UK Parliament / Open data

Sustainable Communities Bill

Debate on bills on Friday, 15 June 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Nick Hurd. The answering member was Phil Woolas.
Sustainable Communities Bill. Report stage. New clause 1 agreed to on question. New clauses 2 and 4 agreed to as amended. New clauses 3 and 5 agreed to. Third reading debate. Agreed to on question and Bill passed.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

461 c968-1035 

Session

2006-07

Department

Department for Communities and Local Government

Legislative stage

Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses
Private members' bills proceedings

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Sustainable Communities Bill. As amended in Public Bill Committee. (vote)
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
Bills
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Philip Davies | 461 c984-5 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend goes to the heart of the issue. He is right. Local authorities often wish to em...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c985 (Link to this contribution) I hope my hon. Friend will accept that it is not quite a question of whim. A Secretary of State who ...

Show all contributions (170)
Philip Davies | 461 c985-6 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes a fair point. I very much hope that that is the way the Bill will work, b...
Greg Knight | 461 c986 (Link to this contribution) With new clause 6, we are also debating Government amendment No. 22. Can my hon. Friend think of any...
Philip Davies | 461 c986 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is as eagle-eyed as ever. His contributions are always valuable, because he not...
Anne Main | 461 c986-7 (Link to this contribution) I support the Bill, because local people feel impotent and frustrated. Most of us accept that impote...
Lynda Waltho | 461 c987-8 (Link to this contribution) I accept what the hon. Lady has said about parish issues and constituency issues. On employment, how...
Lynda Waltho | 461 c988 (Link to this contribution) I am not suggesting that such action would be malicious. I am just going on my constituents’ experie...
Anne Main | 461 c988 (Link to this contribution) I accept the hon. Lady’s concern, but I have a higher opinion of my local area. We have very low une...
Anne Main | 461 c988 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady obviously knows her council better than mine. My council is not Conservative run, and ...
Philip Hollobone | 461 c972 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on steering the Bill so ably through the Committee, on which I had the...
Nick Hurd | 461 c972 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, which is helpful in illustrating and reinforcing the po...
Philip Davies | 461 c971 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend elaborate on this subject, perhaps to whet the appetite of people in my constitu...
Nick Hurd | 461 c971-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has asked for a specific example. If he has the time and inclination, he might like t...
Dan Rogerson | 461 c971 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on all the work that he has done on pushing the Bill through, duri...
Nick Hurd | 461 c971 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree with the hon. Gentleman more. I am looking at the measures through the prism of my...
Nick Hurd | 461 c973 (Link to this contribution) I should like to finish my point first. New clause 6 would replace clause 5, which was a softened v...
Mark Field | 461 c972 (Link to this contribution) I support what my hon. Friend is saying about encouraging flair and innovation in our local communit...
Nick Hurd | 461 c972 (Link to this contribution) I would counter the postcode lottery argument in two ways. First, please let us not be under the ill...
Nick Hurd | 461 c968 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Speaker | 461 c968 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 22, page 4, line 21, clause...
Nick Hurd | 461 c968-9 (Link to this contribution) I rise to move the new clause, numb with the realisation that it is almost five months to the day si...
Philip Davies | 461 c969 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on getting his Bill to this stage. In terms of new clause 6, I agree w...
Nick Hurd | 461 c970-1 (Link to this contribution) The short answer to that question is that we did. We had considerable debate in Committee on the mec...
Nick Hurd | 461 c969-70 (Link to this contribution) I accept the premise of my hon. Friend’s intervention. In the end, these matters will be down to the...
Robert Neill | 461 c970 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know, as will the Minister, that the London borough of Bromley has raised this i...
Nick Hurd | 461 c970 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his constructive intervention. It is helpful for us to understand that th...
Greg Knight | 461 c970 (Link to this contribution) I hope that my hon. Friend will not mind my making a minor criticism. Why did he not include in subs...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c981 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right, and it is one of the reasons why that virtuous circle was set in motion in...
Phil Woolas | 461 c977 (Link to this contribution) Let me try to reassure the hon. Lady about what she has described as the narrative, and about the co...
Julia Goldsworthy | 461 c976-7 (Link to this contribution) I do not intend to jeopardise the Bill’s progress by speaking over-enthusiastically to try to ensure...
Phil Woolas | 461 c978 (Link to this contribution) This is an important point. The power that will be unleashed by the local spending plans in what is ...
Julia Goldsworthy | 461 c977-8 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with the Minister. We need to celebrate diversity. Business Link is a good exampl...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c978-80 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that anyone in the Chamber intends to press new clause 6 to a Division. However, what...
Julia Goldsworthy | 461 c978 (Link to this contribution) Again, the Minister is right. It is important that there is symmetry between this Bill and the Local...
Lynda Waltho | 461 c980 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the right hon. Gentleman is saying about a body such as Business Link, but perhaps...
Lynda Waltho | 461 c981 (Link to this contribution) Following that, what happens if the system goes wrong? That is my concern. Whose fault would it be, ...
David Drew | 461 c976 (Link to this contribution) I shall move speedily on. This is an important new clause and it is clear that it will not be press...
Speaker | 461 c976 (Link to this contribution) Order. That is not a very helpful intervention. I suggest that the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew)...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c975 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would not wish to mislead the House. It is quite impossible to ima...
Phil Woolas | 461 c974 (Link to this contribution) As ever, I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his courtesy. I am not at all embarrassed; indeed I...
Nick Hurd | 461 c973-4 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that helpful intervention, which I wholly endorse. The Bill is ...
Lord Beith | 461 c973 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman made a point about clear English. As we are trying to enable local communities to...
David Drew | 461 c975 (Link to this contribution) I shall pay careful attention to your advice, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
David Drew | 461 c975 (Link to this contribution) I commend the promoter of the Bill. He has waxed lyrical and I have no reason to take up much of the...
Greg Knight | 461 c984 (Link to this contribution) Is not the problem something for which we cannot legislate in the Bill—that councillors on district ...
Philip Davies | 461 c984 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that helpful and reassuring intervention. New clause 6 and the Bill as a...
Nick Hurd | 461 c984 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may take some comfort for the thesis of his speech. Clause 3(3) puts in place a mecha...
Philip Davies | 461 c984 (Link to this contribution) I agree. As usual, my hon. Friend is right about that. We would all like local people to have a grea...
Philip Davies | 461 c983 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady may have noticed that I am a Conservative and I do not believe in revolution. My hon. ...
Julia Goldsworthy | 461 c983 (Link to this contribution) The problem is that many of the powers that we want to devolve are held by a Minister or the Secreta...
Philip Davies | 461 c982-3 (Link to this contribution) First, may I formally congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd) on int...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c981-2 (Link to this contribution) It is interesting that, although we are having a debate that is deeply relevant to new clause 6 —I a...
Julia Goldsworthy | 461 c1027-9 (Link to this contribution) Many people need to be congratulated and commended on the work that they have done to make sure that...
Nick Hurd | 461 c1025-7 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Third time. I would like to place on record my thanks to...
Jeremy Corbyn | 461 c1030 (Link to this contribution) I was happy to be a member of the Committee on the Bill—
David Drew | 461 c1030 (Link to this contribution) It was because you’ve got a beard.
David Drew | 461 c1029 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd). In the years to come, I am sure tha...
Lord Barker of Battle | 461 c1029-30 (Link to this contribution) ““Sustainable Communities”” is not only the name of the Bill, but one of the great imperatives of Br...
Jeremy Corbyn | 461 c1031-2 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I strongly agree with his remarks. As a former chair o...
Martin Linton | 461 c1031 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that some of the strongest defenders of the village high street are the re...
Jeremy Corbyn | 461 c1030-1 (Link to this contribution) I think that the main reason why I was chosen to sit on the Committee was because I have a beard. Sp...
Lynda Waltho | 461 c1032 (Link to this contribution) I add my congratulations both to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd) and to the hon. Me...
Dan Rogerson | 461 c1032-3 (Link to this contribution) As a member of the Committee, I want to add to the record my thanks to all those involved in the pas...
Richard Younger-Ross | 461 c1033 (Link to this contribution) I add my congratulations to all those who have participated. I will not list them, except for the ho...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c1033-4 (Link to this contribution) I echo the many congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd). As we...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1034-5 (Link to this contribution) I will speak briefly because I am conscious of the presence of my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon ...
Greg Knight | 461 c1022 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Minister’s response and for noting my comments. On that basis, and on the basi...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1022 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that. I should mention that I visited his local author...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1024 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Speaker | 461 c1024-5 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following Government amendments: No. 1, page 1, line ...
Speaker | 461 c1021 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was in danger of making a Third Reading speech, which is something that I shall b...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1021-2 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for taking time to get to my feet, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but I was taken by surprise. I wa...
Greg Knight | 461 c1025 (Link to this contribution) Before the Minister sits down, will he touch on his reasons for Government amendment No. 38? He said...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1025 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, as ever, for your chairmanship. This is an important priva...
Speaker | 461 c1025 (Link to this contribution) I must advise the House that, as the House has agreed to new clauses 1 to 4, the following remaining...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1025 (Link to this contribution) I can confirm that. Ministers in this situation normally read out their speaking notes, not the expl...
Greg Knight | 461 c1018 (Link to this contribution) I am not a vegetarian and I am not advising the House to go vegan, although I presume from the hon. ...
Greg Knight | 461 c1017 (Link to this contribution) I do see that and I will come on to that very issue in a few moments, if I may. It seems to me that...
Martin Horwood | 461 c1017 (Link to this contribution) I am awaiting with great anticipation the right hon. Gentleman’s endorsement of vegetarianism; other...
Greg Knight | 461 c1017 (Link to this contribution) I want to speak briefly about amendment No. 43, which would leave out paragraph (j) of the schedule....
Martin Horwood | 461 c1017 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman not see the connection, for instance, between encouraging renewable so...
Martin Horwood | 461 c1016 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Minister’s comments and I welcome the intention behind them but, again, the la...
Nick Hurd | 461 c1016-7 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) for his support for the Bill and the small a...
Martin Horwood | 461 c1015-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for that response, particularly support for Battledown brewery and get...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1016 (Link to this contribution) We agree with the hon. Gentleman’s intention. The Bill, clause 139 of the Local Government and Invol...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1015 (Link to this contribution) I am outraged to hear that, and I will take up the cudgels on that matter if the hon. Gentleman want...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1013 (Link to this contribution) I have carried out extensive and comprehensive consultation across the Houses of Parliament in the p...
Gerald Kaufman | 461 c1013 (Link to this contribution) I sat here too often to do it deliberately.
Phil Woolas | 461 c1014 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has made his point well. The word ““selector”” is not ideal, but it describes ...
Martin Horwood | 461 c1014-5 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd) on getting the Bill this far and off...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1011-3 (Link to this contribution) I will not repeat myself, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and you would not allow me to anyway. I am grateful to...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1013 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I did not hear the right hon. Gentleman’s suggestion. If he has one, I invite him to...
Greg Knight | 461 c1013 (Link to this contribution) Community officer or community secretary.
Phil Woolas | 461 c1008 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Speaker | 461 c1008-11 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: new clause 2—Decision on short-list— ‘(1) ...
Nick Hurd | 461 c1007-8 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the Minister for that and for the constructive way in which he has focused his...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1008 (Link to this contribution) The process will go on until Parliament says otherwise. I understand why the hon. Gentleman asks his...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1007 (Link to this contribution) I said that I would not take any more interventions. However, as the hon. Gentleman is the Bill’s pr...
Nick Hurd | 461 c1008 (Link to this contribution) I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn.
Phil Woolas | 461 c1006 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman asks perhaps the most important question. The Government’s policy intention...
David Howarth | 461 c1006 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for giving way. Does he agree with the following summary? New clause 1 allows t...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1007 (Link to this contribution) If I have understood the hon. Gentleman correctly, the answer is yes. As I said in Committee, on the...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1006 (Link to this contribution) I said earlier that I would give way for the last time; this really is the last time.
Phil Woolas | 461 c1004 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is rightly asking probing questions because we need to be clear about these...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1004 (Link to this contribution) From the hospital to the local authority?
Oliver Letwin | 461 c1005-6 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is being generous and his comments will be useful in the debate that follows, but may I...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1001-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an accurate point on police funding. Policies on police funding, in particu...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c1003 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for that. What he has said will be important in the context of Pepper ...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1003-4 (Link to this contribution) Yes, that is the consequence. It is one of those rare examples where the law and common sense are th...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c1004 (Link to this contribution) We are getting close to the nub of the argument. Let us return to the Minister’s example of the Blac...
Phil Woolas | 461 c999 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman. He is right and that is an important point. Under my meas...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c998 (Link to this contribution) Before the Minister does that, I hope that he is not under the illusion that new clause 3(3) has the...
Roger Williams | 461 c1001 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that explanation. Some funding of functions, such as the police service, is...
Philip Hollobone | 461 c1000 (Link to this contribution) I do not anticipate Kettering borough council’s making any representations about foreign policy. How...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1000 (Link to this contribution) I believe that that is correct, and that was certainly my intention. Of course, the problem is simil...
Philip Hollobone | 461 c1000 (Link to this contribution) On a point of clarification, subsections (2) and (3) of old clause 5, in the Bill as drafted when it...
Phil Woolas | 461 c999-1000 (Link to this contribution) The report to Parliament regarding the action plan is provided for. The right hon. Gentleman is rais...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c999 (Link to this contribution) I do not want there to be a lack of clarity on this issue. I hope that the Minister recognises that ...
Phil Woolas | 461 c994 (Link to this contribution) I hear my hon. Friend telling me not to go there. It must have been confusion between the word ““com...
Justine Greening | 461 c996 (Link to this contribution) The Minister appears to suggest that spending more is the only way to improve services. Anyone who h...
Phil Woolas | 461 c996 (Link to this contribution) Oh, I have opened up a can of worms now.
Greg Knight | 461 c997 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for that explanation. In the spirit of the speech that he is making, w...
Phil Woolas | 461 c996-7 (Link to this contribution) I did not mean any slight by saying that I had opened up a can of worms. I have also invited an acco...
Anne Main | 461 c995-6 (Link to this contribution) On that very point about the frustration felt when a decision taken does not materialise, I am sure ...
Phil Woolas | 461 c994-5 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but of course the success of the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood in gaining first place in th...
Phil Woolas | 461 c996 (Link to this contribution) On the whole, I agree with the hon. Lady, but as a planning Minister I have to act within the law an...
Phil Woolas | 461 c991-2 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the sponsors of the Bill and especially the promoter. The hon. Member for Ruislip-Nor...
Phil Woolas | 461 c993 (Link to this contribution) I was going to say Keighley, never mind as far away as Lancashire. To put the record straight, the ...
Phil Woolas | 461 c992-3 (Link to this contribution) Let me revert to that point later so that I can give precise guidance. [Laughter.] Hon. Members shou...
Roger Williams | 461 c992 (Link to this contribution) I support the principles of new clause 6 but could the Minister comment on the applicability of the ...
Phil Woolas | 461 c993 (Link to this contribution) Yes. I am trying to think of which of my colleagues may have done so!
Greg Knight | 461 c993 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is rightly identifying the vital role that parish councils could play in the process. I...
Phil Woolas | 461 c993 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s acknowledgment of that. I did not have the collective agreeme...
Philip Hollobone | 461 c990-1 (Link to this contribution) I support new clause 6. I should like to draw to the Minister’s attention a possible early applicati...
Philip Davies | 461 c989 (Link to this contribution) I entirely endorse what my hon. Friend says. Would she go slightly further and say that the other be...
Anne Main | 461 c989 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. Councils often recite the argument that they are officer led,...
Speaker | 461 c989 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Lady may of course respond to that intervention in her own way, but I am anxious tha...
Philip Davies | 461 c1019 (Link to this contribution) My point relates to the amount of houses that should be built in a given local area. I believe—to be...
Richard Younger-Ross | 461 c1019 (Link to this contribution) I am slightly puzzled by the hon. Gentleman’s remarks. If there is no support for an unelected regio...
Philip Davies | 461 c1019 (Link to this contribution) I rise to touch briefly on some of the issues that have been mentioned. We had a long discussion ear...
Julia Goldsworthy | 461 c1018-9 (Link to this contribution) Following on from the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight), we need to ensure that loca...
Philip Davies | 461 c1020 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is ignoring the fact that regional assemblies currently decide how many houses ha...
David Drew | 461 c1020 (Link to this contribution) I refer the hon. Gentleman to paragraph 1(l) of the schedule, which clearly refers to"““planning pol...
Philip Davies | 461 c1019-20 (Link to this contribution) The point is that although there may well be such a representative, they can be outvoted, whereas if...
Lynda Waltho | 461 c1019 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry—I do not know the political make-up of the assembly that the hon. Gentleman is referring ...
Philip Davies | 461 c1020-1 (Link to this contribution) I am incredibly grateful to the Minister for providing that clarification, which will certainly give...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1020 (Link to this contribution) I am sure, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that you will not allow a debate on regional assemblies, but just to ...
Speaker | 461 c975 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman is an experienced Member of the House and knows that we do not refer in th...
Phil Woolas | 461 c997-8 (Link to this contribution) That depends on what happens in 12 days’ time—[Laughter.] Let us get the legislation through before ...
Oliver Letwin | 461 c980-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady asks a serious and pertinent question that has been at the centre of much of our discu...
Nick Hurd | 461 c975 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister. We are all sensitive to the fact that he and his officials are trying to wrest...
Anne Main | 461 c983 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is pointing out some of the merits of the Bill and perhaps some of the drawbacks. One...
Clive Efford | 461 c1027 (Link to this contribution) It was a pleasure to serve on the Committee and I congratulate the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood...
Philip Davies | 461 c1032 (Link to this contribution) Following your earlier comments, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I rise to congratulate briefly all those who ha...
Greg Knight | 461 c1013 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. May I ask him a small favour? Between now and the Bill...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1004-5 (Link to this contribution) In that case, the answer to the right hon. Gentleman’s question is yes; we believe that we achieve t...
Phil Woolas | 461 c1001 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right. It is both my policy intention and, I am told, the practical impact of the...
Anne Main | 461 c989-90 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As somebody who has been involved in two parish plans, I supp...
Anne Main | 461 c989 (Link to this contribution) We all have councillors of various abilities on our councils. As my hon. Friend the Member for Shipl...
Lord Benyon | 461 c989 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the recent innovations that has been to the advantage of local...
Phil Woolas | 461 c981 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the right hon. Gentleman’s comments; they are very helpful. It may reassure my hon...
Philip Hollobone | 461 c994 (Link to this contribution) On that interesting point, did the Minister give any consideration to including the contents of this...

Subjects

Community development
Local government
Sustainable development

Legislation

Sustainable Communities Bill 2006-07

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
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