Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

My Lords, that is certainly my understanding. I was going to suggest to the noble Lord that we facilitate a meeting between him and some relevant officials from the joint departments, so that he can discuss some of these issues with them. He will appreciate that it is quite difficult to make a very precise judgment, but that is certainly my understanding. I obviously cannot make any commitments about particular projects, but I am happy to ensure that there is such a meeting. The amendment has very serious implications, I am afraid. First—my noble friend referred to this—it would allow any RDA function, even something that is manifestly regional, to be delegated to a local authority or group of authorities. Perversely, there could easily be functions that actually undermined the principles of the regional joint working arrangements or even contradicted them. There is also no clear link between the activities that would be delegated and the regional strategy, which is the linchpin of everything that we are trying to do. Delegation was never intended to be considered separately from the regional strategy and the investment planning process that we have described. Secondly, the amendment would be a recipe for chaos. Proposed new subsection (5) would place a requirement on the RDAs to propose suitable delegations within three months of this proposed new clause coming into force. However, it is not clear to whom the proposals would be made, and there is no apparent requirement for the RDA to delegate functions even if it makes proposals. As I have said, we also have an issue with the definition of the functions themselves. Thirdly—I find this particularly puzzling, given the resistance of the party opposite to any powers of the Secretary of State—proposed new subsection (6) would give the Secretary of State the power to direct an RDA to make such delegations as may be determined. That would give the Secretary of State more powers over the RDAs, and it would undermine the principle of joint decisions and joint working. While we are on the subject of uncontained powers, I have concerns about proposed new subsection (9), which seems designed to provide that existing legislation can be modified in any way necessary to give effect to the new power. These are very wide powers, which are unprecedented. They certainly would have been challenged by noble Lords opposite should I have proposed them. I am surprised to see that there is also a wish for the joint working between the RDAs and local authorities to be subject to the RDA’s view of the capacity of the local authorities concerned. Under this, the RDAs would be trying to put in place new assessments. I had been under the impression that noble Lords opposite favoured dispensing with inspections of councils. Finally, there is another contradiction in terms of the way in which the law should be expected to work. Amendment 167, which would apply to Schedule 5, would allow functions that are delegated by RDAs to local authorities to be exercised by the local authorities even if this means that they operate in a way that is not lawful for the RDAs themselves. Again, I think that there is a genuine confusion. I have enormous respect for the noble Lord opposite, for his intentions and his experience. I hope, certainly in relation to the fatal flaws of the amendment, that he will not press it to a Division this evening.