I have just discovered that the Guidance will be debated by the appropriate commons committee next Wednesday. This will be a 90 minute meeting of about 10 MPs. On past form this is likely to consist of three lengthy speeches from a minister and spokesmen for the Tory and Lib Dem parties followed by a formal motion that the document has been debated. Following this there the normal process would be a formal non-debateabe motion in the commons to approve the document.

There is a comparable process in the Lords but I cannot find what stage they have reached through the Web. This menas that we are very close to the start of the approximately six month period for Local Authorities to develop and publish their policy documents.

RichardP