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Local Transport

The thrust of the Select Committee’s report focuses on how the relationship between local authorities and central Government should develop. The debate has highlighted the contradictions in people’s approaches to the issue. The hon. Member for Reading, East (Mr. Wilson) began his speech by suggesting that the Government were at fault because they did not intervene in a difference of opinion between a section of the community in Reading and the local authority over its decisions. He then complained that the Government are trying to impose policy from the centre. That demonstrates one of the difficulties with ensuring that the relationship between the Government and local government decision making reflects not only the policies of the Government, because they have an interest, but local needs. It must respect the fact that the people who are closest to the local community, and who are more directly responsible to it for week-in, week-out and year-in, year-out decision making, are best placed to respond to local needs. Without turning the debate into too much of a political knockabout, I make the point that Conservative Front Benchers have argued that congestion charging and local road charging should be a matter for local government, but we know that Governments are under a great deal of pressure to address climate change. Should the country ever make the mistake of re-electing a Conservative Government—