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Northern Ireland Bill

Parliament has decided on the boundary commissioner’s remit, and I have explained how the Assembly will be able to influence the subsequent pattern and delivery of local government. Further legislation is needed: I hope that the Assembly will undertake it and that we do not have to introduce it by Order in Council here. The RPA reform proposal has not been picked out of a paper bag, as it were, to satisfy one party. I might add that the party involved—Sinn Fein, in this case—came to support the proposal very belatedly, and I assure the hon. Member for South Staffordshire that its support was not material to the decision, which was reached after wide consultation and independent assessment. I do not want to go too far into the matter, but it has been raised and deserves a proper response. The pattern of seven councils was chosen because the local government structure in Northern Ireland needs a strong revenue base that is more or less equal between authorities. There will be no need for cross-subsidy between them, but there will be coterminosity in respect of policing and health. Various other factors apply, and I repeat that the proposal for seven authorities was not made to satisfy one particular party.