---

Sustainable Communities Bill

I hope my hon. Friend will accept that it is not quite a question of whim. A Secretary of State who is faced with the situation in which local people can see how the money is being spent, and who then resists local plans to spend it better, faces a certain political penalty in the area if he or she rejects the local plan or local proposals. I hope my hon. Friend will recognise, therefore, that there is a mechanic in the Bill that is politically and practically quite powerful.