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Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for speaking to Amendments 5 and 6, which we welcome. She was right to refer to the quite considerable debate that we had at various points in Committee on the nature and role of partnerships. From my experience, if anything needs more explaining to and better understanding by the public, it is the partnerships that now exist, their ever increasing role and importance and the part that they play in the community. I am grateful to her for listening to the points that we made in Committee. We recognise the difficulties in meeting them in legislation and I thank her and her officials for their endeavours in trying to do so. I hesitate to say that this is an historic moment—that is perhaps a little over the top—but it is a significant step forward in legislation, and one that we welcome. I must be a little less warm in my welcome for her comments on the amendments that I was speaking to, although they did not come as any great surprise. We are, however, at one in our desire to promote the understanding of democracy and to promote an active and engaged role in our local communities. We will continue to have the concerns that I expressed, at least until we see the guidance. That, I am afraid, is inevitable, because the devil is in the detail and the detail will be in the guidance. If the guidance truly encapsulates the light touch that the Minister genuinely wishes, then well and good—it will be helpful to local authorities. If it starts to go further than that, though, we will feel that our fears are justified. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 1 withdrawn Amendment 2 not moved.