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Memorandum from the National Association of Local Councils (BOP 42)
1. Introduction
2. The National Association of Local Councils
(NALC) is the recognised national body supporting and representing the
interests of neighbourhood, parish and town (local) councils in
3. The first tier of local government works towards improving community well-being and providing better services at a local level. Their work falls into three main categories: representing the local community; delivering services to meet local needs; and striving to improve quality of life in the community.
4. We very much welcome the opportunity to provide written evidence to the Communities and Local Government Committee on the balance of power between central and local government.
5. NALC has sought views and written comments from our member local councils and constituent county associations. We have also organised and held a series of roundtable discussion events on the inquiry.
6. Within our submission the term 'local councils'
refers to parish, town, neighbourhood and community councils in
7. Summary (key points as they relate to local councils)
a) There should be greater autonomy for local government from central government; b) There should be greater devolution of power, decision making and services from principal authorities to local councils; c) There should be no capping restraints placed on local council precepting powers; d) NALC should be responsible for monitoring uses of the new well-being power by local councils; e) Consideration should be given to developing a concordat between central government and NALC ; f) NALC supports the proposal to establish an independent commission to oversee the financial settlement for local government and that it should take evidence from local councils.
8. Response to Inquiry Questions
9. Further devolution
10. Does local government need greater autonomy from central government? If so, in what ways?
11. NALC believes that local government does need
greater autonomy from central government. We have one of the most centralised
systems in
12. We believe that there should be full recognition and support from the Committee of the model of parish or neighbourhood level governance, with local councils being a natural 'community hub' around which communities can govern themselves.
13. As democratically elected bodies, directly accountable to the local community, local councils should have greater flexibility on what they spend money on in order to be fully enabled to put the local community's wishes into action. The extension of the well-being power to eligible local councils is very welcome and is expected to come into force at the end of November 2008. While this will enable local councils to more flexibly respond to the economic, social and environmental needs of the community, the use of this power needs to be monitored. This will allow consideration to be given to the extent to which the statutory regulations may be a barrier to local councils, thus resulting in the power not fulfiling its original policy objective.
14. In addition, the English system of local government is acknowledged as being fairly remote from people. In European countries, the most local of democratically elected representatives will often represent just a few hundred people, and everyone knows who their representative is. Principal authority councillors will often represent thousands of people, whereas local councillors are much closer to the electorate, sometimes representing communities of less than 200 people.
15. Local councillors are directly accountable to the residents of the community and formal decisions on a range of issues are then decided as locally as possible. This helps people feel that local government is relevant to them and to their lives. It also means their views can be easily heard and acted upon promptly. The National Association firmly believes in the principle of subsidiarity and that the balance of power should rest more equitably at the most local level as possible.
16. The current imbalance of power has also placed an economic and social restraint upon rural communities, and an economic and social burden on urban communities. Central government control of both regional and national planning policy has created an imbalance in the economy of local communities. The consistent and overwhelming views expressed by our member local councils is that while much attention is paid to consultation with local councils, particularly on planning and economic matters, this is largely cosmetic.
17. While NALC supports the need for greater autonomy for local government from central government, the Committee should note that the majority of principal authorities are themselves reluctant to devolve decision making, power and responsibility to local councils. Local councils are keen to have more influence over the decisions made by local authorities on the services that affect them and their areas. Many decisions on the delivery of local services could in fact be better made at a local council level, at a lower cost to the tax payer and with more relevance to the needs of the community. Greater involvement in the scrutiny of public services and principal authorities by local councils would also help address imbalances of power and ultimately improve the delivery and accountability of local public services.
18. NALC still strongly supports the concept of double devolution. Central government should extend more trust to local government, and local government should extend more trust beyond the town hall to local communities and neighbourhoods. We very much support the recommendation on this by the Commission for Rural Communities in their recent Participation Inquiry.
19. Do local government's role and influence need to be strengthened in relation to other public services, such as policing and health?
20. NALC is of the view that the role of principal
authorities needs to be strengthened in relation to other public services, in
particular policing and health. With the strengthening of the principal
authority role should also come a strengthening of the role of local councils
to provide views and input from the grassroots level. We also consider that
areas worthy of consideration would include local council representation on police
authorities, school governing bodies and health trusts, and that models
designed to give a greater voice to local people should be explored further.
For example, in the
21. There are time and capacity issues for local councils in relation to their engagement with other public services which do need to be taken into account. Existing structures for support are vital, for example the role of county associations of local councils as the voice of local councils in discussions and engagement with organisations such as the police and primary care trusts. Models of good practice do exist where relationships have been nurtured and developed between representatives of county associations and police authorities to improve dialogue at the strategic level. In some cases officers from police authorities attend meetings of county associations and are held to account for their activity and decisions.
22. The co-location of public services within local council offices helps improve communication with the public and also builds relationships between principal authorities and local councils. However in some cases the boundaries of some public services are not always the same as local council boundaries and that this can cause problems.
23. Financial autonomy
24. To what extent do the current arrangements for local government funding act as a barrier to local authorities fulfilling their 'place-shaping' role?
In particular:
25. Does local government need greater financial freedom? If so, in what ways? 26. Should local government be able to raise a greater proportion of its expenditure locally? 27. What effect does the capping of council tax rises have on local accountability?
28. There are currently no real financial barriers placed on local councils in fulfilling their 'place-shaping' role. The only limitation on this being the confidence of local councils to raise adequate levels of resources through the precept (a form of local council tax) to deliver community aspirations. The Lyons Inquiry fully supported the need for local councils to have complete freedom to raise a precept and that capping would be impractical. The National Association very strongly supports this view. Evidence that NALC gathered in a rapid survey of Quality Parish Councils suggests that communities are content, even with significant increases to their precept, where rises are introduced to meet the wishes of the community. This is illustrated in Appendix 1.
29. The National Association are also of the view that local councils should be encouraged to provide a letter/summary of how the precept is to be spent within the council tax bills sent out by principal authorities. An example of this is provided in Appendix 2.
30. In addition we propose a change to the layout of council tax bills. The table attached at
Appendix 3, taken from the booklet which came out with the council tax bills in
31. With regard to principal authorities, council tax capping adversely affects local accountability. Capping is most pronounced on discretionary services such as leisure, recreation and tourism, the types of services which are very important in 'place shaping'. The Committee is strongly urged to give further consideration to the idea of business rates being controlled locally, with a proportion of the business rate levied passed on to the local council to contribute to its own work which benefits businesses and the local economy.
32. The Committee will be aware that there has been considerable correspondence and debate in the Houses of Parliament over the years on the issue of concurrent functions. In particular this has centred on charging for services delivered by the principal authority in an un-parished area, where the same services are delivered by the local council in their own area which has led to a widespread feeling of unfairness in the process.
33. Previous legislation has tried to address the issue but has left too much to the discretion of the principal authority. The reliance on best endeavours, as set out in a guidance note to the Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme in 2003, has not delivered fair results.
34. On the increase in recent years has been unprofitable services previously provided by principal authorities being withdrawn or devolved without funding to a local council. One common function that has been devolved is public conveniences. It has been drawn to our attention by member local councils that the liability for National Non-Domestic Rate on such properties often exceeds the income, if any, that is generated. We would propose that the method of valuation of public conveniences should be changed to produce a negligible value or an exempt property. Such a facility is in most cases most used by visitors to the local council area, rather than by the council tax paying residents.
35. The Committee are therefore recommended to give further consideration to the issue of double taxation, to recommend that more guidance be developed on how this can be tackled and overcome, and to ensure that finance follows function when services are devolved from principal authorities to local councils.
36. Existing powers
37. The role of local councils falls into three main categories, representing the local community; delivering services to meet local needs; and striving to improve the quality of life in the parish. They have a wide range of powers but the scope of activities they are involved in is immense and helps to reinforce their leadership role within the local community. Local councils provide, maintain or contribute to activities and services as diverse as community centres, community transport schemes, crime reduction measures, planning, street lighting and tourism activities amongst others. The powers of local councils have been reinforced in recent years, including on environmental issues, which has been very much welcomed.
38. The versatility of local councils is a distinct feature, as they have a wide remit for activities in which they can get involved with, and can focus upon the priorities that emerge from the community. For example, they may choose to fund dedicated community development workers to help them develop their vision for their area through a community-led plan. They might want to pay for a new Police Community Support Officer, or respond to queries from individual residents and represent the needs and interests of the community to other service providers.
39. To what extent are local government services a product of national or local decision-making?
40. Local government services are to some degree a product of both national and local decision making. However, while local government is responsible within the law for the provision of many functions and services, these laws are of course generated by central government, which by detailed regulation and ultimate financial control, largely determines the local outcomes.
41. We are of the view that the balance of power in this area needs to shift in the direction of local decision making, as it is principal authorities and local councils that are directly accountable to local people and communities.
42. Our member local councils are concerned that current Section 106 agreements (Town and Country Planning Act 1990) are complex and that the practice of principal authorities varies across the country. Clearer guidance is needed from government including the role local councils can play in determining what is needed in a local area to support development.
43. Does local government make adequate use of its existing powers, such as its well-being, charging and trading powers? What scope is there for greater use of those powers?
44. NALC are of the view that, in general, local councils make good use of existing powers. As previously mentioned, we very much welcome the extension of the well-being power to eligible local councils. We will be actively encouraging all local councils to consider how they might be able to make use of the power to do things they currently cannot. We are aware of evidence that suggests that the well-being power has not been widely used by principal authorities.
45. However, there are a number of issues critical to local councils in enabling them to make full use of existing powers, and the well-being power. Central to this is greater investment in initiatives such as the National Training Strategy for Parish and Town Councils. The provision of training and information is critical for local councils and their 80,000 councillors to raise awareness of their powers and how they should be used. In addition, it is important that the experiences of local councils in using the well-being power should be captured and shared and NALC is well positioned to fulfil this role.
46. Improving the relationship between central and local government
47. What difference has the central-local concordat made to central-local relations?
48. The central-local concordat is unlikely to have made a great deal of difference to the first tier of local government as it only sets out the framework of principles for how central government and principal authorities will work together. It has been suggested that a concordat or protocol be established between central government and NALC. Such a concordat or protocol should firmly enshrine the role and importance of local councils, along with their powers, rights and responsibilities.
49. Should an independent commission be established to oversee the financial settlement for local government?
50. On the balance of views from our member local councils, NALC would support the establishment of an independent commission to oversee the financial settlement for principal authorities. However any such commission should be truly independent, balanced and impartial, and conduct its business in a transparent manner. In addition given that financial settlements for principal authorities do have an impact on the communities served by local councils, a commission should be directed to receive any necessary evidence from local councils in support of their principal authority.
51. The constitutional position
52. Given the UK's constitutional settlement, what protections should be placed in law to ensure local government's ability to fulfill its responsibility as a balance on the powers of central government?
53. We are of the view that ending the ultra vires rule would liberate principal authorities and that financial autonomy would help strengthen their position.
54. The role of local councils needs to be clearly set out, reinforcing their role as local authorities within our current structure of local government.
55. What role should
Parliament have in the protection of local government's position within the
56. Our member local councils have expressed a view that local government could expect little protection from the House of Commons as it is rigidly controlled by central government, despite the more responsive attitude of the House of Lords.
57. We are also of the opinion that Parliament is not very good at monitoring and evaluating the laws that it makes. We suggest that there is a role for a Select Committee to review legislation that affects local councils, in particular recent legislation, to assess whether it is fulfilling its original policy intention.
58. Providing Oral Evidence to the Committee
59. In addition to this written submission, NALC would be more than willing to provide oral evidence to the Committee, if required, in order to discuss further any of the points contained in our submission.
September 2008
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