Joint report of the Deputy Chief Executive and the Executive Director, Resources.
Minutes:
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7.2 |
AGENDA ITEM 9: COMMUNITY RIGHT TO CHALLENGE – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE LOCALISM ACT 2011 |
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7.2.1 |
The Deputy Chief Executive and the Executive Director, Resources, submitted a joint report referring to the provisions of part 5 of the Localism Act which gave community and voluntary sector groups, and employees of the Council the right to challenge the Council on the delivery of certain services. Under the Act, the Council would need to publish timescales and develop an internal policy and process for accepting and reviewing challenges prior to the relevant provisions of the Act coming into force. The process for implementing the provisions would be largely determined by the regulations issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the final version of which had yet to be issued. |
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7.2.2 |
RESOLVED: That Cabinet :- |
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(a) |
delegates to the Director of Commercial Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Finance and Resources and Communities and Inclusion, and the Directors of Policy, Partnerships and Research and Legal Services, authority to specify the periods under Part 5, Chapter 2 of the Localism Act 2011 for dealing with Expressions of Interest (EOI) as defined in the Act and Regulations when they come into force; and |
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(b) |
delegates to the Director of Commercial Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Members Finance and Resources and Communities and Inclusion, and the Directors of Policy, Partnerships and Research and Legal Services, authority to agree the internal policy and procedure for considering an EOI. |
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7.2.3 |
Reasons for Decision |
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The latest indication from Government is that these provisions will come into force in late May or June, shortly after the Regulations are laid before Parliament. This means that there will not be sufficient time between Regulations being laid and the provisions coming into force for the Regulations to be included within a process and a report to reach Cabinet. The Council needs to be in a position to respond quickly to allow it to set windows when EOI can be submitted, while it develops policy and procedure to respond to those EOI in line with the Act and the associated Regulations |
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7.2.4 |
Alternatives Considered and Rejected |
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Approval of the timescales and the process could be referred back to Cabinet. |
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