Member

I say to the noble Lord that in many ways this undermines many of the fundamental principles of local democracy. So let us wait until we get to that and I will be happy to work on that with people with local government experience on the Conservative Benches with some very strong views. But I ask the Minister: when can we expect the new policy statement on national procurement? Will she do her best to ensure that the House has considerable time to consider it when it comes out? We would welcome a policy statement that provides greater simplification and transparency and makes a real effort to make sure that local authorities and companies have greater opportunities to take part in public contracts. This will all be very welcome and will reverse what we have seen over the last 15 years.