Lord Jamieson (Con)

I thank the Minister for her reply on this series of amendments. As I look around the Chamber, I am pleased to see the fraternity of ex-council leaders and some existing councillors who bear the scars of trying to get the local plan process to work. We all know how difficult it is to get a local plan through. Our concern about this is not conceptual; this is very much about telling local planning authorities, top down, what they need to do. These amendments are about making it easier for councils and these new strategic authorities to do the job being asked of them to deliver for their residents. This is very important. We cannot just, so to speak, flog a dead horse. Sometimes you have to revive the dead horse to make progress. It is important to have clarity on what is expected of a spatial development strategy. We need to make it easier. My noble friend Lord Lansley made the point about co-operation with other parties, a duty to co-operate and how you build a spatial development strategy on the shifting sands of a changing local government framework and geography. These are important amendments and we reserve the right to come back to them. However, at this point, I beg leave to withdraw Amendment 135HA.