Local Government Bill [HL]

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Wednesday 28th July 2010 Lords Chamber

In not repealing the 2007 legislation, the Government make it clear that they do envisage further unitary reorganisations. These amendments would oblige them to revisit the issue of unitary reorganisation by 2013—a reasonable timescale—and to articulate the principles on which they base their policy in regard to the structure and functions of local government, as well as their criteria for individual decisions on applications for unitary status. The amendments would provide a further opportunity for local authorities which have been victims of this Government’s discrimination—Norwich, Exeter and Ipswich and the Suffolk authorities—once again to make their case to be allowed the same opportunities as so many other comparable authorities. By then, Mr Pickles and his pearl-handled revolver will be no more than a distant folk memory in CLG or what remains of it. Indeed, it is probable that the coalition will equally have melted into thin air. If there is anything left by then of local government itself, we must hope for a fairer and more principled approach by Whitehall to local government restructuring. These amendments point in that direction.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss]

I scarcely know where to begin. I listened with absolute fascination to the delightfully inaccurate, inappropriate and, in places, offensive comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport. I am not a politician. I am a pleb of Devon. I am proud to be so and I am proud not to be a politician. But, on 22 March this year, I moved a regret Motion in which I set out in some detail a large number of reasons why Exeter should not be a unitary authority. Equally, the points were made why Norwich should not be a unitary authority. That regret Motion, asking the Government to look again, was overwhelmingly supported by this House. One of the reasons was that the Permanent Secretary to the then Secretary of State in the previous Government advised against the two orders as the accounting officer as well as his concerns.

[Lord Howarth of Newport]

May I ask the noble and learned Baroness what what she is saying has to do with the amendments we are debating?

[A noble Lord]

Oh!

[Baroness Butler-Sloss]

I hope your Lordships will appreciate that I would not have dreamt of standing up on this amendment if we had not had this tour de force of recrimination about the failure to get these two orders through because the judge found against them. I thought that we were talking about the amendments. I also thought that I was entitled, as a Member of this House, to answer what has been said. But I will now move to the fact that the purpose and clear intention of these two amendments is to sabotage this Bill because it would be the status quo ante. It would bring the whole thing back. It would prevent a closure of Exeter and Norwich.

Turning specifically to some of the points made very briefly—perhaps unlike the noble Lord—I was going to point out that Exeter is well looked after by Devon. The culture of Exeter is understood by Devon and I will give two examples. Councillor Vanessa Newcombe is a twin-hat councillor for Exeter and for Devon. Councillor Andrew Leadbetter has been, with the agreement of Devon and of Exeter councils, made in the Cabinet of Devon a councillor specially responsible for Exeter. He lives in Exeter and has done so for 35 years. His loyalties are as much to Exeter as they are to Devon, as indeed are the loyalties of Councillor Vanessa Newcombe. To suggest that Exeter is in some way in a difficult position because it is not understood and is not taken account of, from someone who is concerned with Norwich and does not know what goes on in Exeter and Devon, I find absolutely astonishing. The relationship between Exeter and Devon means that Exeter has gained from payments made by the county relating to matters such as the new shopping centre at Princesshay, the building of five secondary schools and two primary schools in Exeter and, indeed, the proposal to have an eco-neutral school which is about to be built somewhere near St. Thomas. A waste energy plant is also about to be built by Devon County Council and, interestingly, Councillor Vanessa Newcombe, with her two hats, says in an e-mail of which I have a copy here that she views Exeter and Devon as, “not being able to survive without each other”.

The whole of what is being suggested here would put us back to a position that your Lordships felt was not tenable on 22 March and, I respectfully suggest, is not tenable today.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Hollis of Heigham]

My Lords, I support the amendment moved by my noble friend Lord Rosser. Time after time in this saga, we have had erroneous or misleading or missing advice from the Department for Communities and Local Government. Not only has that contributed to the mess we are in; it has also contributed enormously to the cost to Norwich and Exeter—which, I emphasise, have behaved impeccably, legally and lawfully every step of the way. They are the innocent parties in this. They responded to an invitation, which was approved, and then found themselves in this quagmire. As my noble friend has quoted, on 5 July, when talking about the by-elections, Mr Justice Ouseley referred to the,

“preferred option of the interested parties”—

Norwich and Exeter—

“who are not themselves to blame for the pickle in which they find themselves”.

I repeat, as did my noble friend, that the judge was quite clear that Norwich and Exeter were not to blame.

By implication, therefore, much if not all of the responsibility lay at the door of the department—which has continuously given faulty, erroneous, misleading or missing advice. According to the judge, in December 2009 and January 2010, the department could and should have sent out a letter notifying the four interested parties that there were additional considerations to be taken into account. That, says the judge, would have met his concerns and there would have been no quashing of the orders. That letter did not come. I cannot believe that my right honourable friend in the other place would have refused to send out such a letter had he been advised of its prudence.

We then had a Bill that was so loosely drafted by the DCLG that it was arguably hybrid. However, as that was never argued before the examiners, for by then we had the court ruling, the argument that it was hybrid went effectively by default. Given the court’s judgment, councillors who had legally not stood for re-election last May now found themselves unseated. However, the court action was taken by Devon and Norfolk against the DCLG, not against Norwich and Exeter. Norwich and Exeter were, if you like, interested parties. The action was taken by the two county councils against DCLG. If, as the judge says, Norwich and Exeter are in no way to blame for this and they have been innocent parties throughout, why should they pick up the bill?

It seems profoundly unfair that Norwich and Exeter—which have behaved impeccably and legally throughout, as the judge has confirmed—should pick up the bill for the DCLG’s mistakes. I cannot believe that any of your Lordships would think that that is right, fair or proper.

With such a litany, I should hope that the Minister will take this back and ask her department to think again about the moral propriety of shrugging their shoulders and saying, “Tough, Norwich. Tough, Exeter. You’ve behaved legally, properly and innocently throughout but you’ll have to pick up the bill for our mistakes”. I have never known such a casual attitude in government to the assumption of responsibility. I very much hope that the noble Baroness will respond to my noble friend’s amendment.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss]

My Lords, I have one point to make on this. At the preliminary hearing, Devon and Norfolk asked for an expedited hearing so that these matters could be dealt with before the election. The two cities said that they would prefer the risk of by-elections to an early hearing by the court. So much if not all of this has been brought upon Exeter and Norwich by asking the judge for the case to be delayed until after the hearing.

[Baroness Hollis of Heigham]

May I just—