Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]

No, I did not say that; I said was that there were two reasons. The first is that councils have the power to hold referendums, if they choose to do so—the new clause requires them to hold them. We have had a number of discussions about the fact that in some cases we place a duty on councils to do certain things, whereas in others we say that the councils may do so, if they want to. That was the first and major reason I gave for rejecting the new clause. The second reason is that the proposal is uncosted and would impose a new burden on councils, which would have to set up facilities to carry out the duty. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Blackley—he is no longer in his place—has expressed concern about how the referendum in Greater Manchester was conducted, but we are not aware that current arrangements for holding local referendums are failing to work well in the majority of cases or that councils are failing to meet calls for local referendums. What I am saying is that in the Government's view, without the necessary evidence, it would not be appropriate to impose another burden on local authorities. We are well aware of the wider debate about democratic renewal, and local referendums may well become part of it. If there are any issues about local polls, we want to hear about them in that context. With new clause 11, my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Blackley seeks to impose penalties on local authorities for non-compliance with the duty to promote democracy as set out in chapter 1 or with petitions duties as set out in chapter 2. I am delighted that my hon. Friend is keen to see a strong local authority response to both sets of duties, and I view it as essential that those duties are actively and effectively taken forward by local authorities. We discussed the issue at length in Committee, but in view of the current debate, it is worth reminding right hon. and hon. Members why we want local authorities to assume these duties. We want to see local democracy reinvigorated and all people encouraged to play their part. People have a right to know how local government and other local public services are run and what decisions are taken on their behalf. They should also know how they can take part in making those decisions, including the possibility of becoming a councillor. Raising awareness is a necessity. We have taken the route of establishing a duty on councils based on solid evidence. There is a strong commitment to establishing councils as the hub for local democratic activity and to embedding the promotion of local democracy within their DNA. The duty addresses the lack of awareness of local democracy. As many of us know, a lack of awareness of councillors' roles was identified by the Councillors Commission and others, including the deeply respected all-party parliamentary local government group. To illustrate the point, an Ipsos MORI survey for the Local Government Association showed that fewer than a third of people know even a fair amount about what their council does. That lack of awareness is certainly a major barrier to civil and civic participation, and it contributes to the lack of diversity among councillors and others with civic roles. We all know that we are not making the most of the potential talent among communities, including women, people from black and ethnic minority communities and people of working age, who are currently under-represented as councillors and in other civic roles. We want to ensure that people feel that local democracy is relevant to their everyday lives and that local authorities become the hub of local democracy. By doing so, local people will have a single, easily accessible port of call for information about how they can participate in decision-making at the local level, including as or through a councillor. We all agree about the importance of the aim behind those duties and the importance of raising awareness and of looking at the evidence for the fact that only 28 per cent. of councils guarantee an automatic response to petitions. We know that there is good evidence for requiring councils to respond to petitions and to publicise their petition schemes, which will help people to feel that they can influence local decisions. If we all agree on the importance of these duties, how do we ensure that they are achieved? Do we really want the coercive and, might I suggest, distrustful approach proposed in the new clauses? We have to ask ourselves how that would be received by the local government sector. We need to trust local authorities to respond effectively and imaginatively to the new duties. The duties are subject to parliamentary scrutiny and have been imposed because Parliament recognises that these are activities that councils should add to their functions in order to make real improvements for local people. We intend to set money aside to enable councils to carry out the duties, and we will provide them with full support through guidance and a sector-led best-practice approach. There are already legal remedies for enforcement, but we do not rely on them to ensure compliance in this case any more than we do in relation to most other legal duties that apply to local authorities. There is no direct enforcement mechanism in the provisions, and we do not think it appropriate that there should be one. In conclusion, there is already an intention to ensure that local authorities involve people and to look at the petitions system, but as many hon. Members have said, we do not want a more coercive approach. New clause 2, which was moved by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), relates to parish polls—I know that he is a long-standing supporter of the first tier of local government. One of the most interesting and informative conferences that I have attended recently was that of the National Association of Local Councils. I learned a lot about parish councils and invited them to enter the debate about what we can do to help to ensure that they have the support that they need from their local communities. We talked about powers and so forth. I know that my hon. Friend's continued service to the community as a town councillor—as well, obviously, as his work here—demonstrates that commitment very clearly. New clause 2 will increase the number of local government electors required to trigger a parish poll, which is essentially a non-binding referendum on local issues, so that no poll would be undertaken""unless either the person presiding at the meeting consents or the poll is demanded by not less than 30, or one-third, of the local government electors present at the meeting, whichever is the greater."" Parish polls are a very useful way of gauging local opinion on matters that are important to local people, but we are aware that the issue has been the subject of previous debate. I assure my hon. Friend that the ease with which a parish poll can be triggered has caused concern in the past. We are also aware of other issues around parish polls, which my hon. Friend did not necessarily mention, such as their scope and conduct. That is why we recognised in the "Communities in control" White Paper that we need to make the rules governing parish polls more accessible and better understood and to define their scope more clearly. That is why my Department is taking work on parish polls forward. We will want to consult the parish sector and others—and, obviously, my hon. Friend—on how the provisions for polls can be reformed. We will want to examine not only the methods for triggering a poll, but the scope and conduct of polls. We might, for example, consider modernising the full range of rules governing parish polls, which could involve—my hon. Friend mentioned this—an extension of the hours during which they can be held. We entirely agree that there should be robust and effective parish poll provisions, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the matter. However, for the reasons that I have given, I hope that he will join in our debates on this important issue but not press his new clause. New clause 8, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mackinlay), gave rise to a great deal of debate and very strong feelings. As my hon. Friend made clear, he knows that the Local Government Act 2000 allowed smaller councils in two-tier areas to operate a streamlined committee system. As he said, at the time when the changes were made, it was decided that local authorities with fewer than 85,000 electors could retain the committee structure to which he referred. As it happens, a fair number of the councils involved have moved on to the new system. I think it has been recognised that the executive arrangements have delivered more in terms of effective, transparent decision making and clearer accountability, and I think there is a general consensus that it represents a better approach.