ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

BILLS

Local Government (Finance) Bill

arc21 Submission to Committee Consultation

Mr Sean McCann
Assistant Clerk
Environment Committee
Room 247
Parliament Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast BT4 3XX
18 June 2010

Dear Mr McCann

Local Government (Finance) Bill

Introduction

I refer to your letter of 30 April 2010 to SOLACE inviting views on the proposed Local Government (Finance) Bill which has commenced Committee Stage at the Committee for the Environment.

arc21 would like to respond to the invitation to comment on the Bill as it progresses through the legislative process, following on from our response, on 29 October 2009, to the Draft Local Government (Finance) Bill issued by the Local Government Policy Division.

General Comments

At the outset, arc21 would like to state that we are in favour of the Department’s proposal to modernise the current legislative framework relating to local government finance and Councillor’s remuneration in Northern Ireland.

The close involvement of local government is essential to the successful outcome of the updated legislative framework and opportunities to comment throughout the whole process leading up to enactment is therefore a crucial element of the process.

It is noted that, in the Departmental Response document issued in March 2010, it is the intention of the Department to consult with local government throughout the process and in particular with the Association of Local Government Finance Officers (ALGFO) and this is to be welcomed.

In our view it is essential that the legislative framework is brought up to date to assist the sector in dealing with the financial challenges and opportunities being faced in the years ahead. In this regard the proposed updating of the regulations of local government finance is timely.

arc21 also welcome the innovative feature of the proposed new framework which will allow district councils, and therefore Joint Committees, greater freedom to manage their own financial affairs.

Relevance to arc21 Joint Committee

You may be aware that arc21 was established by the Department of the Environment under section 19 of the Local Government Act ( Northern Ireland) 1972, by the Local Government (Constituting a Joint Committee a Body Corporate) Order ( Northern Ireland) 2004.

The powers of arc21 were further enhanced, in 2007, by the Local Government (Constituting a Joint Committee a Body Corporate) (Amendment) Order ( Northern Ireland) 2007. Of particular note in the 2007 Order, Part V of the 1972 Act (Financial Provisions) became applicable to arc21 as it applies to a council.

In terms of application to arc21 Joint Committee, we had suggested to the Local Government Policy Division that the Department take the opportunity to expressly state, in the Finance Bill, the provisions that would apply to Joint Committees i.e. similar to Schedule 7 of the 1972 Act.

The Departmental Response to the consultation document has stated that, due to the variety of work undertaken by the Joint Committees, it would be more appropriate to introduce subordinate legislation to amend the relevant Orders.

Although it would, in our opinion, still be preferable to make provision for arc21 Joint Committee in the Local Government (Finance) Bill, nonetheless we accept that updating the 2004 and 2007 Orders should deliver the same result.

The issues for arc21 concern the specific clauses that will apply and the timing of the updating of the Order and this will now be addressed through discussions with the Department.

Conclusion

In conclusion, arc21 welcomes the new modernisation of local government finance as outlined in the Bill and the increased flexibility proposed therein and would hope that the comments made are helpful to the Environment Committee in developing the final proposals.

Yours sincerely

GEORGE CRAIG
arc21
Corporate Services Director