By David Williams
1 February 2010
A government-backed Private Members’ Bill setting out new powers for councils to hold local service providers to account has been published today.
The Local Government (Overview and Scrutiny) Bill proposes giving local authorities the power to legally compel organisations to attend public scrutiny hearings, provide information, and respond in full to council recommendations on their performance.
The Bill, tabled by Labour backbench MP David Chaytor, follows a consultation paper published by Communities Secretary John Denham in July, and has its second reading in Parliament on February 5.
It intends to strengthen the role of councils in championing the concerns of people who live in their area, enabling residents to call on councillors who will be given the power to fight on their behalf.
Currently, council scrutiny committees rely on service providers to voluntarily co-operate with their inquiries.
The Department for Communities and Local Government says the new powers will give local authorities more say on issues such as: energy companies that dig up roads; rail station safety; bus services; fire services; and the activities of Jobcentre Plus.
‘Local people should be able to elect councillors who can get back to them on the performance of all local public services, not just the ones run by the council itself,’ said Denham.
‘This Bill will give councils the ability to shine a spotlight on services not delivering for local people and demand action on behalf of their communities to resolve local problems.
‘There should be no hiding place from awkward questions for company bosses about why they are not providing the high quality local public services people are entitled to.’
1 February 2010
A government-backed Private Members’ Bill setting out new powers for councils to hold local service providers to account has been published today.
The Local Government (Overview and Scrutiny) Bill proposes giving local authorities the power to legally compel organisations to attend public scrutiny hearings, provide information, and respond in full to council recommendations on their performance.
The Bill, tabled by Labour backbench MP David Chaytor, follows a consultation paper published by Communities Secretary John Denham in July, and has its second reading in Parliament on February 5.
It intends to strengthen the role of councils in championing the concerns of people who live in their area, enabling residents to call on councillors who will be given the power to fight on their behalf.
Currently, council scrutiny committees rely on service providers to voluntarily co-operate with their inquiries.
The Department for Communities and Local Government says the new powers will give local authorities more say on issues such as: energy companies that dig up roads; rail station safety; bus services; fire services; and the activities of Jobcentre Plus.
‘Local people should be able to elect councillors who can get back to them on the performance of all local public services, not just the ones run by the council itself,’ said Denham.
‘This Bill will give councils the ability to shine a spotlight on services not delivering for local people and demand action on behalf of their communities to resolve local problems.
‘There should be no hiding place from awkward questions for company bosses about why they are not providing the high quality local public services people are entitled to.’
