Draft Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Corporate Joint Committees) (Consequential Amendments) Order 2023
(1 year, 7 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Dr James Davies)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Corporate Joint Committees) (Consequential Amendments) Order 2023.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. The draft order will make changes to UK legislation following the establishment of corporate joint committees in Wales under powers in the Senedd’s Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. That Act established a new framework for regional collaboration between local authorities in Wales on bodies called corporate joint committees. It is fair to say that there has been a mixed reaction to them, but the concept behind them is that they can exercise functions regionally that have been transferred from principal councils. They can be established at the request of two or more principal councils or, in relation to some functions, at the instigation of Welsh Ministers.
The Welsh Government have established four CJCs—North Wales, Mid Wales, South East Wales and South West Wales—reflecting the four city and growth deal areas. Each CJC comprises the leaders of its constituent county and county borough councils, and eligible office holders from national park authorities in the CJC area. As corporate bodies, CJCs are able to employ staff directly, hold assets, and manage budgets. CJCs formally began operating on 1 April 2021. From June of last year, they came under a duty to prepare strategic development plans and regional transport plans for their region. They have the power to do anything to enhance or promote the economic wellbeing of their area. As CJCs develop, Welsh Ministers may decide to increase their functions through regulations, although the Welsh Government have said that there are no plans to do so.
This order will put CJCs on the same footing as local authorities in Wales in a number of respects. In particular, the order deals with most fiscal and employment matters relating to CJCs, with the exception of VAT. His Majesty’s Treasury made a separate order admitting the four CJCs into the VAT refund scheme from 9 February. Article 2 of the order adds CJCs to the definition of “local authority” in paragraph 1(2)(a) of schedule 4 to the National Loans Act 1968. That will allow the Treasury to provide loans to CJCs, just as it can to local authorities. Section 119 of the Local Government Act 1972 provides that in the event of the death of a local authority officer, moneys owing to their estate from the local authority can be paid to personal representatives of the estate of the deceased. Article 3 of the order clarifies that the term “local authority” in section 119 covers a CJC.
Articles 4 and 5 of the order provide that CJCs are to be treated in the same way as local authorities in respect of tax on their income, the taxation of chargeable gains, and corporation tax. The Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government, etc.) (Modification) Order 1999 modifies certain provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996 concerning redundancy payments for persons employed by certain local government employers and other employers in related sectors. Article 6 of the order ensures that CJC employees have the same rights as principal council staff in respect of any redundancy payments.
Finally, article 7 adds the four CJCs to the list of scheduled employers in part 1 of schedule 2 to the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013, and sets out in part 2 of schedule 3 to those regulations which local Government pension scheme administrating authorities will apply to CJCs. This will ensure that CJC employees are automatically admitted to a pension scheme.
The four city and growth deals have demonstrated the benefits of breaking down local administrative barriers and taking a wider regional approach to delivering jobs and economic growth. They are delivering for their areas through initiatives such as the Pentre Awel project in Llanelli and the digital signal processing centre at Bangor University. Indeed, some regions are already exploring the case for embedding their city and growth deal work in their CJC. I trust that the Welsh regions will benefit from the strategic, more joined-up approach to land use and transport planning that the CJCs will provide. I commend the order to the Committee.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. As the Minister has outlined, the order allows for technical amendments. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 provided for the establishment of corporate joint committees, which enable and support the delivery of important local government functions regionally. A small number of outstanding technical issues emerged during implementation of the CJCs, including in relation to taxation status and pensions.
When issues arising from Senedd legislation require amendment of UK-wide legislation in a way that is beyond the Senedd’s legislative competence, an order under section 150—“Power to make consequential provision”—of the Government of Wales Act 2006 can be developed in partnership with the Government in Westminster. The changes will resolve key operational issues that CJCs have raised, and allow them to plan with confidence for future financial years.
Section 150 supports the delivery of the commitment in the Welsh Government’s programme for government to ensure that each region in Wales has effective and democratically accountable means of developing its economy. The Welsh Government have established CJCs to support and encourage regional working through a coherent, consistent, simplified and democratically controlled mechanism. CJCs will allow partners to deliver their regional ambitions, develop successful regional economies, and ensure local growth in a collaborative and strategic way. As the order has been developed with the Welsh Government, and makes technical amendments that result in a coherent, democratically controlled mechanism that operates regionally, we do not oppose it.
Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con)
I would be grateful for the Minister’s clarification of a point, to aid my understanding. The explanatory notes say that CJCs
“are largely subject to the same powers and duties as principal councils in the way they operate.”
Councils, which are made up of elected representatives, are accountable to the local electorate; to whom will CJCs be accountable? How will that accountability work?
Dr Davies
I thank hon. Members for their short contributions to the debate. The order makes a number of consequential changes to UK law that are necessary to place the new corporate joint committees in Wales on the same footing as all local authorities. I welcome the comments and support of the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. On the accountability point that my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton raised, the representatives of each constituent local authority will be accountable to the members of that local authority, and ultimately to the electorate. The Welsh Government will also oversee the performance of these bodies. Of course, this project is primarily led by the Welsh Government, so these questions are also to be directed at them.
I close by offering my thanks for the productive manner in which the UK and Welsh Governments have worked together to prepare the order, and I commend it to the Committee.
Question put and agreed to.