By David Williams
18 March 2010
The Conservatives have been accused of ‘parliamentary vandalism’ after proposals to grant councils scrutiny powers ran out of time in the Commons.
Tory MP Christopher Chope filibustered the Local Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny) Bill on March 12.
The Private Members’ Bill would have given councils the ability to hold all local service providers to account and had been endorsed by Communities Secretary John Denham.
It was ‘talked out’ by Chope, who proposed 25 amendments at the Bill’s report stage, even though the proposals had cross-party support at its second reading last month.
‘This is parliamentary vandalism,’ said Denham. ‘Damaging good legislation for the sake of it... This is the worst kind of petty politics which damages local government and local communities.’
It is unlikely that the Bill will be debated again in the current Parliament, as the next available day for debating is April 23, by which time it is widely believed Parliament will have been dissolved.
18 March 2010
The Conservatives have been accused of ‘parliamentary vandalism’ after proposals to grant councils scrutiny powers ran out of time in the Commons.
Tory MP Christopher Chope filibustered the Local Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny) Bill on March 12.
The Private Members’ Bill would have given councils the ability to hold all local service providers to account and had been endorsed by Communities Secretary John Denham.
It was ‘talked out’ by Chope, who proposed 25 amendments at the Bill’s report stage, even though the proposals had cross-party support at its second reading last month.
‘This is parliamentary vandalism,’ said Denham. ‘Damaging good legislation for the sake of it... This is the worst kind of petty politics which damages local government and local communities.’
It is unlikely that the Bill will be debated again in the current Parliament, as the next available day for debating is April 23, by which time it is widely believed Parliament will have been dissolved.
