possible order and be delivered by an organisation that is as efficient and as well run as an organisation can be. The Minister made no comment of any criticism—I do not think that anyone can—of the existing structure within Cheshire County Council, which has run the county extremely efficiently and already delivers some 80 per cent of the services now received by the citizens of Cheshire, covering the whole range of activities for which the council is now responsible. I am sure that the Minister will agree with me that, over the period of this Government and previous Governments, the responsibilities of councils have increased enormously. I have no problem with that. Local delivery of services is no bad thing. At the same time, however, one must imagine that the greater emphasis on local delivery of services will increase rather than decrease; indeed, history indicates that that will happen. Therefore, for the future we need an organisation that is best fit to deliver those extra services; we need an organisation that attracts the most able leaders in the county, an organisation that attracts the most efficient and capable officers in the county and one that unifies all the activities of the county rather than destroys them. The noble Baroness referred to those matters that she wishes to create. I am more concerned about what will be destroyed. An organisation to which all the people in Cheshire look as their central body will be destroyed and split into two. One interesting thing that has happened in those areas on the periphery of Cheshire that have been sloughed off into other areas or into their own unitary authorities is that they still think of themselves as Cheshire; they want to be part of Cheshire. It is a long-term, historic county, to which those in it have a great deal of loyalty. I do not disagree with the noble Baroness when she makes the point that certain groups and certain authorities want to maintain their independence and want to be the new leaders. ““They would, wouldn’t they?””, as has been said in the past. That is their role, but that does not mean that that is the best solution. The best solution is one that overrides the local issues, rivalries and prejudices and looks at what is the best long-term decision—I emphasise long-term decision. At the end of her remarks, the noble Baroness said that, if we do not agree this soon, there will be further delay, which will cause disruption. Frankly, I am not worried about a little delay now, provided that we come to the best decision for the people of Cheshire in the future. The Minister talked about the economic future of the county and how it might be more satisfactory if the county were divided into two units that had their economic allegiance in different areas. I completely refute that scenario. Cheshire is an important economy on its own. Some 70 per cent of the economic employees in the county work in the county; they do not move elsewhere. Some of the finest companies in the UK are in Cheshire. I do not have to tell the House that it is one of the most productive rural counties in the country. It produces great leadership at all levels and has made an enormous contribution to the economy of the north-west. It is extremely important that it maintains a powerful voice in the north-west. By splitting it, we will not add to that opportunity. I do not accept the Minister’s suggestion that the two divisions owe allegiance to other peripheral areas—the two major cities of Liverpool and Manchester—and I do not accept that that will happen in the future. The two major cities of Merseyside and Manchester have their own economies; they are thriving and effective areas, but so is Cheshire. The noble Baroness is working against what the majority of people in Cheshire want. Her proposal is not wanted by the business community of Cheshire; it is strongly resisted by the rural community in Cheshire and by its very active food production industry; and it does not have the support of all the citizens of Cheshire. I believe that, if we are to go forward as the Government propose, creating a new structure well into the future with the inevitable disruption that will occur, that will not be the best solution. I appreciate her point that sub-committees have been established and are working towards that end—again, ““They would, wouldn’t they?””, as that is their role. I have no doubt that they will try their best to make whatever they have work. Neither have we found out what the financial implications are. The Minister made the point that it is not right for her to give certain information, but if people are to make the right decisions they need to understand the financial implications of these changes. History tells us that, every time we make decisions on the financial costs of local government change, those costs always end up at least twice as much as anyone ever anticipated. I am as certain as I can be that that will happen in this case. The implication of all the little things that the Minister has not mentioned or does not appear to have taken into consideration is that they will cause considerable problems. There are issues that are now dealt with by the county on a centralised basis, which everyone will find extremely difficult to divide into an east and a west. I return to my original proposal that there must be a much better understanding of the financial implications, which must be transparent and open to everyone. On that basis the people of Cheshire can be asked for their views. Surely if we are to make changes of this kind they need to be of such a quality and such a level that all those affected by them are behind them and can support them. So far, that has not happened. The noble Baroness makes the point that this is a difficult decision. Well, these are difficult decisions, because she is inundated with all kinds of pressure from all kinds of sources. But leadership must make those decisions away from the pressures, looking at the long-term picture of what is in the best interests of the county of Cheshire and its people. We should look again at the real requirements of our county. I beg to move. Moved, as an amendment to the Motion, at end to insert ““but this House calls on Her Majesty’s Government not to proceed with the draft order until the residents of Cheshire have been fully and properly consulted and have been able to express a view on the division of their county.””—(Lord Wade of Chorlton.)