The Local Government Association last night secured an important
victory in the Brexit negotiating process with the Government
agreeing that, once the UK exits the EU, a process will be
established to consult local government on matters they would
have been consulted on through the EU Committee of the Regions.
Local government currently has a formal advisory role in the EU
law and policy-making process through its membership of the EU
Committee of the Regions. This formal involvement in law-making
has ensured that EU laws are improved by the experience of those
at the frontline of delivery.
The LGA, together with the local government associations in
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, have been in discussion
with the UK Government about how this advisory role might be
replicated in UK law. Our shared ambition is to replicate the
advisory role of local government in the UK post-exit, without
creating new bureaucracies, to help continue our role in good
law-making and ensure no deficiency in local government powers.
Last night’s statement by the Government in the Lords is a
positive step towards replicating the advisory role of local
government in the UK post-exit, without creating new
bureaucracies.
Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chairman of the LGA’s Brexit Task and Finish
Group, said:
“Brexit should not simply mean a transfer of powers from Brussels
to Westminster, Holyrood, Stormont and Cardiff Bay. It must lead
to new legislative freedoms and flexibilities for councils so
that residents and businesses benefit. Taking decisions over how
to run local services closer to where people live is key to
improving them and saving money.
“We are pleased that the Government has offered assurances that
they will replicate the consultative rights that local government
currently has at European level following the UK’s exit from the
EU. We look forward to meeting with the Government very soon
to iron out the details.
“Replicating the advisory role of local government in the UK
post-exit, without creating new bureaucracies, will help continue
our role in good law-making and ensure no deficiency in local
government powers, bringing decisions closer to the communities
they affect.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Commenting
on Amendment 227, moved by and supported by
, The Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and
Local Government and Wales Office (Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth),
said:
“Through a ministerial Statement to Parliament, the
Government will give local government a clear assurance about how
it can expect to be consulted on certain matters which, following
their repatriation from Europe, will now be handled at the United
Kingdom level. These matters will be those which local government
would have been consulted on through the mechanism of the
Committee of the Regions. In this way, we could have a flexible,
non-statutory mechanism that, in essence, replicates for local
government the rights and responsibilities it had through the
Committee of the Regions, but in a lighter-touch,
non-bureaucratic way. Any such new consultative arrangements will
need to complement the wide range of domestic processes and
procedures the Government already have for consulting local
government.”
https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2018-03-19/debates/47210FF1-A5B4-4CC6-895D-8F4C1838316D/EuropeanUnion(Withdrawal)Bill
- Amendment
227, moved by , is as follows;
“Local government consultation
Her Majesty’s Government must—(a) maintain a full
consultative role for local authorities in the planning and
decision-making processes involved in the United Kingdom’s
withdrawal from the EU, in due time and in an appropriate way for
all matters which concern them, and(b) provide by regulations
made by a Minister of the Crown for a formal mechanism in
domestic law to replicate the advisory role conferred on local
authorities via membership of the EU Committee of the Regions
within the United Kingdom after exit day.”
