Public Bodies Bill [HL]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Monday 9th May 2011 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

1: Clause 10, page 5, line 34, at end insert—
“( ) Where the Minister considers that the changes proposed do not warrant a full public consultation under subsection (1)(g), the Minister must publish a copy of the proposal on the website of the relevant Government department or make it otherwise publicly accessible.”

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[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, the Bill’s return after a period of some weeks is welcome. In this amendment I return to the issue of public consultation, a matter that we have debated on a number of occasions. Given the enormous powers that the Bill will give to Ministers—powers embracing the abolition, merger, finance and governance of a considerable number of public bodies—it seems only right that when changes are made to any of the orders listed in the Bill, the public should have a say.

The House did not agree to my amendment to ensure that whenever a Minister proposes to make an order under Clauses 1 to 6, the public should always be consulted. However, the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, was rather more sympathetic to a further amendment to which I spoke, which would have ensured that when a Minister considers that proposed changes do not warrant a full public consultation, the Minister must at least publish a copy of the proposal on the website of the relevant government department or make it otherwise available. The noble Lord kindly said that he understood the arguments that had been put forward and that where consultation does not take place, a proposal will at least be put on the website. He said that he would consider the issue between Report and Third Reading, and I should be grateful for, and am hopeful of, a positive response from him.

My next amendment, Amendment 6, relates to regional development agencies and the need for consultation on their proposed abolition. I will not reopen the whole question of whether or not it is wise to abolish regional development agencies, but I must say that the longer the economy flatlines, as it is, the more convinced I am that it is a very big mistake to remove a regional strategic body for economic development. I want to raise the issue of consultation, specifically the consultation that will need to follow the Government's proposals to abolish regional development agencies.

One problem with the Bill is that the Government have failed to engage in any pre-legislative consultation on these matters. One example of that is the remarkable decision to fire-sale the assets of RDAs. That has been the subject of a number of comments. I find it extraordinary that instead of the RDAs being allowed to pass on assets under deferred payment schemes to, for instance, local authorities, they are being forced down the route of selling off assets at the worst possible time. There is real concern here that if those assets are sold in the current economic climate, their values will not be at current market levels, to the detriment of the local economy and future work of both local authorities and local enterprise partnerships, which are to take the place of RDAs.

I come to the specific issue of consultation. The noble Lord will know that this matter was raised by the House Of Commons Public Administration Committee in its report. It refers to the evidence given by the Minister, who had been asked what consultation had taken place in advance of deciding to abolish bodies listed in the Bill. The report states that the Minister responded that,

“the level of consultation would have been ‘very varied [...] in some cases, will have been quite extensive; in other cases, will have been very little’”.

He also said:

“These are essentially decisions in principle; these are decisions made where departments will know, or should know and I'm sure do, in a great deal of detail what those bodies do, what their functions are and how they are carried out”.

The committee reports that it reached the view from these comments that the Minister had assumed that the nature of the decision was such that consultation was unnecessary. As the Commons Select Committee stated, that assessment is wrong. It concluded:

“The Government did not consult properly on these proposals. When undertaking such a fundamental review of the machinery of government it is desirable and sensible to do so. We welcome the fact the Government is now taking steps to rectify this, but question how useful consultation can be, given that decisions on the future of many bodies have already been taken. Having agreed to amend the Bill”—

as the Government did, and it has now been so amended—

“to allow for more consultation we expect these consultations to have real effect on the outcome of the review; even if this means reversing decisions that have already been made. We expect the Government to give us such an assurance in its response to this Report”.

In their response to the report published in March, Command Paper 8044, the Government state:

“The Government has always been committed to ensuring appropriate consultation and external input in relation to its proposals. There is a substantial role for consultation to play, and a strong impact to be made on the delivery of these decisions”.

I should therefore like the Minister to confirm that, so far as it affects the bodies listed in the Bill but specifically RDAs, there will indeed be proper consultation, the consultation will be duly considered and, in the light of that consultation, the Government will, if appropriate, reverse their decision. My amendment is intended to ensure, if the Government decide to bring forward any orders that would embrace RDAs, the explanatory document that has to be brought forward in conjunction with the order will make it clear that a proper consultation was undertaken, including a summary of the representations received in respect of the principle of abolition. That would ensure a proper and genuine consultation process. I hope that the noble Lord will be able to be positive on both amendments. I beg to move.

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[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

I am grateful to the Minister for his response. I shall take Amendment 6 first. My noble friend Lord Beecham surely put his finger on it, and it really takes us back to the comments made in the House of Commons Public Administration Committee, which made it clear that, having agreed through this Bill to have proper consultation, that consultation must be done properly. That must mean that the Government have to consider on their merits the responses received. Let me take the West Midlands as an example. There is almost uniform opposition and hostility to the abolition of Advantage West Midlands. There is also a dawning recognition that the local enterprise partnerships which are to be put in its place simply do not have the wherewithal or coverage of the region to do the job that the RDA is proposing. So the question arises of whether the Government, having considered the results of the consultation, will in all fairness give due consideration to those comments before coming to a decision. That is a very important matter.

I was disappointed with the Minister’s response to Amendment 1. All noble Lords know that the heart of the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, is in the right place when it comes to this amendment. It is disappointing that his department has not been able to respond in the same way. I fully accept that your Lordships' House did not agree to my amendment to make public consultation apply in all cases. However, this amendment modestly suggests that when, in appropriate cases, a Minister decides that public consultation is not necessary, there should be at the very least a reference to it on the department’s website. With the best will in the world, I have not heard any convincing argument as to why that cannot be in the Bill. I do not see why it should be left to guidance which can be changed at any point. Moreover, in referring to that guidance, the Minister carefully used the words “ought to”. He did not say that departments “must”.

This is a matter of principle. I accept that this House decided that there will be circumstances in which it will be appropriate for a Minister not to seek public consultation. In the interests of good governance, however, surely there should be a record, and a reference should be made to it at least on the department’s website. I think that this is a matter of principle and I wish to test the opinion of the House.

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Moved by

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

6: Schedule 1, page 19, line 36, at end insert—
“4 The explanatory document required under section 11(2) in respect of the regional development agencies must include—
(a) the wording of the question that was asked about the principle of abolishing regional development agencies;(b) a summary of representations received in respect of the principle of abolishing regional development agencies.”

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[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, we have already debated my Amendment 6, which would ensure that when the consultation takes place on the abolition of regional development agencies, there has to be a proper consultation. It is an important point of principle and I beg to move.

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[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill do now pass. In doing so, I crave the indulgence of the House to say a few words. Today is 9 May, and we had Second Reading of this Bill on 9 November. For six calendar months, this House has been considering the Bill. The Bill has been much changed by this House; I think we all share the view that the Bill has been improved by this House. This House can be proud of its role of scrutiny, which it has demonstrated in scrutinising the Bill and improving it. It can serve as a textbook example of how this House serves that great and fundamental purpose.

I say a word of thanks to Members of this House for that role. In particular, I thank those on the opposition Front Bench for the constructive way in which we have been able to talk about the Bill from the beginning. They had firm ideas of what they wanted to happen to the Bill; we had ours; but the discussions were always friendly and open. I am very grateful to them. I am very grateful to all Peers who have attended our meetings: those from the Cross Benches, in particular, for their construction of ideas and resolution of some of the impasses which looked difficult to overcome; and to coalition Peers for their support and input. Right to the end, we have been discussing these matters, and the House has been divided on them, but there has been a real sense of partnership on the Bill. That has been particularly true of my Front Bench colleagues who have shared the passage of the Bill with me and have taken particular amendments. I have been reluctant to comment on individual involvement, but I feel that I should thank my noble friend Lady Rawlings, who is my Whip on the Bill and who has been with me more or less throughout its passage.

I conclude by thanking the Bill team, because they have had to work particularly hard not just within the Cabinet Office, which originated the Bill, but across all government departments, because every government department has been engaged in the Bill. I thank them for the way in which we have enjoyed working on the Bill together. They now go to see it through another place, and their job continues. I also mention the Bill team manager, as was, Louise Parry, who during the Easter Recess had a baby daughter. Cecilia is perhaps the most visible token of the Bill's passage through this House, and we are delighted for both of them. They are both very well and I thank Louise for her support to me and to her colleagues during the passage of the Bill.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, I must say that when we completed the passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, which also took about six months, I never thought that I would be facing the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, on another Bill which took so long. I echo his comments: I think that the Bill is much changed; it has benefited from scrutiny in your Lordships' House. I am sure that the whole House would wish to thank the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, for his stewardship of the Bill. He has shown great skill and sensitivity to the issues that have been raised. All of us are grateful for the manner in which he has met us to discuss the issues, but his responses in your Lordships’ Chamber have also been in a flavour of seeking a way through. We are very grateful to him.

There has been a cast of thousands on either side of the opposition and government Front Benches. I, too, very much thank my colleagues for their help. I echo the noble Lord’s words of thanks to the Bill team. We are very grateful to them for the help that they have given us over the months. I, too, congratulate the Bill team manager on the birth of her daughter during Easter.

The Bill goes to the other place much enhanced. Because of the sunset clause, although the Bill will deal with a number of public bodies, when that is done, there will be a mechanism for looking at public bodies in future in a way that noble Lords find a very satisfactory outcome.

[Lord Wigley]

My Lords, before the Bill passes, perhaps I may add a caveat to some of the comments that have been made. I immediately recognise that the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, and the government Front Bench have made concessions on a number of aspects of the Bill, and people in the Forest of Dean and elsewhere will no doubt be very happy with what has happened. However, the noble Lord will not be surprised that my reservation concerns the fact that the uncertainties about the future of the Welsh television channel S4C have still not been resolved. There had been a hope of amendments being tabled at Third Reading. I understand the reasons why that was not allowed, although I recall the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, saying on 28 March that if any of the eight assurances that he was given were not fully delivered, he would want to bring the matter back at Third Reading. The fact is that the S4C authorities have indicated that, of those eight assurances, six are without substance. Therefore, on that occasion the amendment was not pressed to a vote on the basis of assurances which had not been given.

I do not want to go over old ground and I certainly accept that the Government have moved on a couple of points but, if the consultation with the National Assembly had taken place, it would have been very much more satisfactory from the outset. However, with the announcement today of a new chair for S4C—Huw Jones, whom we wish well—we would have hoped to see a line being drawn under many of these matters so that S4C could move forward with confidence. When the Bill goes to another place, three aspects will need to be resolved. The first is the constitutional position of S4C, the second is the safeguarding of S4C’s funding and the third is its right to make managerial decisions without people from the BBC sitting in on them.

On Wednesday, a report on this matter will be published by a Select Committee of another place and it will contain remarkable cross-party agreement on the unsatisfactory nature of this Bill. Therefore, I very much hope that, when the Bill goes to another place, the aspects that have not been addressed in your Lordships’ House will be addressed and we will have the same satisfaction regarding S4C as noble Lords have indicated they have with regard to other aspects of the Bill.