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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

Part of the issue is what exactly the role, scope and functions of local authorities are. In this instance, the local authority would have been acting under its responsibility to deal with nuisance—with noise—rather than with the railway per se. That is my understanding but I would be very happy to take the case away. Local authority powers and responsibilities are wide and there are ways to deal with the issue. That may be different from the case that the noble Lord raised about the powers; perhaps not. We will disagree on that. One of the problems with the amendment is that removing the definition of ““local government matter”” from the clause also removes the specific focus of the community call for action. Incidentally, it also sweeps away the provision for excluded matters. We will discuss that later; it is important. The noble Lord is not impressed when I say that the amendments are technically defective so I shall not go into detail on that. Whether they are politically defective he is happy to debate with me. Finally, I turn to the issue of guidance. On Amendment No. 215ZB, we are only trying to help. This is not a heavy-handed intervention. We offered to issue guidance because the proposal is innovative and we thought that local authorities might find it useful. It will be light touch and we will work in close consultation with our good friends in the LGA. We are seeking to be helpful and positive. I hope that the noble Lord will withdraw the amendment.