Councils are to be given more powers over planning and communities will benefit financially from the development of new infrastructure under the Decentralisation and Localism Bill, due to be published this afternoon.
However, it is currently unclear whether the bill will contain provisions for communities to actually own a share in new energy-from waste facilities in their area or to benefit from subsidised energy bills – as has been championed by waste management firm SITA UK (see letsrecycle.com story).
For too long, everything has been controlled from the centre – and look where it's got us
Eric Pickles, communities secretary
The Bill, which will be unveiled to the House of Commons by communities secretary Eric Pickles, will provide the legislative detail for a range of measures affecting planning which the coalition had championed under its localism agenda, including:
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Requiring prospective developers to consult local communities before submitting planning applications for very large developments;
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Reforming the levy which councils use to set the charges developers pays when bringing forward new infrastructure, the Community Infrastructure Levy, so that some of the funds paid are passed to the neighbourhoods affected by a development, with councils having more power to set the charging levels;
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Removing the ability of the Planning Inspectorate to re-write local plans;
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“Sweeping away” a regional approach to planning and replacing it with neighbourhood plans which will allow communities to permit development if a local majority are in favour;
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Abolishing the independent Infrastructure Planning Commission as the decision making body for major infrastructure projects – such as large energy-from-waste incinerators, and handing this power to ministers.
Powers
Among the other changes the Bill includes are giving the public, councillors and councils the power to instigate non-binding referendums on local issues which councils and other public authorities will then have to take into account when making decisions.
It also raises the potential for communities to look to run their waste services by giving them the power to express an interest in running any service the council runs. The council must then consider and respond to this challenge, potentially by running a procurement exercise for the service.
Elsewhere, it will introduce a general power of competence, whereby councils can do anything apart from something which is specifically prohibited, which, the department of communities and local government said, “will give councils the legal reassurance and confidence to innovate [and] drive down costs to deliver more efficient services”.
And, it will give the public the power to veto “excessive” council tax increases – above a ceiling set by the government – using referendums. Some have suggested this could affect councils' ability to raise extra revenue which could compensate for reduced central government funding, thereby protecting frontline services such as waste.
Pay-as-you-throw
As expected, the Bill will also bring to an end powers introduced as part of the Climate Change Act 2008 which allowed councils to run so-called “pay-as-you-throw” schemes (see letsrecycle.com story).
Instead, the coalition has championed incentives schemes – such as the US-devised recycling rewards initiative RecycleBank – as being the modern face of recycling collections (see letsrecycle.com story).
Commenting on the Localism Bill, Mr Pickles said it would herald a “ground-breaking” shift in power to councils and communities from central government.
“It is the centrepiece of what this Government is trying to do to fundamentally shake up the balance of power in this country. For too long, everything has been controlled from the centre – and look where it's got us. Central government has kept local government on a tight leash, strangling the life out of councils in the belief that bureaucrats know best.
“By getting out of the way and letting councils and communities run their own affairs we can restore civic pride, democratic accountability and economic growth – and build a stronger, fairer Britain. It's the end of the era of big government: laying the foundations for the Big Society,” he added.
More details on the Decentralisation and Localism Bill, including the full text of the legislative proposals, are expected to be revealed later today.
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