Decision details

Future of Standards (Localism Act 2011)

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Decision Maker: Standards Committee, Council

Decision status: Recommendations approved

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: No

Purpose:

The Bill would devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities control over housing and planning decisions.

The main benefits of the Bill would be:

· Empowering local people.

· Freeing local government from central and regional control.

· Giving local communities a real share in local growth.

· A more efficient and more local planning system.

The main elements of the Bill are:

· Abolish Regional Spatial Strategies.

· Return decision-making powers on housing and planning to local councils.

· Abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission and replace it with an efficient and democratically accountable system that provides a fast-track process for major infrastructure projects.

· New powers to help save local facilities and services threatened with closure, and give communities the right to bid to take over local state-run services.

· Abolish the Standards Board regime.

· Give councils a general power of competence.

· Require public bodies to publish online the job titles of every member of staff and the salaries and expenses of senior officials.

· Give residents the power to instigate local referendums on any local issue and the power to veto excessive council tax increases.

· Greater financial autonomy to local government and community groups.

· Create Local Enterprise Partnerships (to replace Regional Development Agencies) – joint local authority-business bodies brought forward by local authorities to promote local economic development.

· Form plans to deliver a genuine and lasting Olympic legacy.

· Outright abolition of Home Improvement Packs.

· Create new trusts that would make it simpler for communities to provide homes for local people.

· Review Housing Revenue Account (see also Government Review of Council Housing Finance: Proposals to Replace Housing Revenue Account Subsidy System).

Existing legislation in this area is:

This would be a major piece of legislation that would affect a wide range of existing housing, planning and local government legislation dating back decades in some cases.

Decision:

The Standards Committee:

(a) NOTED the first draft of a procedure for complaints under the new Code of Conduct which may be subject to further amendments before a finalised version was recommended for adoption;

(b) ENDORSED the proposal to delegate to the Monitoring Officer the responsibility of undertaking a joint exercise to recruit an Independent Person(s) with the other councils in Cambridgeshire, subject to the approval of Full Council;

(c) NOTED that transitional provisions were likely to be made to ensure that existing Independent Members were eligible to apply for the position of Independent Person(s) at South Cambridgeshire District Council;

(d) INDICATED that it preferred the draft Cambridgeshire Councils Model Code of Conduct to the Local Government Association Model Code of Conduct;

(e) PROVISIONALLY APPROVED the draft Cambridgeshire Model Code as the version of the Council’s new Code of Conduct for Elected Members that would be recommended to Full Council subject to a further report/amendments once the Code has been issued in its final format;

(f) NOTED that a further report would be brought to a future meeting once the Regulations were published;

(g) NOTED that it might be necessary to convene a special meeting of Full Council to comply with the statutory timescales; and

(h) AGREED that an additional meeting of Standards Committee be held on Thursday 10 May to enable recommendations to Council be able to be made.

Publication date: 05/04/2012

Date of decision: 05/04/2012

Decided at meeting: 05/04/2012 - Standards Committee

Accompanying Documents: