BOROUGH OF POOLE
CANFORD HEATH EAST AND WEST, CREEKMOOR AND OAKDALE AREA COMMITTEE
6 MAY 2009
THE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ACT 2007 – CONSULTATION WITH AREA COMMITTEES: REPORT OF THE HEAD OF LEGAL AND DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
- PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1The Sustainable Communities Act is a new piece of legislation which aims to promote the sustainability of local communities and to increase the involvement of local people in the work of Central and Local Government. The Act enables local authorities to engage with their communities in terms of bringing forward ideas for improvement and change in the way that services are delivered and engagement in local and national democracy.
2.DECISIONS REQUIRED
2.1Area Committee is recommended to consider the Report and the implications of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007. Ideas or areas of policy that the Committee or Members of the public think should receive further consideration under the Act will be noted and fed into the Council Working Party appointed to consider this matter further.
3.BACKGROUND
3.1The Sustainable Communities Act was introduced to Parliament as a private Members Bill by Conservative MP Nick Hurd. The Bill was subsequently supported through Parliament by the Government and all of the main English political parties. It was the result of a 5 year campaign led by a coalition of organisations under the banner of Localworks.
3.2The Act starts with a principle that local people know best what needs to be done to promote the sustainability of their area but that sometimes Central Government unwittingly places obstacles in the way of such progress. The Act intends to provide a formal process whereby local people and local authorities can ask Central Government to take action which they believe would better enable them to improve the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of their area. For instance, this could include a proposal to transfer the functions of one public body to another.
3.3The scope of the Act is very wide and no specific issues are placed “off limits”. In a practical sense, however, the Act is about local issues and the improvement of local areas and therefore in most cases it would not be an appropriate vehicle for campaigning on national or international issues.
The Provisions of the Act
3.4The principal aim of the Act is set out as being to promote the sustainability of local communities. References to promoting the sustainability of local communities are to be read as references to encouraging the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of the authority’s area or part of its area. This includes participation in civic and political activity. This is intended to reflect the wellbeing powers that local authorities were granted by the Local Government Act 2000. There is national debate over the fact that the wellbeing powers do not necessarily seem to have been used extensively by local authorities. The act encourages local authorities to look to use the wellbeing power wherever appropriate.
3.5Informed by this the Act requires the Secretary of State to invite local authorities, periodically, to make proposals which they consider would contribute to promoting the sustainability of local communities. Such proposals may include proposals to transfer functions from one body to another, for instance, from a national body to a local body or from one local body to another. If a local authority decides to request that the functions of one body are transferred to another they may also request that responsibility for the funding that is linked to that function which is also transferred. If such proposals are to be made consultation must be undertaken with the bodies concerned.
3.6Before making proposals a local authority must have regard to the matters specified in the Schedule to the Act. The Schedule to the Act is attached to this Report and Clause 1 contains a wide range of matters to which the local authority and the local residents must have regard from the provision of local services. There are some important issues that will coincide with some of the Council’s aims and objectives including transportation matters, climate change and health and wellbeing.
Making Proposals
3.7Before making any proposals a local authority must establish a Panel of representatives of local persons to consult about any proposals and to try to reach agreement with the Panel about such proposals. The Regulations require that where a Panel is constituted, sufficient representatives must be involved in the Panel so that in the opinion of the Authority local persons are adequately represented by the Panel. This has not yet been done. The Council’s Cabinet has decided to ‘test the water’ first with Area Committees.
Process for Proposals
3.8Suggestions from local authorities to Central Government will be dealt with by what is called a Selector. The Act requires the Secretary of State to appoint a Selector who represents the interests of local authorities to consider proposals. The Secretary of State has appointed the Local Government Association as the Selector. The Selector must draw up a short list of proposals in co-operation with the Secretary of State.
Implications for the Borough of Poole
3.9The Secretary of State is required to issue invitations for proposals. It is envisaged that these would be periodic but that there would be specific windows within which proposals must be received and then assessed by the Selector (see above). There does not appear to be a facility to submit proposals at any indiscriminate time outside the windows. The first window for proposals was announced by the Secretary of State on the 14th October 2008 and closes on the 31st July 2009. It is anticipated that something similar will happen each year.
3.10The Act is a permissive piece of legislation and does not place a specific duty on the local authority to submit proposals. The matter has recently been considered by the Council’s Cabinet who felt that it would be appropriate to start the consultation process by asking for views from Area Committees. This will then start to build up a picture of the extent to which there are matters that could be put forward as possible proposals for the transfer of powers from one body to another.
3.11Since this is a new piece of legislation, there is a no “track record” on how proposals might be responded to by the Government. It is not clear whether the Act will really result in a re-balancing of power between Central and Local Government (or indeed between other public sector bodies) but it does present an opportunity to create a genuine debate.
3.12For a proposal to be valid it must:
- be something that only central government can do.
- be where in granting the proposal, central government would promote sustainable communities as defined by the Act.
Examples might include:
- Powers to enable Councils to support important local services.
- More powers to promote sustainable transport solutions
- Greater powers over public transport operations
- More powers to help the local economy and local businesses.
4.CONCLUSIONS
4.1This piece of legislation represents another strand in the Government’s agenda to increase local participation in democracy. What is less clear is how the proposals add value to anything already in place and time will tell to what extent Central Government is prepared to accept any proposals or significant changes.
Tim Martin LLB Solicitor
Head of Legal and Democratic Services
27 April 2009
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