Mayors

(asked on 8th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the robustness of (1) checks and balances on, and (2) scrutiny of, directly-elected mayors in England.


Answered by
Lord Greenhalgh Portrait
Lord Greenhalgh
This question was answered on 22nd December 2020

All principal and combined authorities that operate with a directly-elected mayor are required to have at least one overview and scrutiny committee to hold the executive to account. Combined authorities must also put in place an audit committee to provide additional challenge and, although it is not a statutory requirement, most principal authorities do the same. Overview and scrutiny committees have powers to investigate executives’ policies and their implementation, call in decisions that have been made but not yet implemented, issue reports and draw attention to shortcomings.

Overview and scrutiny arrangements are just one element of the wider accountability framework for local government. Other key elements include: independent audit, codes of conduct, complaints handling and whistleblowing procedures, statutory officers, and transparency of information and meetings. As with all government policy, we keep the accountability framework for local government under review.

Local authorities are independent of central government. Ministers have no remit to intervene in the day to day affairs of local authorities, except where specific provision has been made in legislation. However, this does not mean there is no accountability for local councils. Local authorities must act in accordance with legislation and are ultimately accountable through the ballot box for the decisions that they make.

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