My Lords, I draw your attention to this anomaly because it relates to my own city of Bristol. By way of explanation I will give you an account of the circumstances that have led up to this. In 2012, there was a referendum held by order of the Secretary of State in 12 English cities about whether they would have an elected mayor. Bristol was the only
city that said yes to the elected mayor. In Part 1A of the Local Government Act 2000, the different permitted forms of government and the ways that local authorities can change these forms of government are set out. Section 9N refers specifically to a referendum conducted by this order. These provisions state that if people vote in favour of the mayor and cabinet at a referendum, then the local authority may not move away from that local government model. Bristol is therefore the only authority that may not change its system of governance.
I believe, as do many colleagues of all parties in Bristol, that this is singularly unfair. It is not a question of whether the mayor should be there or not: it is a question of the rights of the local population. Some were saying earlier that people are perhaps not interested in the form of governance. I say to noble Lords that people in Bristol are extremely interested in it. History tells us that not all elected mayors have been a success. Local referendums have been held; petitions have been put together; and mayors have been either reinstated or the system has been changed to ones that people feel are more suitable, more transparent or more appropriate to their area. The people of Bristol should not have that right taken away from them. If we want to be fair, consistent and transparent as we talk about this Bill, this part of the Act needs to go. If Bristol and the surrounding authorities become a combined authority, there will be very many mayors and a lack of clarity as to the roles of the different mayors. I am not against a metro mayor—a strategic mayor—but there needs to be the support of the local population and clarity about who does what, and what the powers of the people are.
We talked about trust with the local electorate and restoring the trust of politics. Many people in my city feel that they have been deceived by the Government. At the time of the referendum, they were not told that they would have no way to alter this system. They were made many promises, which turned out not to be delivered by the then Government, because only one city opted for the elected mayor. I move this amendment in the interests of correcting the situation and making the situation in Bristol as it is in all other English cities. I hope that I might find support for it. I beg to move.