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Norwich and Norfolk (Structural Changes) Order 2010

My Lords, I will be brief. I sense that the debate has happened and people have probably reached their conclusions. There is not much more to add but I need to make just a few points to put the Opposition’s position on these orders on the record. We are not talking here about Exeter and Norwich orders, but Exeter and Devon and Norwich and Norfolk orders. We therefore have to consider all elements of them. The Secretary of State initially set these up in 2006. Five tests were set and failed when the report was issued in respect of both Norwich and Exeter. Therefore, the Secretary of State asked that, in the case of those two cities, the Boundary Committee should be invited to consider the five tests again. The Boundary Committee did so and came back with a recommendation contrary to what has been put before us this evening. In moving her amendment, the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, brilliantly dissected the case and also pointed out the legal weakness in the wording of the orders. The Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee produced an outstanding report of incredible depth. It has 35 opening paragraphs, each of which finishes with a request—almost a rhetorical request—to the DCLG to provide further information and to justify its case. However, the Merits Committee will be disappointed to know that the Government cannot provide it with an answer because there is no answer for them to provide, such is the shambolic way in which this matter has been put forward. This was highlighted—in an extraordinary way—by the Permanent Secretary, the accounting officer for the department. That point was picked up by my noble friends Lord MacGregor, Lord Ferrers and Lady Shephard. We should consider for just a second the weight of Cabinet-level expertise evident in the submissions of people who have said that they have never seen a letter of this nature from a Permanent Secretary. That is extraordinarily damning of the way in which the Government have conducted themselves. I wish to quote from a letter from Peter Housden, the Permanent Secretary, to the Secretary of State. The letter states: ""Having considered your and the Minister for Local Government’s preliminary decisions on the unitary proposals before you, and the reasons for them which you have explained to us and which I understand, I do have concerns, principally about their value for money and feasibility. Accordingly, if you were to decide to proceed … I would be grateful for a written instruction from you to implement these decisions … Whilst I understand these … reasons, I am concerned that the approach you are currently proposing makes it difficult for me to meet the standards expected of me as Accounting Officer"." This is absolutely damning evidence of what is felt at the heart of government about what has happened. The Boundary Committee, the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, the Merits Committee, the Permanent Secretary and the Secretary of State were opposed to the measure. The Boundary Committee had a second look and was still against it. It is asserted that the people of Exeter and Norwich are in favour of the measures but, as noble Lords know, nobody has ever bothered to ask them. The one time that they were asked their opinion in the DCLG’s own consultation, 85 per cent were in favour of the status quo, 10 per cent were in favour of a Norfolk unitary council and 3 per cent favoured a Norwich unitary council. Her Majesty’s Opposition have made it absolutely clear that should we form a Government after the general election, one of the first acts that we will take will be to issue an order to annul these orders. That should be carefully considered and weighed. The judicial review and the general election will take place in the next six weeks. Why, after four years, does the measure need to be rushed through at this point? In concluding its synopsis of this whole debate, the Municipal Journal said that local government reorganisation had descended into a Whitehall farce. That is exactly what this has become. For narrow party political advantage this is being rushed through against all advice. The words of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Norwich should ring in our ears when he says that the people of Norwich and of Norfolk—and for that matter, the people of Exeter and of Devon—deserve better. After the next general election, we hope that they will get it.