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Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

My Lords, the noble Baroness is right: it is fitting that we conclude Third Reading not only with an amendment introduced by my noble friend Lord Graham, who has been such a good friend to this Bill and a good friend to the issues that have been raised, but on a note about the role and reward of councillors. Although I cannot engage in the detail of the debate, interesting points were raised. I understand the noble Lord’s concerns. However, the Councillors Commission is considering this matter as one of a range of issues it is examining in an attempt to widen the pool of councillors and improve the vitality of local authorities. That is where we came in with this Bill: how do we ensure that we have a system of local government genuinely fit for the next century with all of the energy, commitment and intelligence that we can muster? It is not appropriate for me to comment on this matter until the Councillors Commission has reported on 10 December 2007. Before I ask my noble friend to withdraw his amendment, I would like to say that this has been a steep learning experience for me. I have enjoyed the passage of the Bill and I have been grateful for the patience of noble Lords on both sides of the House, including my own side. We have had a very thorough debate on the Bill. We have debated it for 55 hours in this House and 111 hours in both Houses. I do not know how many hours the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, accounted for—we could go back and find out—but it was certainly a significant proportion. The debate has been very thorough, both wide and deep, and of great quality and I thank everyone for being so assiduous and careful in their scrutiny. I am very sad that we are losing the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, who seems to think that she will find the Home Office portfolio even more interesting. We will miss her very much, because she spoke with enormous authority, warmth and good sense. I always knew that I should listen carefully to what she had to say. We will do so in her new role and we wish her well. On that note, I ask my noble friend to withdraw his amendment.