Member

I support the intention behind Amendment 209 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, to ensure that community participation is meaningful and engagement is effective, but the amendment is unnecessary. The Bill already strengthens local engagement through the neighbourhood governance duty by requiring local authorities to put in place appropriate arrangements to secure effective neighbourhood governance. Through regulations, we will set out the criteria for those arrangements. We will continue to engage with local authorities and sector bodies on the best way to do this. To answer the question from the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, these regulations will not be available before Report because of the engagement and work with the sector that we want to do to get this right, recognising the differences between places and communities across England.