My Lords, I declare an interest as a county councillor in Cumbria, and some of my remarks are going to relate to Cumbria in the context of what the Government have decided on Northampton- shire. I agree with many of the general points that the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, and the noble Lord, Lord Deben, have made, but I am rather concerned that the Northamptonshire model is being seized on by Ministers as something that they can go around the country imposing on people, whatever they think. The cause of that suspicion is that Mr Jake Berry, the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse, summoned the leaders of the councils of Cumbria to see him and basically told them that the only option for the way forward was two unitary authorities in Cumbria—a county of some 500,000 people but obviously a vast geographical area—and that that was basically the Government’s intention. I realise that the noble Viscount, Lord Younger, may not be in a position to answer my questions, but I would be very grateful if he would commit to send me a letter in answer to the points I am about to make.
First, what is the current position on ministerial powers in relation to local government reorganisation? As I understand it, there was a provision in the Local Government Act to allow the department to impose schemes on areas but these powers have now lapsed. I am not sure whether I am right about that, so I want to know what the statutory power is at present and whether the Government are considering—because I know that there is talk of a devolution White Paper later in the year—taking on the power to reorganise local government even if there is not unanimous agreement? I rather gathered from what the Minister said that although seven of the eight authorities said they would accept the two-unitary structure in Northamptonshire, it was not necessarily unanimous of all the authorities. I do not know what the position is there. So, the first question is: where do we currently stand on ministerial powers and on the Government’s intentions for the future, given the Prime Minister’s laudable desire to make local government work better as he sees it and to devolve power?
Secondly, do the Government have rules about what they regard as the minimum size of a unitary authority? Again, there is talk of the normal rule being a population of 300,000, but is that a rule or is it just a thought when people are looking at these questions?
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This is particularly relevant in the case of Cumbria. I am a supporter of unitary authorities. Local government in Cumbria would be a lot better if we did not have this confusing duplication with the county council and six district councils and the national park. I tell you this as someone who represents Wigton in Cumbria: I get people coming to me all the time with particular issues and they do not have a clue about who is responsible for what. That is very bad for democracy. I am a strong supporter of the idea that, if we want a more vital local democracy, unitaries are the way forward.
In the case of Cumbria, there could be two unitary authorities—a northern one and a southern one—but the geographical logic of the southern authority would include Lancaster and Morecambe to create a Morecambe Bay authority, which was considered 50 years ago. It would stretch from the city of Lancaster—I declare an interest as the pro-chancellor of Lancaster University—round the bay, including the South Lakeland area, Kendal and Barrow-in-Furness. The problem is that Mr Berry apparently told our local government leaders that this was ruled out completely and that the Government could not possible consider something that crossed a county boundary. That is an illogical rule for Ministers to adopt in trying to create a logical local government structure.
Thirdly, I have some reservations about the idea of a trust to deal with children’s services. The Minister mentioned adult social care as well, but it was not clear to me whether the two unitaries would be responsible for adult social care or whether, again, it would be removed from the council’s responsibilities and put in some independent hands. I do not know how a trust would work. There are lots of issues to do with children’s services that require democratic accountability and debate. I am concerned about what some people will call the privatisation of these services; I do not believe that it would be privatisation unless the Government imposed that, but it is not a democratically satisfactory arrangement to have an independent body on matters of such sensitivity.
Finally, again in relation to Northamptonshire and Cumbria, why did Mr Berry tell our leaders that a condition of this was that we had an elected mayor? What is the Government’s policy on having an elected mayor for the whole county—that is, not having one for each authority, but having an elected mayor to cover the two unitary authorities? Where has this idea come from? What is the logic of it? Why is that thought to be an essential part of effective local government reorganisation? I should say again that I am not against elected mayors. Having an elected mayor has done London enormous good. Mr Street in Birmingham and Mr Burnham in Manchester are playing a good role. I am not against elected mayors in principle, but I do not see why they have automatically to be part of a scheme to revitalise local democracy and have a more sensible local government structure. I am asking for the principles that led to the Northamptonshire reorganisation to be more clearly stated and for the Government to be a little clearer about whether they see these principles to be of general
relevance and how they would apply in the Cumbria case. I would be grateful for an explanation of those points by letter from the Minister.