Ministers back MP’s Bill to give councils more scrutiny powers

14 Jan 10
Ministers are giving tacit backing to a Private Members’ Bill that could significantly extend the powers of councils to oversee local services and utilities
By David Williams

15 January 2010

Ministers are giving tacit backing to a Private Members’ Bill that could significantly extend the powers of councils to oversee local services and utilities.

The Local Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny) Bill has been tabled by Labour backbencher David Chaytor, with the backing of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The news came in a week when ministers were under fire for failing to recognise the role councils could play in stimulating the economies in their areas and tackling unemployment.

Chaytor came second in the private Bills ballot for the 2009/10 parliamentary session – meaning his Bill will be guaranteed a full day’s debate in the Commons.

The final text of the Bill, which will have its second reading on February 5, has not yet been released, but Public Finance understands it will be based on proposals put out to consultation by Communities Secretary John Denham in July.

In Strengthening local democracy, Denham argued that councils should be given the role of overseeing locally provided services such as policing and the NHS. He called the proposals the biggest transfer of power for a generation, bringing an extra £100bn of public spending under council scrutiny.

A DCLG spokesman said the department would be ‘working closely’ with Chaytor, adding that the results of Denham’s consultation would be published around the time of the second reading.

Andy Sawford, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit, praised the Bill, but said there might not be enough parliamentary time before the general election for it to become law.

‘Private Members’ Bills are rarely passed, even if they have a fair wind,’ he said. Sawford added that if the Bill won cross-party support it could be incorporated into a ‘localism Bill’ to be introduced early in the next Parliament.

But the government’s commitment to empowering councils was called into question after employment minister Jim Knight rejected calls for councils to take a lead in tackling worklessness.

A report by the New Local Government Network, launched on January 12, argued that employment and skills services should be commissioned by councils working in partnerships covering local economic areas.

The NLGN said councils could then set broad priorities for their local economies through the work and training programmes they commissioned, rather than simply responding to demand.

But Knight gave the paper only a lukewarm response. ‘Delegation to local authorities is secondary to delegation to individuals,’ he said.

NLGN director Chris Leslie warned: ‘Without a localising, decentralising approach, national politicians will never achieve the big savings and big changes on the front line they espouse.’

Local government expert Tony Travers told PF that devolving power to councils carried ‘within it the implication that Whitehall is downgraded… [but] ministers and civil servants will always defend their empires’.



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