HC Deb 18 May 1994 vol 243 cc808-9
15. Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the advantages and disadvantages of increasing the use of local referendums.

Mr. Baldry

I have made no assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of increasing the use of local referendums.

Mr. Prentice

Does the Minister appreciate that referendums are commonplace in Europe and are one way of enriching and revitalising public debate? After 15 years of Conservative Government during which local authorities have lost powers, functions and relevance, would not the increased use of local referendums be one way to re-involve people in civic debate?

Mr. Baldry

That is absolute twaddle.

Sir Anthony Durant

Will my hon. Friend not dismiss the idea of referendums too easily? Will he also consider doing away with rate capping so that we can then expose those councils which spend wildly and a referendum can be held at the subsequent local government elections?

Mr. Baldry

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. If it were not for council tax capping, large numbers of Labour authorities would be only too keen to spend council tax payers' money like confetti.

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