English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill 2024-26

4

Clause 3, page 2, line 27, leave out subsections (1) to (3) and insert— "(1) A unitary district council or a county council may submit a proposal to the Secretary of State for designation as a single foundation strategic authority. (2) A proposal under subsection (1) must be prepared in such form and contain such information as the Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe. (3) The Secretary of State may by regulations designate a unitary district council as a single foundation strategic authority if— (a) a proposal has been submitted in accordance with subsection (1), and (b) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the designation is appropriate having regard to the need to secure effective and convenient local government in relation to the areas of competence.”

30

Clause 3, page 2, line 32, at end insert— "(3A) Before making a designation under this section, the Secretary of State must consult town and parish councils within the area of the proposed single foundation strategic authority.”

38

Clause 3, page 2, line 32, at end insert— "(3A) The Secretary of State must make provision to ensure councils designated as a single foundation strategic authority receives adequate funding to facilitate their transition."

25

Schedule 1, page 83, line 3, at end insert— "(6A) After preparing a proposal the Secretary of State must publish a statement demonstrating how the physical geography, community identity, and the boundaries of other public services in the area would be affected by the proposal."

39

Schedule 1, page 83, line 3, at end insert— “(6A) The Secretary of State must consult town and parish councils within the proposed new combined authority area.”

27

Schedule 1, page 84, line 13, at end insert— “(9A) The Secretary of State must make provision to ensure the combined authority receives adequate funding to facilitate its establishment.”

32

Schedule 1, page 85, line 37, at end insert— “(2A) The Secretary of State has obtained consent for the proposal from any affected local government area.”

31

Schedule 1, page 86, line 20, after “to” insert “and thereafter consult with”

33

Schedule 1, page 86, line 27, at end insert— "(da) any town and parish councils whose area would be added to the area of the combined authority, and."

28

Schedule 1, page 87, leave out lines 1 to 29

29

Schedule 1, page 95, leave out paragraph 33 and 34

6

Page 11, line 1, leave out Clause 9

19

Page 109, line 1, leave out Schedule 3

20

Clause 10, page 12, line 32, at end insert— "(3A) A report made by a relevant remuneration panel must be laid by the Secretary of State before both Houses of Parliament at least 30 days before a CCA may make a scheme based on the report."

8

Clause 12, page 16, line 24, at end insert— "(9AA) A combined authority or CCA must provide a report to the Secretary of State to lay before both Houses of Parliament a report detailing the reasons for which they are seeking consent to exercise the power conferred by section 1.”

21

Clause 21, page 23, line 28, leave out subsection (b) and insert— "(b) one or more of the following— (i) health and social care; (ii) planning; (iii) environmental concerns; (iv) funding; (v) sustainability measures; (vi) education;

22

Clause 44, page 46, line 2, at beginning insert “The Secretary of State may by regulations require that”

23

Clause 44, page 46, line 6, at end insert— “(1B) Regulations under section 107F and 107FA are subject to the affirmative procedure”

26

Clause 45, page 50, line 25, at end insert— “(c) a statutory instrument containing a draft of any such order has been laid before, and approved by, each House of Parliament.”

24

Schedule 21, page 209, leave out lines 25 to 31

9

Clause 46, page 53, line 15, at end insert— "(7) Regulations made under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.”

3

Clause 49, page 54, line 30, leave out subsection (3) and insert— "(3) Where a notification under subsection (1) is given, the Secretary of State must, within the period of six months beginning with the day on which the notification is given, give effect to the change or changes proposed by the mayor or mayors. (4) Effect may be given under subsection (3) by means of regulations made by statutory instrument. (5) A statutory instrument made under subsection (4) is— (a) subject to the affirmative procedure if it— (i) amends an Act of Parliament, or (ii) confers or modifies a function which relates to an area of competence; (b) where neither of the conditions in paragraph (a) apply, subject to the negative procedure.”

10

Clause 49, page 54, line 36, at end insert— "(4) No decision under subsection (3) may be implemented unless— (a) the Secretary of State has made regulations giving effect to the decision, (b) a statutory instrument containing the regulations has been laid before and approved by both Houses of Parliament, and (c) save as where provided for otherwise, regulations giving effect to any decision made under section are subject to the affirmative procedure.”

1

Clause 53, page 58, line 31, at end insert— "(10) Regulations made under this section are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure."

5

Page 59, line 20, leave out Clause 55

2

Schedule 24, page 246, line 27, after "government” insert— "having particular regard to the need for the new single tier of local government, or new unitary council, to— (a) be of an appropriate geographical size, giving consideration to— (i) economic zones, (ii) physical geography,

11

Page 245, line 29, leave out Schedule 24

12

Page 60, line 5, leave out Clause 57

14

Page 250, line 7, leave out Schedule 25

13

Clause 58, page 60, line 11, at end insert— "(1A) It is a duty of a local authority to specify the description of a neighbourhood area that will apply within the local authority's area for the purposes of subsection (1)."

15

Clause 58, page 60, line 29, at end insert— "(4A) But regulations may not— (a) alter— (i) any function exercised by, or (ii) any power available by or under any Act of Parliament to, a parish or town council, or (b) make provision for the abolition of any parish or town council.”

34

Clause 58, page 60, line 29, at end insert— "(4A) Regulations under this section may not include power for the Secretary of State to specify the description of any neighbourhood area."

35

Schedule 27, page 265, line 41, after "economic,” insert ", environmental,"

36

Schedule 27, page 266, line 4, after “economic,” insert “, environmental,”

37

Schedule 27, page 266, line 12, after “economic,” insert “, environmental,”

40

Schedule 27, page 266, line 18, after “economic,” insert “, environmental,”

42

Schedule 27, page 267, line 23, at end insert— “(1A) Where a local authority is responsible for assessing whether land in its area is a sporting asset of community value, the Secretary of State must ensure the authority receives adequate funding to make the assessment.”

41

Schedule 27, page 279, line 17, at end insert— “(2A) The relevant local authority must as far as reasonably practicable support the preferred community buyer in securing the purchase land of community value.”

16

Schedule 27, page 280, line 28, at end insert— “(9A) The Secretary of State must ensure local authorities are adequately funded to meet the expenses of a valuation under this section.”

18

Clause 62, page 65, line 17, leave out from "acting” to end, and insert “who— (a) are wholly independent of the Local Audit Office, and (b) possess appropriate expertise. (2) The Secretary of State must approve any appointment made for the purposes of subsection (2), and may only do so when they are satisfied that the person to be appointed satisfies the criteria specified in that subsection.”

17

Clause 63, page 67, line 5, at end insert— "(5) A Local Audit Office may make arrangements about— (a) the membership of an audit committee; (b) the appointment of the members; and (c) the conduct and practices of the committee.”

NC2

To move the following Clause— "Policy delivery in areas of competence (1) Any function of a mayoral combined authority or mayoral combined county authority which— (a) relates to an area of competence, and (b) is not a mayoral function exercisable solely by the mayor must be exercised by or under the direct authority of the constituent members of that authority. (2) No person may be appointed to exercise any function that relates to making or delivering policy relating to an area of competence unless that person is an elected member of— (a) the relevant strategic authority, or (b) a constituent council within the relevant strategic authority. (3) Nothing in this section is to be taking as preventing the appointment of staff by the strategic authority or its elected members for the purposes of administrative, advisory or technical support for the exercise of its functions. (4) For the purposes of this section, “constituent members” means any elected representative who is — (a) appointed by a constituent council to be a member of the mayoral combined authority or mayoral combined county authority; (b) any person acting in the place of a person appointed under paragraph (a)."

NC3

To move the following Clause— "Duty to ensure public trust and financial transparency (1) The mayor for the area of a combined authority or combined county authority must take reasonable steps to ensure that information regarding the authority's financial affairs, including its annual budget, significant expenditure, and

NC4

To move the following Clause— "Funding for Local Authority governance reorganisation The Secretary of State has a duty to ensure that local authorities are adequately funded for any purposes relating to the reorganisation of cabinet governance structures that are required or enabled by this Act."

NC5

To move the following Clause— "Resource and support for local authority implementation of the Act (1) The Secretary of State has a duty to ensure that relevant authorities are provided with the resources and support necessary in order to carry out any functions conferred on, or required of, them by virtue of this Act. (2) Any resources and support provided by the Secretary of State must be sufficient to ensure that there is no delay to the holding of any future local elections resulting from the implementation of, or delay to the implementation of, this Act."

NC6

To move the following Clause— “Councillors: proportional representation vote system (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations introduce a proportional representation vote system in elections of local authority councillors. (2) The regulations in subsection (1) are subject to the affirmative procedure.”

NC1

To move the following Clause—<br> <b>“Community infrastructure levy charges: guidance</b><br> (1) The Secretary of State must, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and publish guidance for charging authorities on—<br> (a) the implementation and administration of community infrastructure levy charges;<br> (b) appropriate procedures for handling technical errors in the calculation, notification, or collection of community infrastructure levy charges; and<br> (c) best practice for resolving disputes relating to community infrastructure levy charges where technical errors have occurred.<br> (2) The guidance under subsection (1) must include—<br> (a) guidance on what constitutes a technical error in the context of community infrastructure levy charges;<br> (b) recommended procedures for reviewing and, where appropriate, waiving or reducing community infrastructure levy charges where a technical error has occurred;<br> (c) principles to guide the proportionate collection of community infrastructure levy payments when technical errors have been identified; and<br> (d) time limits for the rectification of technical errors.<br> (3) In this section—<br> “charging authority” has the meaning given in section 106 of the Planning Act 2008, as amended by Schedule 14 of this Act;<br> “technical error” means an error in the calculation, notification, or administration of a Community Infrastructure Levy charge that is not related to a material change in the development to which the charge applies.”