I thank the noble Lord for those points. Many of the arrangements for combined authorities are simply multiplications of the
powers specified for local authorities, so I can confirm that the powers of calling for a combined authority would therefore replicate those in local authorities.
The noble Lord also made a point about an independent chairman. It may well be that the House of Commons looks at this and takes a different view, but we did not think it was right to mandate that the chairman should be independent because in local circumstances there may be an obvious person who could act as that independent chairman.