The Localism Act - what's it all about?

Wiltshire Council has been attempting to educate councillors on the implications of the new legislation. The Act was signed off by HMQ in November, but much of the detail was reserved for the Secretary of State to publish when he gets round to it, so there is still uncertainty about how things will work in the new world. Although the changes are significant this is not a people's revolution, and much of the political rhetoric we heard from the Conservatives and Lib Dems before the election has been watered down.

Here are some of the main points:

What councils can do. Section 1 of the Act says that: "A local authority has power to do anything that individuals generally may do." This is intended to get away from the system whereby councils can only do those things government permits them to, and would instead allow them the freedom to get involved in anything which may benefit their electorate. Councils probably wouldn't get away with interpreting the words literally - individuals still have the freedom to be unwise, for example by spending their money on booze, fags and horses....

Governance. Since 2000 all except the smallest councils have been forced to have either an elected mayor or a 'cabinet' system. This replaced the previous system of committees. Governments prefer local councils to be autocratic, which is why they're forcing more mayoral referenda, so this is a concession to democracy. However the government could force councils to hold referenda if they want to change, which would waste large amounts of money and would be a strong disincentive to amending existing arrangements.

Standards. The Blair government set up a hugely inefficient and expensive system for enforcing probity in local government. This is to be scrapped and local authorities can choose how to make their councillors behave themselves. Most councils, including Wiltshire, will keep some kind of standards committee, though councils with courage will scrap the whole caboodle.

Finance. The government will use intimidation to prevent what it calls 'excessive' council tax rises. Whereas the old capping system set a fixed percentage which couldn't be exceeded, there will now be an unspecified level which, if the Minister decrees, could trigger an expensive and counter-productive referendum. This applies even to parish and town councils. The Blair government never interfered with the right of parish councils to set their own precept, so this represents a dramatic increase in central government diktat. It also creates the kind of perverse incentive which District and County councils are already aware of: because increases are always measured in percentages rather than real figures, it makes sense to increase council tax levels by a small amount each year even if you don't need to, so as not to get caught having to make a high percentage increase if faced with higher costs at some point.

Community Rights to challenge service provision. In theory this could involve charitable or other organisations taking over and running some council services. It's not clear yet how this might work in practice.

Community Right to bid for assets of community value. Councils will be invited to list land and property which they see as community assets. This could include private property such as local pubs. If the owner wishes to sell they have to give community groups the opportunity to bid for the asset, but the owner doesn't have to accept the bid if he chooses not to. However the delay involved could lead to compensation claims. Under the current system if a community group wished to buy such an asset it would agree a price with the vendor and then raise the money. Under the new provisions this will still apply, but the introduction of bureaucratic regulations means the necessary goodwill between the parties may become strained.

Housing. Councils are to be given more flexibility on allocations of social housing. This should lead to a fairer and more efficient system. The complication for Wiltshire is that in the old Salisbury District there is still council housing, whereas in the rest of the county stock has been transferred to Housing Societies. There are over 60 of these in the county. Currently most of them combine to run a joint allocations system under 'Homes for Wiltshire'.

Business Rates. These are collected by Wiltshire Council but then handed over to government. The Act proposes to allow local councils more discretion in awarding rates relief, for example to small businesses or those providing a social function such as village shops. However the government will make sure councils don't take this too far - too many exemptions would mean a loss of revenue to the Treasury!

Planning.

What the Act will not do is give local people more say on individual planning applications. It does though encourage the production of Neighbourhood Plans. Any town or parish producing one of these will then have some influence over the type of development in the area, and where it should go. However Neighbourhood Plans cannot contradict the overall Wiltshire Plan. Nor can they simply say 'No development in our area', unless existing polices such as in the Green Belt allow this.

A 'Community Infrastructure Levy' (Ciltax) will be brought in to partially replace the current 'Section 106' agreements. These set out what developers should contribute to provide infrastructure required by their development - schools, roads, play areas and affordable housing. Communities will need to watch this carefully to make sure Ciltax money doesn't disappear into the council's general budgets. S106 agreements will still be used for the very local requirements.

One slightly curious provision of the Act is that councils can take account of the money they receive from new housing, such as via the New Homes Bonus, when making planning decisions. This is likely to increase the cynicism sometimes felt by the public towards planners.

As of October this year developers will be required to consult local communities before submitting large applications. This gives people a chance to comment and for developers to respond, and should mean less aggravation when the application is submitted. Wise developers do this anyway.

Wiltshire Council say that a more comprehensive analysis of the Act and how it will affect us will be published on their website shortly. www.wiltshire.gov.uk