LGA urges Government to give councils greater voice in devolution plans

The forthcoming English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (EDCEB) must "enshrine the role of councils in shaping and delivering devolution", the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.

The Bill is the main vehicle for implementing the Government's devolution agenda, which involves establishing mayoral strategic authorities – a type of combined authority – all over the country. 

It sets out standard powers available to mayoral strategic authorities, reintroduces the supplementary vote system for mayors of mayoral strategic authorities, local authority mayors, and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), and includes powers for the Secretary of State to mandate local government reorganisation.

It also carries provisions to phase out the committee system of governance, end local authority mayoralties, and require councils to have an audit committee.

The LGA submitted a response on the Bill ahead of the committee stage in Parliament, setting out a series of proposed changes, including a request for councils to have greater say in the formal governance arrangements within combined authorities.

To achieve this, it recommended removing the Mayor's casting vote in instances where decision-making is tied for Spatial Development Strategies and Local Transport Plans, alongside a review of simple majority voting after 12 months, with a view to amending voting thresholds where needed.

It also called for support for additional statutory tests and parliamentary oversight to limit the use of the ministerial powers in the Bill "to establish, expand and impose mayors on [strategic areas] without local consent".

"These powers should only be used as a last resort, to avoid devolution islands, where local agreement cannot be achieved," it said.

On the committee system of governance, the response said: "Currently, 38 councils have chosen to operate a committee governance system, either through a referendum or council decision; these democratic decisions should not be disregarded."

It said the option for councils to move to a committee system should be preserved for future authorities.

Turning to the standards regime, the LGA said planned reforms should be implemented through the EDCEB.

The Government has committed to reforming the system, as well as other changes, such as introducing remote attendance for councillors and legislating to protect councillors' home addresses from publication.

"These reforms should be incorporated into the EDCEB to ensure that new authorities are established with these protections and powers in place from the outset," the response said.

It added: "In addition, commissioners should be explicitly in scope of anticipated reforms to the standards regime for local authorities, creating a common standard of conduct and behaviour for all those in public life in local and regional government."

The LGA also said that the Bill's provision requiring local authorities to have an audit committee, and for that committee to have at least one independent member, "must be handled carefully".

"Government must issue statutory guidance on what constitutes 'independent', the appropriate skill requirements, renumeration levels and a solution for those authorities who are unable to recruit suitable local capacity, potentially through a national pool," it said.

It also recommended introducing the option for local places to adopt weighted voting, where there is a local need due to large population disparities between constituent councils, and local support.

Elsewhere, it said the bill should include a statutory power for local areas to implement a 'local tourism levy' that could be imposed on overnight stays in their areas.

This would "provide revenue to support sustainability and development of the local visitor economy" and help councils raise and control resources, the LGA said.

Expanding the devolution framework to include more detail on the competency surrounding environment and climate change, was also recommended by the LGA - as well as the inclusion of a competency on culture, tourism and creative industries.

Adam Carey