My Lords, Amendments 282A and 282B in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, raise the important matter of ensuring that the right approach is taken in giving effect to the changes that would be made by the Bill. I understand that he was unable to move his amendments in Committee, as he had intended, and my noble friend Lady Scott of Bybrook is grateful for the engagement that she had with him on them.
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The implementation of the Bill will be a long-term endeavour. That is the case for the levelling-up missions and, equally, for the wider reform measures in the Bill. Noble Lords will be unsurprised that preparation and planning for implementation is already under way. As my noble friend Lady Harding of Winscombe just said, we agree that implementation is iterative. We are already working with local authorities, developers and other local partners to understand how the proposed changes will affect them. This approach of engaging
with the sector will continue during all phases of implementation. It is intended to achieve a system that builds on the experience of all parties in implementation to achieve our objectives most effectively, while ensuring that local authorities are supported throughout implementation and beyond. All this will include monitoring and evaluation in a manner designed for the specifics of each policy.
Specifically on our levelling-up missions, the noble Lord is right that partnerships across central and local government, the private sector and civil society will be crucial. The levelling up White Paper was clear on that point and that emphasis will remain.
As a final word, the Government believe that the combination of the planned approach to implementation, which I have set out, the enduring annual reporting under Part 1 and the post-legislative scrutiny process are the right means to ensure that your Lordships’ House and the other place can scrutinise and ensure that lessons will be learned from the implementation of this Bill.
With respect to the advisory council and transparency requirements, I will revert to my noble friend Lord Lansley in writing, when I have spoken to the team.
Although I understand that the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, does not intend to test the opinion of your Lordships’ House, I hope he understands why the Government are unable to support his amendments, but are committed to following through this joined-up approach.