Lord Jamieson (Con)

My Lords, I was not planning to speak in this debate, but I have heard so much comment about local authorities that I felt I had to. I declare my interests as a councillor, an ex-leader of a council and chairman of the LGA. I find in those roles that local authorities are constantly emasculated by regulation, red tape, targets and being asked to do more than they could ever possibly achieve. We end up, therefore, always trying to compromise between various targets on which we could not deliver. We were being asked to do too much. I do not know of a council that does not want better biodiversity and to address the issues of climate change, and that does not care about net zero. The problem is that the more targets, red tape and emasculation there is, the harder you make it for councils to do their jobs, whether that is caring for vulnerable children and adults, or hitting net-zero and climate change targets. I ask noble Lords to consider whether this actually makes the job of councils and local authorities easier in delivering the things we all want, or whether it just adds another layer of bureaucracy. I cannot answer that for noble Lords, but I do know, having operated underneath all that red tape, that regulations, red tape and targets made my life more difficult in achieving stuff that every council I know wants to achieve anyway.