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Clause 256
Lords amendment: No. 430, to leave out clause 256
Mr. Raynsford: I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst): With this, it will be convenient to take Lords amendments Nos. 431, 432, 558, 560 and 570.
Mr. Raynsford: It is the Government's policy that the criminal justice agencies should share the same boundaries, namely those of the police force areas in England and Wales. In the case of probation, that means that the existing 54 probation services must become 42. In all, 20 probation services will be involved in amalgamations, which we intend shall take effect on 1 April 2001.
In London, the five existing services--Inner London, South-East London, South-West London, Middlesex and North-East London--need to merge to form a new service for Greater London. Section 2 of the Probation Service Act 1993 contains an order-making power to amalgamate probation services. However, there is a problem in relation to the creation of a single London probation service, in that the 1993 Act clearly envisages that there shall be more than one probation service in London. We have concluded that to make an order amalgamating the London services under the existing provision would go beyond the vires of that provision. Our amendments will allow us to proceed with the London amalgamation. The new clause inserted by Lords amendment No. 431 provides an order-making power to that effect.
Our amendments also deal with the abolition of the receiver, an issue which arises because of the Inner London probation service's links to that office. To clarify my earlier remarks, the receiver will have a continuing responsibility in the transitional period until the new probation arrangements come into force.
Lords amendment agreed to.
Lords amendments Nos. 431 and 432 agreed to.
Mr. Raynsford:
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 434, 786, 787, 789 and 790.
Mr. Raynsford:
Lords amendments Nos. 433 and 434 deal with the power of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, LFEPA, to co-opt on to its committees and sub-committees individuals who are not members of the GLA. The need for the amendments emerged from consultation with the current fire authority and the Association of London Government. The effect of clause 262(2) is that a person may not be a co-opted member of a committee of LFEPA unless he or she is a member of a London borough council, the common council or the Assembly. That is more prescriptive than the present arrangements, and the amendments are intended to bring the Bill much more into line with existing law.
Lords amendment No. 786 arose from discussions with the Association of London Government. It sets out the action to be taken if a vacancy arises in the office of chairman of LFEPA. Paragraph 3(1) of schedule 23 requires the mayor in each year to appoint a chairman from among the members of the authority. Comparable legislation expressly provides for the filling of a vacancy in the office of chairman. The amendment therefore provides that, in the event of a vacancy arising in that office, the mayor will be required to appoint a new chairman from among the members of LFEPA as soon as possible.
Lords amendment No. 787 is a minor technical amendment dealing with inconsistent wording in paragraph 3 of schedule 23. It substitutes the word "appoint" for "elect" in paragraph 3(2), so that the same word appears throughout the paragraph. The wording used is consistent with other local government legislation.
The last two amendments relate to the consequential changes to legislation listed in schedule 24. Lords amendment No. 789 is a minor technical amendment to legislation affecting fire service pensions. For public service pensions increase legislation to apply to pension awards payable by LFEPA in the same way as it does to the current fire authority, a minor amendment is required to the Pensions (Increase) Act 1971.
Lords amendment No. 790 will apply to LFEPA a provision that applies to the current fire authority. Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 imposes a duty on certain authorities to exercise their functions with due regard to the likely effect of the exercise of those functions on, and the need to do what is possible to prevent, crime and disorder.
I hope that the House will support all those amendments.
Lords amendment agreed to.
Lords amendment No. 434 agreed to.
Mr. Raynsford:
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 436 to 438, 442,443 and 452.
Mr. Raynsford:
Amendment No. 435 defines more succinctly, taking into account clause 33(5), the relationship between the mayor's spatial development strategy and other strategies. Discussion in Commons Committee revealed some difficulties of interpretation, so we have taken the opportunity to rationalise and improve the wording of existing subsection (4). The amendment is, therefore, a drafting amendment, which clarifies that the mayor's spatial development strategy must cover the spatial aspects of his or her other strategies and policies.
Amendments Nos. 436 and 437 arise from a commitment that the Government gave in another place to consider an amendment proposed by the Liberal Democrats. I am sorry that the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) has left the Chamber, at the very moment when I was about to
say something nice about his contribution. However, I am sure that his hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Mr. Brake) will relay to him my comments. The amendments ensure that, when deciding to whom consultation copies of the SDS should be sent, the mayor has to consider relevant bodies under the descriptions specified in clause 27(3)--the general consultation clause--as well as the consultees set out in part VIII of the Bill.
Government amendment No. 438 arises from my agreement in Committee to consider an amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey. It places a duty on the mayor to notify any withdrawal of the draft SDS to those who are consulted during the preparation of the strategy and on the draft. At present, the Bill requires only that those who have made representations about the SDS--rather than those who have been formally consulted--should be informed. We accepted that there might possibly have been a gap, and were thus happy to accept the hon. Gentleman's amendment, because his approach seemed to be constructive.
Amendment No. 442 clarifies, for the avoidance of doubt, that the regulations that we are producing for the SDS may include procedures to be followed by the mayor to ensure that the Secretary of State has an opportunity to exercise the power of direction over the strategy referred to in clause 267.
Amendment No. 443 clarifies that the Secretary of State's power to direct amendment of the SDS can be made at any point before publication--not just on the consultation draft.
Amendment No. 452 is, in essence, a tidying-up amendment in relation to the mayor's role in representing London's interests to the rest of the south-east. It clarifies that the mayor is able to represent London's collective interests on planning matters on any relevant body, not merely one that is made up solely of local authority membership.
Lords amendment No. 435 agreed to.
Lords amendments Nos. 436 to 438 agreed to.
Mr. Raynsford:
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 440, 441, 444 and 447 to 450.
Mr. Raynsford:
Amendments Nos. 439, 440, 441 and 444 arise from commitments made by the Government in another place to consider Opposition amendments relating to the report of the chair or of the panel of the examination in public into the spatial development strategy. Our intention is that the report of an EIP panel should include not merely findings of fact, but recommendations. After the debates held in the House during the past week over the report of the EIP panel into the south-east regional planning guidance, some hon. Members might question
Lords amendment: No. 433, in page 140, line 37, leave out ("for")
Lords amendment: No. 435, in page 141, line 13, leave out subsection (4) and insert--
("( ) The spatial development strategy must include statements dealing with the general spatial development aspects of--
(a) such of the other strategies prepared and published, or to be prepared and published, under the enactments mentioned in section 33(1) above as involve considerations of spatial development, and
(b) such of the Mayor's other policies or proposals as involve such considerations,
whether or not the strategy, policy or proposal relates to the development or use of land.")
Lords amendment: No. 439, in page 143, line 5, leave out ("findings reported") and insert ("report made")
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