More Localism Act provisions in force after DCLG issues commencement order

A number of key measures contained in the Localism Act 2011 have come into force after the government issued a second commencement order on 15 January.

These include changes to the rules on predetermination, which the Department for Communities and Local Government insisted would free councillors “to express their opinions on issues of local importance without the fear of legal challenge”.

Local authorities are also now permitted to move to a committee system of governance “if they wish, regardless of their size”.

The DCLG also highlighted as key measures coming into effect:

• Pay accountability: Councils are now required to publish their pay policies and put the policies that underpin senior pay packets to a full council vote;
• Preparations for HomeSwap Direct, the national home swap scheme. “This will take full effect in April 2012, enabling people to swap their social home more easily, for example because they wish to move jobs”;
• Reform of social housing regulation: the commencement order includes initial legislative preparations for the formal implementation of changes due on 1 April 2012. The DCLG said changes to the way complaints are managed would follow in 2013;
• Measures giving the means to transfer powers from central Government and non-departmental public bodies to local authorities;
• New planning enforcement rules. The DCLG said the order included “a first step in the process to give councils the ability to take action against people who deliberately conceal unauthorised development in preparation for commencement of the substantive provisions in April 2012”.

Communities Minister Andrew Stunell said: "Today is a major landmark in the Government's unrelenting drive to hand power back to where it belongs - in the hands of citizens, community groups and local councils.

"The new rights and powers coming into force will begin to put communities firmly back in control of their own destiny, and reverse a 100 years of Government centralisation by breaking down the Whitehall barricades and removing a raft of unnecessary bureaucratic regulations. This marks another shift away from the central government monopoly over public policy."

The second commencement order can be read here.

The Localism Act received Royal Assent on 15 November 2011. Other provisions came into effect immediately or through the first Commencement Order on 3 December 2011.

The DCLG said further measures in the Localism Act were expected to be in place by April 2012.

Read Local Government Lawyer's guide to the Localism Act 2011 here.