HL Deb 24 June 1993 vol 547 cc527-9

7.16 p.m.

Baroness Flather

My Lords, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a third time.

We are now approaching the end of our consideration of the Bill. When I introduced it at Second Reading I went into its background, that is, the doubts and confusion that had arisen over local authorities' powers to provide technical advice and assistance overseas, and the need for a clear power to allow for this kind of work to go ahead. I am pleased to be able to say that we have had good, constructive debates at Second Reading and Committee stage and that the Bill has had strong support from all sides of your Lordships' House. Clearly, we are dealing with a much-needed piece of legislation that fills an important gap in the powers of local authorities.

I am pleased to say that we have also improved the Bill during our deliberations. I am sure that our colleagues in another place will view the amendments we have made in that light. At Committee stage we agreed to an amendment that would require the Secretary of State to issue guidance to local authorities about how the powers provided by the Bill would operate. The Government have assured me that they do not intend to use this in any prescriptive way. All that is intended is to provide a helpful guide to the non-expert, written in plain English.

I understand that not only are the Government committed to consulting fully the local authority associations on this matter, but are also content to consider a joint document if the associations so wish.

We have also added to the Bill a requirement for the Secretary of State to consult representatives of local government before issuing a general authorisation under the Bill. Both these amendments—the requirement for guidance and consultation—are meant to signal the Government's intention to continue the close co-operation with local government that has been a feature of the passage of this Bill. Even more importantly, we have introduced into the Bill a power for the Secretary of State to add by statutory instrument to the list of types of local authority covered by the Bill. Obviously, this is to keep the door open either for a change in the Government's mind about whether parish and community councils should be covered by the Bill, or for the possibility in the longer term of structural changes that cannot be foreseen at the present moment.

The Bill will provide a clear and dependable power for local authorities to provide advice and assistance overseas. The spur to the Bill has been the need to help newly established democratic local authorities in central and eastern Europe, but the effect of the Bill is not confined to these countries. It will enable our local authorities to assist their equivalents anywhere in the world.

Before I sit down I would again like to pay tribute to the part that the sponsor of the Bill in another place has played in bringing us to this stage and to the hard work of all the officials, both in government and in the local authority associations, and not least to the noble Lord, Lord Graham, for the helpful and constructive way in which he has taken part in the debates. I hope that your Lordships will give the Bill a Third Reading. With the agreement of another place the Bill will be given Royal Assent before the Summer Recess. I commend the Bill to the House.

Moved, That the Bill be now read a third time.—(Baroness Flather.)

Lord Graham of Edmonton

My Lords, from these Benches I re-echo that which has been said in another place and in this House at the various stages. We warmly welcome this initiative and the spirit in which the Bill has been brought forward. I am conscious that the noble Baroness, Lady Flather, has as wide an experience as I had at local government level and that she can see from the sharp end that this is a tool which can be used, and I hope will be used, by our colleagues in local government. It is not big and it does not pretend that it will solve a great many problems. But for those councils and councillors who want to respond to the desperate needs of some of our fellow human beings in other parts of the world, this is the tool.

It was fashioned, I know, in another place where it was looked after very warmly by my former colleague, Jim Lester, and others. This is a very happy occasion. I thank the noble Baroness most sincerely for looking after the Bill. I repeat our deep regard for her and our respect for the fact that during the passage of the Bill she suffered a personal tragedy. We admire the fact that she has persisted in bringing the measure before us. We wish it well.

Viscount Goschen

My Lords, I endorse entirely the comments made by my noble friend Lady Flather about the interesting and constructive nature of the debates we have had on the Bill. We agree that the amendments added to the Bill by your Lordships' House have improved the Bill and have added a welcome degree of flexibility.

I can confirm that the Government will consult the associations closely on the guidance that is to be provided and that it is not meant to be in any way prescriptive. We shall ensure, through our consultations, that the guidance is as clear and helpful as we can make it. In addition, if the associations would prefer us to do so, we are happy to issue a joint guidance note.

On the general authorisation, our agreement to the amendment requiring the Secretary of State to consult before issuing a general authorisation is, as my noble friend has said, intended to signal our intention to maintain the co-operation with local government that has been such a feature of the Bill. We have said repeatedly that we have no intention of making the requirement for consent into a burden or heavy restraint on local government. On the contrary, the consent requirement is there simply as a safety net—to protect and to reassure the council taxpayer. We shall consult local government and we intend the general authorisation to be as wide as possible so that the requirement for specific consent is very much the exception.

The Government have strongly supported the Bill throughout its passage through Parliament and we are pleased that it has had the strong support of the Opposition parties and the local authority associations. I too would like to praise the hard work of and the co-operation between government and local government officials, the role of the sponsor of the Bill in another place—my honourable friend the Member for Broxtowe—and the helpful way in which the noble Lord, Lord Graham, has contributed to the debate. Most of all, I should like to pay tribute to the conscientious way in which my noble friend Lady Flather has acted as the sponsor of the Bill in your Lordships' House and taken forward this most useful Bill.

I can only echo what has already been said. This is a minor piece of legislation but it will have significant effects on the lives of many people, sometimes in little heard of places. II will give our local authorities, with all their skills, expertise and experience, the power to advise and assist on local government problems in other countries. My noble friend's Bill has the full support of the Government and I commend it to your Lordships' House.

Baroness Flather

My Lords, I am grateful for the kind words of both my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Graham.

On Question, Bill read a third time.

Baroness Flather

My Lords, I beg to move that the Bill do now pass.

Moved, That the Bill do now pass.—(Baroness Flather.)

On Question, Bill passed, and returned to the Commons with amendments.