Member

As noble Lords can see, there are lots of questions here. I appreciate that there will not be any answers but, for me, bigger does not equal better—there is no evidence for that. I emphasise the value of enabling the link between the elected and the electors to remain a vibrant part of our democracy. Every other part of western Europe has a better ratio of electors to elected than this country does. The United States, despite everything that goes on there, has a much better ratio at various levels. In my view, this is an error on its own. Given that, and given the difficulties that this will create, I hope the Minister will be able to respond to some of my questions, in particular by telling us the debt levels of the councils that are being absorbed into both unitaries.