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Session 2006-07
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Wednesday 23rd May 2007

Public Bill Committee


      New Amendments handed in are marked thus *

      Other Amendments not tabled within the required notice period are marked thus #

Sustainable Communities Bill


       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.


Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew
Julia Goldsworthy

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 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

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

16

Page 3, line 10, leave out Clause 3.


Mr Phil Woolas

26

Page 4, line 18, leave out Clause 5.


Mr Nick Hurd
Mr Phil Woolas

27

Page 4, line 41, leave out Clause 6.


Mr Nick Hurd
Mr Phil Woolas

28

Page 5, line 10, leave out Clause 7.


Mr Nick Hurd
Mr Phil Woolas

29

Page 5, line 25, leave out Clause 8.


Mr Nick Hurd

43

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


Mr Nick Hurd

44

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


Mr Phil Woolas

37

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

Mr Phil Woolas

38

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

Mr Phil Woolas

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.’.


Mr Phil Woolas

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

21

Schedule, page 8, line 30, after ‘Act,’, insert ‘including new arrangements for the provision of affordable housing,’.

Julia Goldsworthy

36

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


NEW CLAUSES

Local spending reports

Mr Phil Woolas

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 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;

        (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.

      (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.

      (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 undertaken after that commencement.’.

       As Amendments to Mr Phil Woolas’ proposed New Clause (Local spending reports) (NC1):—

Julia Goldsworthy
Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew

(a)

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

Mr Phil Woolas

(c)

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

Julia Goldsworthy
Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew

(b)

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

Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew
Julia Goldsworthy

(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.’.

Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew
Julia Goldsworthy

(g)

Line 10, leave out ‘(c)’ and insert—

      ‘(3A) The authorities may be’.

Mr Phil Woolas

(d)

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

Mr Phil Woolas

(e)

Line 13, at end insert ‘or’.


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

Mr Nick Hurd

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 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

        (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 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

(a)

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

Mr Nick Hurd

(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

(c)

Line 12, after ‘shall’, insert—

        ‘(a) ’.

Mr Nick Hurd

(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

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.

      (4) The Secretary of State must, subject to subsection (5), cooperate with the advisor in drawing up an action plan to promote the sustainability of local communities which shall—

        (a) be based primarily on those proposals that have been identified by the advisor as requiring the greatest priority and having cross-party support; and

        (b) include such other recommendations made by principal councils as the Secretary of State thinks fit.

      (5) The Secretary of State may determine which proposals are not appropriate to be implemented immediately or at all, on the grounds that—

        (a) the direct or indirect costs likely to be involved in their implementation, or

        (b) their implementation in whole or in part is likely to conflict, to a significant extent, with a specific government objective.

      (6) The Secretary of State shall, no later than 18 months after the commencement of the consultation pursuant to subsection (1), lay the action plan before each House of Parliament for approval by each House.

      (7) The Secretary of State must—

        (a) implement the action plan and for that purpose shall keep under review the progress made from time to time in the implementation of the action plan; and

        (b) consider any opinions of the advisor on progress made.

      (8) The Secretary of State shall ensure that every regional office of government cooperates with principal councils and panels established under section 3(1A) for the relevant region in the promotion of the sustainability of local communities.

      (9) The Secretary of State shall in each Session of Parliament beginning after the enactment of this act lay an annual report before each House of Parliament containing the action plan, if completed, and detailing the progress made to the date of the report in producing the action plan if not completed, and in implementing the recommendations contained in the action plan in pursuance of subsection (7).’.


Proposals by principal councils

Mr Phil Woolas

NC5

    To move the following Clause:—

      ‘(1) The Secretary of State must invite principal councils to make proposals which they consider would contribute to promoting the sustainability of local communities.

      (2) Before inviting proposals, the Secretary of State must appoint a person (the “selector”) to consider the proposals and draw up a short-list of proposals for consideration by the Secretary of State, in accordance with regulations under section [Proposals by principal councils: regulations].

      (3) The selector must be a person who represents the interests of principal councils.

        (a) decide which, if any, of the proposals on the short-list should be implemented, and

        (b) give reasons for the decision.

      (5) Before taking a decision under subsection (4) the Secretary of State must consult the selector and try to reach agreement.’.


Short-listing of proposals: regulations

Mr Phil Woolas

NC6

    To move the following Clause:—

      ‘(1) The Secretary of State must make regulations about the procedure to be followed in relation to proposals under section [Proposals by principal councils].

      (2) Before making regulations the Secretary of State must consult—

        (a) the selector, and

        (b) such other persons, who the Secretary of State thinks represent the interests of principal councils, as the Secretary of State thinks fit.

      (3) Regulations may, in particular—

        (a) specify, or authorise the selector to specify, steps to be taken by a principal council before making proposals (including, in particular, a requirement for a principal council to have regard to the matters specified in the Schedule);

        (b) specify steps to be taken by the selector in considering the proposals and drawing up a short-list;

        (c) specify criteria to be applied by the selector in drawing up a short-list;

        (d) specify a maximum number of proposals to be included in a short-list;

        (f) specify the form of, and the information to be included in, a report under paragraph (e).

      (4) Regulations must—

        (a) require a principal council, if it has not already done so, to consult representatives of local persons before making any proposal under section [Proposals by principal councils],

        (b) require a principal council to try to reach agreement with representatives of local persons about proposals, and

        (c) require a principal council to have regard to any guidance issued under subsection (5).

      (6) Before issuing or revising guidance under subsection (5) the Secretary of State must consult—

        (a) principal councils, or

        (b) persons who the Secretary of State thinks represent the interests of principal councils.

      (7) In this section—

      “local person” means, in relation to a proposal by a principal council under section [Proposals by principal councils], a person who is likely to be affected by, or interested in, the proposal;

      “representative” means, in relation to local persons, a person who appears to the principal council to be representative of the local persons.

      (8) Regulations under this section—

        (a) must be made by statutory instrument, and

        (b) are subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.’.


Mr Phil Woolas

45

* Title, line 1, leave out from ‘provision’ to ‘and’ in line 8 and insert ‘about promoting the sustainability of local communities;’.

Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew
Julia Goldsworthy

46

* Title, line 6, leave out ‘upon request’.

Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew
Julia Goldsworthy

47

* Title, line 6, leave out ‘produce local spending plans’ and insert ‘make recommendations regarding local spending reports’.

Mr Nick Hurd
Mr David Drew
Julia Goldsworthy

48

* Title, line 7, leave out ‘approve and implement those plans’ and insert ‘publish reasons for decisions relating to local spending reports’.

ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [28TH FEBRUARY 2007]

       

       That, if proceedings on the Sustainable Communities Bill are not completed at this day’s sitting, the Committee do meet on Wednesday 14th March at Ten o’clock and Two o’clock, on Wednesday 21st March at Two o’clock, and thereafter on Wednesdays when the House is sitting at Ten o’clock.


ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [14TH MARCH 2007]

       

       The Committee at its rising this day do adjourn till Wednesday 28th March at Ten o’clock, and that it do meet thereafter—


        (a) on Wednesday 28th March; and

       (b) on on subsequent Wednesdays when the House is sitting at Ten o’clock.


ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [28TH MARCH 2007]

       

       That the Committee at its rising this day do adjourn till Wednesday 18th April at Ten o’clock, and that it do meet thereafter—

       (a) on Wednesday 18th April at Two o’clock; and

       (b) on subsequent Wednesdays when the House is sitting at Ten o’clock and Two o’clock.


ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [18TH APRIL 2007]

       

       That the Committee at its rising this day do adjourn till Wednesday 25th April at Ten o’clock, and that it do meet thereafter—


        (a) on Wednesday 25th April at Two o’clock; and

       (b) on Thursday 26th April at Ten o’clock and Two o’clock.


ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [25TH APRIL 2007]

       

       That the Committee at its rising this day do adjourn till Wednesday 2nd May at Ten o’clock, and that it do meet thereafter—


        (a) on Wednesday 2nd May at Two o’clock; and

       (b) on subsequent Wednesdays when the House is sitting at Ten o’clock and Two o’clock.


ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [25TH APRIL 2007]

       

       That remaining proceedings on the Bill be taken in the following order: Clause 1; Clause 4; Clauses 2 and 3; Clauses 5 to 13; the Schedule; new Clauses; new Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill.


ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [2ND MAY 2007]

       

       That remaining proceedings on the Bill be taken in the following order: Clauses 4 to 8; Clauses 2 and 3; Clauses 9 to 13; the Schedule; new Clauses; new Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill.


ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [9TH MAY 2007]

       

       That remaining proceedings on the Bill be taken in the following order: Clauses 2 and 3; Clauses 5 to 13; the Schedule; new Clauses; new Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill.


NOTICES WITHDRAWN
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Prepared: 23 May 2007