Agenda item

An introduction to the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill and other relevant legislation announced in the Queen’s speech.

It was noted that the Cities and Local Government Bill was proceeding through Parliament at the present time, currently in the House of Lords.

Board members raised the following points in the discussion that followed to inform the LGA’s lobbying strategy:

·         The Bill appeared to give the Secretary of State a great deal of discretion to approve or turn down proposals, without few mechanisms to hold the Secretary of State to account.

·         It was important at every stage to ensure the needs of local authority residents were considered.

·         There were concerns about balancing the speed at which the Bill is proceeding through Parliament with appropriate scrutiny.

·         The importance of the Bill being flexible enough to allow a range of future discussions on devolution within localities and governance arrangements.

·         The need to maintain links with other LGA Boards to feed in a non-metropolitan viewpoint where necessary.

Decision

The Board agreed to focus their discussion on four areas:

·         Amendments and lobbying on the Bill;

·         Keeping up the pressure to make progress on the ground;

·         Examining governance options; and

Securing local government’s position through a constitutional settlement