Local Government (Hansard, 23 July 2002)

§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)

Officials at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister maintain a record to monitor the implementation by local authorities under the Local Government Act 2000 of their new constitutions, including those authorities operating or planning to operate executive arrangements involving a cabinet.

According to the information which local authorities have provided:

as of 11 July 2002, 383 local authorities have implemented a new constitution, with the remaining three planning to implement by the end of 2002;

316 authorities are operating executive arrangements involving a leader and cabinet;

10 local authorities are or will be operating executive arrangements involving a directly elected mayor and cabinet;

one local authority will be operating executive arrangements involving a directly elected mayor and cabinet;

the remaining 59 authorities are operating the alternative form of arrangements available under the Act involving a streamlined version of the committee system. One of these will be holding a referendum on whether to move to arrangements involving a directly elected mayor and cabinet executive, having received a valid petition from local people which requires such a referendum.

This monitoring supports the public service agreement target the Government have set to ensure that by December 2002 each council has adopted and put into operation a new constitution which is transparent, accountable and efficient

In addition, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has recently let a contract to a consortium involving Manchester University, Birkbeck College London, Goldsmith College London and Salford University, to undertake a five-year evaluation of the new council constitutions policy, including the effectiveness of executive arrangements. Results of this evaluation are not yet available.