HC Deb 08 December 1999 vol 340 cc549-50W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the smallest district council area which will be covered by the proposed cabinet structure for local government. [101284]

Ms Beverley Hughes

The Local Government Bill, which was read a Second time in the other place on 6 December, includes provision for all district councils, including Watford Borough Council which has the smallest area among such councils, to adopt new constitutions including a separate executive.

Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what his proposed timetable is for the introduction of cabinet government into district councils. [101286]

Ms Beverley Hughes

Subject to Parliament enacting the Local Government Bill, all councils will be required to put forward proposals for new constitutions, including their proposed timetable for implementation. As our White Paper "Modern Local Government: In Touch with the People" (Cm 4014) made clear, should there be any cases where progress is not being made, it will be open to the Secretary of State to use his reserve power to intervene.

Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what exemptions he proposes from the planned cabinet government structure for district councils; and whether the criteria for exemption will include(a) size of district, (b) population and (c) number of councils. [101285]

Ms Beverley Hughes

The Local Government Bill provides that all district councils shall have a duty to bring forward proposals to move to one of the new forms of constitution involving a separate executive.

Mr. Casale

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice he has given local authorities which wish to introduce new local government structures before the Local Government Bill is enacted. [101978]

Ms Beverley Hughes

In March, we published the paper "Local leadership, local choice" (Cm 4298), which set out proposals for more efficient, transparent and accountable constitutions for councils and which included a checklist of steps that councils could take before legislation. The paper made clear that any new structure a council adopted should be what its local people wanted and therefore the council must consult its local community widely on all available options before making any change.