Threshold for governance reviews cut after legislative amendments passed

March 30, 2015

The threshold of signatures required to trigger a community governance review has been lowered from 10% to 7.5% of residents, after amendments to the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 were passed last week.

The changes will also:

shorten the amount of time a local authority can take to complete a governance review to 12 months from receipt of a valid petition; and
allow neighbourhood forums which have had a neighbourhood development plan passed at referendum to trigger a community governance review for a new parish council without requiring them to submit a petition.

The Department for Communities and Local Government is expected to introduce revised guidance on community governance reviews later this year.

Communities Minister Stephen Williams said: “Town and parish councils are a valuable part of our democracy, giving communities a democratically accountable voice and a structure for taking community action. But too many communities have been put off by the lengthy and bureaucratic process involved

“That’s why we’ve changed the rules, cut the red tape and removed the bureaucratic burdens to make it far easier for people to have a greater say over what happens in their neighbourhood and deliver local services.”

Cllr Ken Browse, chairman of NALC (National Association of Local Councils), said: “Local (parish and town) councils are popular with communities and can really make a difference, and for too long people have battled with burdensome bureaucracy to get them created. These new laws to remove red tape, simplify and streamline the current process is a common sense move.

"We support the continued impetus on the creation of more local councils to deliver services to local communities and give them a voice.

"The Government’s new laws are a step in the right direction to help people and communities create these most local of democratically accountable councils. Now communities and people can get on with delivering grassroots level services and representation by taking local action.”