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Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Answer

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure local authorities have a strategic role in managing their local area. [139793] Ms Beverley Hughes: The 1998 White Paper, "Modern Local Government: In Touch with the People", set out the Government's long-term vision for the modernisation of local government, emphasising councils' local leadership role. The Local Government Act 2000 helps to achieve this by giving principal local authorities broad powers to take new action to promote the economic, social, and environment well-being of their local communities. This new power greatly strengthens the scope for authorities to work in partnership with other bodies to deliver real improvements in local quality of life. Linked to the new power is a duty for local authorities to prepare a community strategy, based on local priorities and engaging local people, to improve community well-being and contribute to sustainable development. The local strategic partnerships with which local authorities should work to prepare community strategies will bring together all the public, private, voluntary and community sector bodies which have a stake in the area. In the longer term, community strategies could thus provide a sustainable framework which encompasses not only the mainstream activities of local authorities but also all their partner bodies, including businesses. Local strategic partnerships should provide an overriding framework within which other, more specific, partnerships can operate; they offer a single local co-ordination framework to make sure that services, in particular core public services, work together. The new constitutions which councils are required to adopt under Part II of the 2000 Act, including the option of a directly elected mayor where local people want one, will mean they can deliver more clear and accountable corporate leadership and are well fitted for their new strategic role.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

357 c608-9W; 139793

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Best value Civic dignitaries Business interests Elections Local government Powers Private finance initiative Local government services Reform

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk