---

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I shall speak briefly to Amendment 155. As the noble Lord, Lord Tope, said, it is in our name also. It is supported by all parties in the Local Government Association. The scope of scrutiny could be widened by it, which I am sure the Government would like to encourage. I am the leader of a county council and therefore working with districts is very important. Our chief executive is chief executive of one of the districts, therefore joint scrutiny committees between the county council and that district would be very valuable, as would working with any district or group of districts on particular issues. It is not just the county with a district; the joint scrutiny body for a group of councils has established a joint waste disposal arrangement under that legislation. There could be a joint scrutiny body for a group of metropolitan authorities that had agreed a multi-area agreement or a regional scrutiny body that would scrutinise the RDA. All sorts of things could happen that would improve the status of scrutiny, which we all want to support. I hope the Government will accept this amendment and go along with the LGA and the all-party agreement in local government about this issue.