HL Deb 20 December 1983 vol 446 cc717-8WA
Lord Graham of Edmonton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the joint boards proposed in the White Paper (Cmnd. 9063) will be able to determine how they are to be serviced, or whether that will be a matter for the Metropolitan District Councils to agree between themselves;

Whether the joint hoards proposed in the White Paper (Cmnd. 9063) will be able to employ their own operational and administrative staff;

Whether, under the proposals outlined in Cmnd. 9063, district councillors serving on joint hoards will be (a) delegates of the district councils appointing them or (b) representatives of those councils or (c) appointed by but not legally responsible to those councils.

The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)

The White PaperStreamlining the Cities (Cmnd. 9063) states that the proposed joint boards would have power to employ staff. It indicates also that the Government would expect them, where appropriate, to make arrangements for the sharing of administrative and other staff.

As the White Paper indicates, the proposed boards would be responsible for their own decisions (including decisions on staffing and servicing). However, the councillors serving on the hoards would be appointed by the borough or district councils; they would be recallable at will, and would have to reflect the views of those councils. The boards' precepts would be subject to approval by the Secretary of State for the first three financial years; and there would be power to specify levels of manpower or manpower expenditure.

The Government will take final decisions on all these matters in the light of the outcome of the consultations which are now in progress.

Lord Graham of Edmonton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Under the proposals contained in Cmnd. 9063 how many district councillors will be members of:

  1. (a) Joint boards;
  2. (b) Joint committees in each of the six metropolitan county areas (assuming no over-lapping of membership), and how this compares with the present number of metropolitan county councillors in each area.

Lord Bellwin

The White Paper contains proposals for the size of the statutory joint hoards. The size of any joint committees would be a matter for the constituent authorities to decide. The information is as follows:

Metropolitan Areas Number of district councillors serving on joint boards* Number of county councillors
Greater Manchester 90 106
Merseyside 54 99
South Yorkshire 36 100
Tyne and Wear 45 104
West Midlands 81 104
West Yorkshire 66 88
*Assuming no councillor serves on more than one of the joint boards, and that there are three boards(for police, fire and public transport) in each metropolitan county area.

Lord Graham of Edmonton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What will be the minimum and maximum total number of:

  1. (a) Joint boards;
  2. (b) Joint committees:
  3. (c).Joint working arrangements;
to be set up in the areas presently covered by the six metropolitan county councils, if the proposals outlined in Cmnd. 9063 are implemented.

Lord Bellwin

The White Paper proposes three joint hoards (for fire, police and public transport) in each of the metropolitan county areas. For waste disposal the White Paper indicates that the Government intend to take reserve powers to establish statutory joint arrangements if they are not satisfied that the authorities have made adequate voluntary arrangements. For other services the district councils will decide any arrangements for voluntary co-operation where necessary.