§ Mr. DayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for improving local services by streamlining the regulation of local government; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. CurryThe Government are determined to remove all unnecessary bureaucratic regulation of local government. As part of this commitment my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales have today published a paper for consultation, "Deregulating Local Government".
The paper makes proposals for further specific measures in the following areas of local authority activity: enforcement action, finance and administration, housing, personal social services, and traffic and highways. It also reviews progress to date on freeing up local government from unnecessary bureaucratic requirements, Finally, it invites consultees to put forward their own proposals for further streamlining and reducing the regulation of local government.
Regulatory regimes for local government should be kept to the minimum necessary to safeguard our national policies for services and the management of the economy. This will help local authorities to be responsive to the needs and wishes of their local businesses and citizens, and to provide them with quality services which they want and can afford.
I have arranged for copies of the paper to be placed in the Library. Copies are also being sent to the local authority associations, individual local authorities, and to other interested bodies, all of whom are being invited to respond by 1 May 1995.