Ministers claim "historic shift" in power as Localism Bill receives Royal Assent
The Localism Bill has received Royal Assent, with ministers hailing the legislation as triggering “the biggest transfer of power in a generation, releasing councils and communities from the grip of central government”.
The Localism Act 2011 includes measures that will see:
- A new general power of competence. The government said this would give councils “unprecedented freedom to work together to improve services and drive down costs”, and that they were “now free to do anything - provided they do not break other laws”
- The transfer of power to major cities “to develop their areas, improve local services, and boost their local economies”
- Abolition of the Standards Board regime
- Clarification of the rules on predetermination “in order to free up councillors to express their opinions on issues of local importance without the fear of legal challenge”
- Enabling councils to return to the committee system of governance
- Greater control for councils over business rates
- New planning enforcement rules, “giving councils the ability to take action against people who deliberately conceal unauthorised development”
- Stronger powers for planning authorities to tackle abuses of the planning system
- Increased powers for councils to remove illegal advertisements and graffiti and prevent fly-posting
- The introduction of neighbourhood plans, “giving local people a real voice to say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should go - and what they should look like”
- Requiring developers to consult local communities before submitting certain applications
- Abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission, with responsibility for taking decisions returned to ministers.
The Localism Act 2011 will also introduce a number of community rights. These include the new Right to Challenge, which is designed to make it easier for groups to run local services, and a new Right to Bid, which will give residents the opportunity to take over local assets like shops and pubs.
The Community Right to Build is meanwhile intended to help communities bring forward proposals “for development they want - such as homes, shops, playgrounds or meeting halls”.
The Act will bring in a number of reforms in the housing field. These include:
- Abolition of the housing revenue account, allowing councils “to keep the rent they collect and use it locally to maintain social homes”
- Introduction of tenant panels to give tenants stronger tools to hold landlords to account. The Tenant Services Authority will be abolished
- Introduction of a national home swap scheme
- Reform of homelessness legislation
- Abolition of Home Information Packs
- Greater powers over housing and regeneration given to local democratically elected representatives in London.
Other measures in the Act will see:
- Removal of the ability of councils to charge families for overfilling their bin and to introduce extra tariffs for taking away household waste
- Increased transparency on local pay, “by requiring councils to publish the salaries of senior officials working in local authorities, enabling local people to understand how public money is being spent in their area”
- The right for communities to veto excess council tax rises.
Eric Pickles said: "Today marks the beginning of an historic shift of power from Whitehall to every community to take back control of their lives. The Localism Act pulls down the Whitehall barricades so it will no longer call the shots over communities - bug bears like housing targets and bin taxes are gone.
"For too long, local people were held back and ignored because Whitehall thought it knew best. That is changing for good. Councils have their general power of competence and residents have a real power over decisions like council tax, town hall pay, planning, community buildings or local services."
Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark said the legislaton would begin to reverse a hundred years of centralisation. "The Localism Act is not the end of the journey towards a more permissive, flexible Britain but it makes a great stride in a direction that the government will continue to travel," he argued.
