House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

House of Commons

Session 2006 - 07
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

17

House of Commons

Wednesday 23rd May 2007

Public Bill Committee Proceedings

Sustainable Communities Bill

[tenth AND ELEVENTH sittingS]

Clause 3.

Amendment (32) proposed, in page 3, line 11, to leave out ‘on a plan under section

2(3)(b)’ and insert ‘under section 2(5)’.—(Mr Nick Hurd).

Question proposed, That the Amendment be made.

Agreed to

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr David Drew

Julia Goldsworthy

Agreed to  33

Clause  3,  page  3,  line  21,  leave out ‘of residents under 25 years old.’ and insert

‘through panels set up in accordance with subsection (1A) of residents, employers and

employees in the council’s area and in particular of—

(i)
young people in the area;

(ii)
persons from ethnic minorities;

(iii)
tenants in social housing;

(iv)
persons living on lower incomes;

(v)
persons with disabilities;

(vi)
persons living in deprived areas; and

(vii)
persons over 60 years of age.


An area is deprived for the purposes of sub-paragraph (vii) if the official male

adult unemployment rate exceeds 10 per cent., or if more than 20 per cent. of

households have net incomes below £15,000 per year.

(1A)
For the purposes of this Act, a principal council shall, so far as is practicable,

arrange for one or more panels to be established in its area representing persons

who live in its area or who work or employ workers in its area and any such panel

shall, so far as is practicable include—

(a)
representatives of the categories of persons specified in subsection

(1)(d)(i) to (viii), and

(b)
representatives of such persons or bodies as the council considers

appropriate being persons or bodies of any nature who exercise functions

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 2007
18

Sustainable Communities Bill, continued

or are engaged in activities in relation to the sustainability of local

communities in the council’s area; and

(c)
an equal number of male and female members.


For the purposes of this subsection a member of a panel may represent more than

one of the categories specified in subsection (1)(d).’.

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr David Drew

Julia Goldsworthy

Agreed to  34

Clause  3,  page  3,  line  25,  leave out from ‘council’ to end of line 42 and insert—

‘(3)
A principal council shall cooperate with any panel set up in its area under

subsection (1A) in making recommendations under section 2(5).’.

Mr Phil Woolas

Not selected  16

Page  3,  line  10,  leave out Clause 3.

Clause, as amended, Agreed to.

Mr Phil Woolas

Not selected  26

Page  4,  line  18,  leave out Clause 5.

Clause Disagreed to.

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr Phil Woolas

Not selected  27

Page  4,  line  41,  leave out Clause 6.

Clause Disagreed to.

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr Phil Woolas

Not selected  28

Page  5,  line  10,  leave out Clause 7.

Clause Disagreed to.

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 2007
19

Sustainable Communities Bill, continued

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr Phil Woolas

Not selected  29

Page  5,  line  25,  leave out Clause 8.

Clause Disagreed to.

Mr Nick Hurd

Not selected  43

8
Page  5,  line  36,  leave out Clause 9.

Clause Disagreed to.

Mr Nick Hurd

Not selected  44

8
Page  6,  line  4,  leave out Clause 10.

Clause Disagreed to.

Clauses 11 and 12 Agreed to.

Mr Phil Woolas

Agreed to  37

Clause  13,  page  6,  line  36,  leave out ‘Subject to subsections (3) and (4) below’.

Mr Phil Woolas

Agreed to  38

Clause  13,  page  6,  line  38,  leave out subsections (3) and (4).

Mr Phil Woolas

Not moved  39

Clause  13,  page  7,  line  1,  leave out subsection (5) and insert—

‘(5)
This Act comes into force on such day as the Secretary of State may appoint by

order made by statutory instrument.

(6)
An order under this section—

(a)
may appoint different days for different purposes;

(b)
may include transitional, saving or transitory provision.’.

Clause, as amended, Agreed to.

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 2007
20

Sustainable Communities Bill, continued

Mr Phil Woolas

Withdrawn  35

Schedule,  page  8,  line  3,  leave out ‘indicators referred to in section 2’ and insert

‘matters referred to in section [Proposals by principal councils]’.

Mr David Drew

Agreed to  21

Schedule,  page  8,  line  30,  after ‘Act,’, insert ‘including new arrangements for the

provision of affordable housing,’.

Julia Goldsworthy

Agreed to  36

Schedule,  page  8,  line  36,  at end insert ‘legal services,’.

Schedule, as amended, Agreed to.

NEW CLAUSES

Local spending reports

Mr Phil Woolas

As amended, added  nc1

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
For the purpose of assisting in promoting the sustainability of local communities,

the Secretary of State may make arrangements for the production, by the

Secretary of State or another person, of local spending reports.

(2)
A local spending report is a report on expenditure by such authorities, in such
5
area, and over such period, as are determined in accordance with the

arrangements.

(3)
The authorities may be—

(a)
a principal council;

(b)
a government department;
10
(c)
any other person exercising public functions.

(4)
The area may be—

(a)
one or more local authority areas;

(b)
one or more parts of a local authority area;

(c)
any combination of those.
15
(5)
The period may be or include a future period.

(6)
The expenditure to be included in relation to any authority, area or period is to be

determined in accordance with the arrangements.

(7)
A report may relate to different areas or periods for different authorities.

(8)
The Secretary of State may make different arrangements for different reports.
20
(9)
Before making arrangements under this section, the Secretary of State must

consult such persons likely to be affected by the arrangements as the Secretary of

State thinks appropriate.

(10)
For the purposes of subsection (9) any consultation undertaken before the

commencement of that subsection is as effective as it would have been if
25
undertaken after that commencement.’.

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 2007
21

Sustainable Communities Bill, continued

As Amendments to Mr Phil Woolas’ proposed New Clause (Local spending reports)

(NC1):—

Julia Goldsworthy

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr David Drew

Not moved  (a)

Line  2,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘shall’.

Mr Phil Woolas

Agreed to  (c)

Line  2,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘must’.

Julia Goldsworthy

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr David Drew

Not called  (b)

Line  7,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘shall’.

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr David Drew

Julia Goldsworthy

Not called  (f)

Line  9,  after ‘department’, insert

‘(c)
a fire and rescue authority;

(d)
a National Park authority;

(e)
the Broads Authority;

(f)
a police authority;

(g)
a chief officer of the police;

(h)
a waste disposal authority established under section 10 of the Local

Government Act 1985 (c.51);

(i)
a metropolitan county passenger transport authority established by

section 28 of the Local Government Act 1985 (c.51) (joint

arrangements);

(j)
a primary care trust;

(k)
a development agency established by section 1 of the Regional

Development Agencies Act 1998 (c.45);

(l)
a local probation board established by section 4 of the Criminal Justice

and Court Services Act 2000 (c.43);

(m)
a youth offending team established under section 39 of the Crime and

Disorder Act 1998 (c.37);

(n)
the English Sports Council;

(o)
the Environment Agency;

(p)
the Health and Safety Executive;

(q)
the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission;

(r)
the Learning and Skills Council for England; and

(s)
Natural England.’.

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 2007
22

Sustainable Communities Bill, continued

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr David Drew

Julia Goldsworthy

Not called  (g)

Line  10,  leave out ‘(c)’ and insert—

‘(3A)
The authorities may be’.

Mr Phil Woolas

Agreed to  (d)

Line  11,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘must’.

Mr Phil Woolas

Agreed to  (e)

Line  13,  at end insert ‘or’.

Local spending reports: rights of principal councils and representatives of local persons

Mr Nick Hurd

As amended, added  NC3

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
After considering the information contained in a local spending report issued

pursuant to section 4, a principal council may make recommendations to the

Secretary of State as to—

(a)
whether that council could decide how any part of the money specified in
5
that report may be spent; and

(b)
any consequential delegation of functions to the council.

(2)
Where a principal council proposes to make recommendations pursuant to

subsection (1), it must—

(a)
refer the matter to any panels under section 3 for consideration; or
5
(b)
establish such panels if they do not exist and refer the matter to them for

consideration.

(3)
A principal council and any panels acting pursuant to this section shall exercise

their functions to promote the sustainability of local communities.

(4)
Within three months of receiving recommendations made by a principal council
15
under subsection (1), the Secretary of State shall either adopt or reject each of the

recommendations, and in either case shall give reasons for his decision.

(5)
At least once in each calendar year the Secretary of State shall publish a report

providing details of all decisions taken pursuant to subsection (4) above.’.

As Amendments to Mr Nick Hurd’s proposed New Clause (Local spending reports:

rights of principal councils and representatives of local persons) (NC3):—

Mr Nick Hurd

Agreed to  (a)

Line  2,  after ‘may’, insert ‘subject to subsection (2)’.

Public Bill Committee Proceedings: 2007
23

Sustainable Communities Bill, continued

Mr Nick Hurd

Agreed to  (b)

Line  6,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
A principal council may not make recommendations regarding any money that

has been specified in the local spending report as being spent on services of a

wider or national significance.

(2B)
In subsection (2) “services primarily of a wider or national significance” means

services provided wholly or largely for the benefit of persons resident in areas

wider than the area of the council.’.

Mr Nick Hurd

Agreed to  (c)

Line  12,  after ‘shall’, insert—

‘(a)
’.

Mr Nick Hurd

Agreed to  (d)

Line  13,  at end insert ‘and

(b)
have regard to the council’s community strategy prepared pursuant to

section 4 of the Local Government Act 2000 (c.22);

(c)
specify that in their opinion any recommendations are consistent with

that community strategy; and

(d)
give their reasons for that opinion.’.

Action plans

Mr Nick Hurd

Mr David Drew

Julia Goldsworthy

Added  NC7

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
The Secretary of State shall, as soon as is practicable, consult all principal

councils in accordance with this section—

(a)
on the matters set out in the Schedule to this Act, which specifies matters

which affect the sustainability of local communities, and

(b)
on any other matters which in the opinion of the Secretary of State affect

the sustainability of local communities.

(2)
Before consulting principal councils, the Secretary of State must—

(a)
subject to paragraph (b) appoint a person to be his advisor (“the advisor”)

for the purposes of this Act.

(b)
request the Local Government Association to be the advisor but, if that

body declines, appoint such other person or persons who must be persons

who represent the interests of principal councils.

(3)
The advisor must consider the responses to the consultation pursuant to

subsection (1) and draw up a list of proposals contained in those responses which

in the advisor’s opinion—

(a)
should be given the greatest priority, and

(b)
have cross-party support.