WIDDICOMBE REPORT: RESPONSE (Hansard, 21 July 1988)

The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Caithness)

The Government response to the report of the Widdicombe Committee on the Conduct of Local Authority Business has been published today as a White Paper (Cmnd. 433).

The Widdicombe Committee provided us with a comprehensive analysis of the way in which local authorities are operating. The Government has since conducted extensive consultations on the committee's report. We are grateful to the committee, to all who assisted them and to all who have commented on their report, for the quality of the analysis and contributions to the debate.

Matters have not, however, stood still since the committee was appointed. There have been significant changes, most recently in the legislation requiring competition for major services and the proposals for a community charge. The Government's response therefore takes account of the greater emphasis on efficiency, local accountability and meeting the needs of the customer which these changes in legislation and attitude are introducing, as well as of the views expressed in the consultation process.

The central conclusion of the Widdicombe report was that, as a result of increased politicisation, there was a need for a package of measures to strengthen local democracy and accountability. The Government accept this central conclusion. The White Paper sets out our proposed package. With one important exception, it accepts the general approach recommended, but differs in emphasis and extent.

The most significant difference, which accords with the more or less unanimous views of local authorities, is that we do not accept the proposal for a statutory post of chief executive. The Widdicombe Committee recommend that such a chief executive should have both overall management responsibility for the services of the authority, and the power, on certain matters, to control the decisions of the elected councillors. The Government do not consider that a requirement for such a post is appropriate.

We therefore propose a package with the following main elements. Council committees and subcommittees would be required to reflect the political composition of the council. Voting powers would be removed from co-opted members of decision-making committees. This would not apply to representatives on education committees of churches and other organisations providing voluntary schools. It would not affect the appointment of magistrates to police committees.

We accept the need for a core of standing orders which ensure a proper balance between the despatch of business and the rights of minorities. We propose 1582WA that these should be developed in consultation with the local authority associations.

Turning to the position of councillor, we accept the proposed statutory register of councillors' pecuniary interests. We also accept the advantages of a basic fiat-rate allowance for councillors in place of the present attendance and financial loss allowances. We propose discussions with the local authority associations over this, but we see no justification for increases in overall expenditure on councillors' remuneration.

We accept the need for measures to ensure an efficient, expert and politically impartial local authority service.

We propose that chief and deputy chief officers and others who advise, or act on behalf of, local authorities should not be members of other local authorities or undertake public political activity. This prohibition would be analogous to the existing rules for civil servants. It would be more precisely targeted, and would apply to a more restricted class, than the corresponding proposal of the Widdicombe Committee. It would be complemented by the proposed limit on paid leave for other council staff for activities as local authority members.

All local authority appointments outside the politically restricted group would be required to be delegated to the appropriate officer.

We also propose that officers should be appointed specifically to advise on the legality and propriety of the authority's activities, and on the management of the authority's services.

The Widdicombe Committee also considered the powers of local authorities to undertake discretionary expenditure.

We propose a new, circumscribed power for local authorities to undertake economic development activity in place of existing powers.

In consequence, the limit on discretionary spending under Sections 137 and 83 would be adjusted and restated in terms of an amount per head of the adult population. The Government propose that this should be £5 per head with a single tier of local government and £2.50 for each tier elsewhere. The current capacity for expenditure under this power by community and parish councils would also be redistributed on the basis of population.

The thorough work of the Widdicombe Committee and the widespread consultation on its recommendations have provided the basis for an effective overhaul of the way in which local government operates. Coupled with existing legislative changes and with the changes in attitude which are becoming apparent, the proposals will help to keep the local government system in this country functioning on a secure basis, to enable it to carry on its essential work into the next century.