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Localism Act 2011 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2012

My Lords, the consequential provisions order makes amendments to existing legislation in relation to policies implemented through the Localism Act relating to the general power of competence, compulsory acquisition of land and neighbourhood planning. The parish councils order, which I will also speak to, sets out the conditions that parish councils will need to fulfil in order to be eligible to use the general power of competence. The Localism Act (Consequential Provisions) Order 2012, as implied by the title, will make consequential amendments to particular provisions in existing primary and secondary legislation following the enactment of the Localism Act 2011. The order provides for amendments in three specific policy areas, each of which has its own schedule. These are: the general power of competence; compensation for compulsory acquisition of land; and neighbourhood planning. I will consider each of these schedules in turn. The amendments in Schedule 1, Article 2, deal with the insertion of text referring to the general power of competence into various pieces of legislation, such as the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965. References to the well-being power are, however, being retained in two particular circumstances. First, the well-being power is being retained in Wales because Welsh Ministers were offered the opportunity to have the general power of competence but they decided against it. Secondly, it is retained to deal with the historical exercise of the well-being power by English councils—for example, where bodies such as ALMOs were established using those powers. Schedule 2, Article 3, covers the compensation arrangements for compulsory acquisitions of land. The amendments in Schedule 2 are necessary to fully implement changes brought about through Section 232 of the Localism Act. This section of the 2011 Act reformed the planning assumptions for compulsory purchase compensation and, in doing so, replaced Sections 14 to 16 of the Land Compensation Act 1961 with new Sections 14 and 15 only. As a consequence, this means that references to Section 16 elsewhere in statute must be removed. This is achieved by paragraphs 1(2) and 3(2) of the schedule. The remainder of paragraphs 1 and 3 are transitional provisions to align with those in the commencement order and interpretation provisions. Section 232 also replaced Sections 17 and 18 of the 1961 Act with new Sections 17 and 18. These make provision for the issuing of certificates of appropriate alternative development. Paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 amends paragraph 55 of Schedule 2 to the Local Government Act 1972 to reflect these changes. Paragraph 55 deals with any necessary consultation arrangements between county and district planning authorities. The amendments set out in Schedule 3, Article 4, of the order cover neighbourhood planning. Part 2 of Schedule 9 to the Localism Act amends the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to provide for a new category of development plan—a neighbourhood development plan. These plans will be made by local planning authorities on the initiative of parish councils or neighbourhood forums. The amendments in paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the order amend Schedule 8 to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which makes transitional provision in relation to old plans and policies. To ensure continuity of a plan-led system, the transitional provisions allow for the life of local plan policies to be extended and saved until replaced. Local planning authorities replace the saved polices with new policies in stages as new development plan documents are adopted. Paragraph 5 of Schedule 8 to the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 defines a new policy as one contained in certain planning documents. The amendments to Schedule 8 to the 2004 Act will both extend the types of planning documents that new policies are contained in to include a neighbourhood development plan, and also set out when a new neighbourhood planning policy is published for the purposes of transitional arrangements. While the amendments contained in this order are in the main technical and, in some cases, quite hard to follow, they are vital to ensuring that the provisions contained in the Localism Act 2011 work as intended. I commend this order to the Committee. I turn to the second order under consideration, the Parish Councils (General Power of Competence) (Prescribed Conditions) Order 2012. The new general power of competence provided for local authorities in the Localism Act 2011 is an important part of the Government's decentralisation agenda. It is intended to provide English councils, including certain parish councils, with confidence in their legal capacity to act for their communities and in their own financial interests to innovate and generate efficiencies. As discussed earlier, it replaces the well-being power in the Local Government Act 2000. It was the Government's view that, while the well-being power was intended to be a broad power of first resort, it fell short of a truly general power; for instance, it did not allow local authorities to participate in mutual insurance arrangements or to act solely in their own financial interests. The general power of competence provides local authorities with the same power to act as an individual. It has been designed to give councils more freedom to work in new ways with others to drive down costs and to give them increased confidence to do creative things. It was brought into effect for all principal authorities in England on 18 February in response to the High Court judgment against Bideford Town Council. The order will enable parish councils that meet the conditions set out in the schedule to resolve to use the general power of competence. This power will equip them to take on the expanded role that we envisage them playing in our decentralisation agenda and let them to do things that they have been unable to do previously. We have been clear that extension of this power to parish councils is conditional. Parish councils vary greatly in their ability and capacity to take on the enhanced role and responsibility of an authority with a general power of competence. A draft of the order before your Lordships today was placed in the House Library before debate began in Committee on the then Localism Bill. While this order is not identical to the draft placed in the House Library, the differences are drafting amendments to aid clarity. The order under consideration requires parish councils to resolve at a full meeting of the council that they meet two key conditions to access the general power of competence. These are that at least two-thirds of the councillors must hold office as a result of standing for election, rather than being co-opted, and that the clerk to the council must have obtained relevant training. Once the order is in force, the general power of competence provisions in the 2011 Act will be in place for the full range of local authorities intended. At present, the Parish Councils (Power to Promote Well-being) (Prescribed Conditions) Order 2008 requires parish councils to fulfil four conditions to be able to use the well-being power. We are no longer asking that at least 80 per cent of councillors be trained in use of the power, nor are we asking parish councils to produce a statement of community intent as to community engagement. The reduction in the number of conditions that a parish council must meet to be able to use the power, together with the new ability to resolve to use the power for the first time following a by-election rather than having to wait until the next ordinary election, provides the right balance between democratic accountability and understanding to enable parish councils to make best use of the power. Once a resolution to use the power has been passed, a parish council remains eligible until the next annual meeting in a year of ordinary elections—up to four years—whether or not the conditions relating to electoral mandate and qualified clerk continue to be met. While we are keen for parish councils to strive to continue to meet these reasonable conditions of use, there will be circumstances where, through the loss of a clerk or elected councillor, the conditions are no longer met. It would clearly be impractical for eligibility to be assessed on a day-to-day basis. The order also provides for circumstances where a parish council cannot pass a further resolution at its next relevant annual meeting or decides that it does not wish to continue to use the power for whatever reason. Article 3 of the order will enable activity using the power that has been started but not completed to be continued. It is important that parish councillors are provided with appropriate advice in taking on the enhanced role that the general power of competence will enable. We are therefore keen to make sure that the parish clerk has the right knowledge, skills and competencies. The qualifications that a clerk must hold for the purposes of this order are based on the approved training for parish council clerks set out in the quality parish council scheme run by the National Association of Local Councils. The order also makes provision in case the qualifications themselves are changed or updated. The clerk must have completed the relevant training in the use of the power. As agreed with my department and the National Association of Local Councils, the Society of Local Council Clerks is currently updating the training material so that, once the order is in place, parish clerks will be able to undertake the appropriate training or update their existing qualifications in line with the requirements of the order. The order will complete the Government's coalition promise to provide a general power of competence for English local authorities. It will allow parish councils to meet two conditions to use the new power and it is an important step along the way towards the devolution of power from the centre to the most local tier of local government closest to their communities. I commend the order to the Committee.