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Local Government (Structural Changes) (Areas and Membership of Public Bodies in Bedfordshire and Cheshire) Order 2009

My Lords, I thank the Minister for explaining the order. She will know our view that services are important, rather than whether an authority is unitary or two-tier. The future lies in local area agreements between districts, counties and different sorts of organisations, such as health authorities and police authorities. We believe that we should allow local authority structures to grow naturally and organically. That, we feel, is the way to ensure that people receive better services. We have pointed out the high risk that arises in any restructuring in local government and our deep scepticism that the changes leading to the order will result in improved services for people in their local areas, which is what this ought to be all about. I have one question for the Minister. Is she satisfied that the depth of consultation on restructuring with the fire and rescue authorities and the police authorities is at least as comprehensive as that conducted with the respective local authorities, or is the suck-it-and-see approach to legislating, exemplified by the local government restructuring, really as wasteful, and for the fire and rescue and police services as dangerous, as it seems to us?