Annex A
EXTRACT FROM GUIDANCE ON MUNICIPAL WASTE
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ANNEX A DETR MARCH 2001
INTERVENTION
The Secretary of State has powers under Section
15 of the Local Government Act 1999 to act where authorities are
failing to deliver best value. The Government has made clear that
it will work with authorities to ensure that such failures are
minimised, and that intervention will be the exception. The powers
would be used predominantly to achieve improvements in service
delivery, as opposed to tackling procedural failures.
As well as using statutory intervention powers,
Ministers may raise issues informally with authorities, for example
by asking the authority to explain how it intends to deliver its
recycling standard.
Before a decision to intervene is taken, the
authority will have the opportunity to make representations about
any Audit Commission report that provides the basis for a proposed
intervention. Where the Secretary of State decides that intervention
is justified, action can take many forms. There are three broad
categories in rising order of severity:
— relating to process (for example
requiring an authority to carry out a review of a specific function
such as waste management);
— relating to the way a service is
delivered (for example specifying priorities, such as a greater
emphasis on recycling);
— to completely remove functions from
an authority (for example, to the Secretary of State, in which
case they would become his responsibility to discharge, although
he would be able to appoint a nominee to act on his behalf).
The nature and severity of the intervention
will vary, and need to reflect several factors, including:
— the amount by which the standard
is missed;
— the steps an authority had taken
to achieve the standard;
— external factors (for example problems
with a market for a particular material, or unusual occurrences
such as the recent fuel crisis);
— the likelihood of the authority meeting
the standard in the immediate future.
A protocol has been agreed with the Local Government
Association setting out the principles under which these powers
will be used. The starting point would be to invite the authority
to submit an action plan setting out how it proposed to meet the
statutory recycling targets by a given deadline.
If the authority's plan were considered unsatisfactory,
management consultants (using framework contracts established
to support Ministerial intervention) would be invited to advise
on the range of alternative steps available. These might include:
— providing advice to the authority;
— working alongside the authority to
help them carry out the function;
— the operating contractor taking over
all or part of the service delivery;
— the Secretary of State taking over
the duties of the authority, which would then in practice be carried
out by someone nominated by him.
The Secretary of State may also order a local
inquiry into the way an authority exercises specific functions,
such as waste management, or simply direct the authority to ensure
that the standard be met by a certain date. Such a direction could
be enforceable through the courts.
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