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Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

Indeed I remember this debate on previous legislation. The noble Lord, as a champion of district councils, is right to raise this. In Clause 1, where we define principal local authorities that are required to fulfil duties on the promotion of democracy, that includes both county and district councils in England, as well as London borough councils, the Common Council of the City of London, and county and county boroughs in Wales. As he has on other occasions, the noble Lord seeks to ensure that the reference to district councils in England has a stand-alone reference. I am sure that, as we debate the substance of what the districts and counties do, we will go into the important relativities between them. We share the conviction that district councils are a vital level of local government in their own right. I was going to say that this is simply standard drafting. Members of the Committee will understand that this argument has been cut away by this reference in Clause 10, which I must confess that I had not spotted. In the light of this, I ask the noble Lord what difference it will make if we separate them out. Does he think that something substantial will follow? However, I take the point that we need to be consistent within the Bill, and I shall harass our officials to come up with an explanation of why they cannot be the same. I shall discuss this with the noble Lord before Report. I would, however, like an answer to my question about why he thinks it would make a difference.