TPP Law Limited

Bills in Parliament 2009

The Queen's Speech took place on 3 December 2008 and sets out the Government’s legislative programme for 2009. This article summarises the key provisions of those bills that will be of most interest to local authorities.

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill

The main elements of the Bill are:

	A duty on local government to promote democracy – to stimulate local debate, improve democratic understanding and take-up of civic roles.
	A legal duty on local authorities to respond to petitions.
	Extending the “duty to involve” so that local authorities ensure government bodies and agencies involve local people in their decision-making processes.
	Setting up a National Tenant Voice to ensure tenants’ views are central to decision-making on housing issues.
	Strengthening the powers of joint committees to enable them to look at a wider range of issues raised by local citizens.
	New powers for the Audit Commission (in England) and the Auditor General for Wales (in Wales) to appoint auditors to certain entities and provide power for the auditor to report public interest.
	Making the Boundary Committee for England an independent body and separate from the Electoral Commission.
	A new duty on local authorities to prepare an assessment of the economic conditions in their area.
	A joint duty on Regional Development Agencies and Local Authorities through a new Local Authority Leader’s Forum to produce a single regional strategy.
	The creation of multi area agreements with statutory duties. (Statutory duties to be available for existing MAAs).
	The creation of Economic Prosperity Boards.
	Improving the cash flow and adjudication of construction contracts through amendments to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

Policing and Crime Bill

The main elements of the Bill are provisions to:

	Increase police accountability and effectiveness by providing a clear and powerful voice for the public through directly elected representatives.
	Protect the public by facilitating and strengthening collaborative working of police forces at all levels from local neighbourhood policing through to the regional and national levels.
	Protect vulnerable groups, particularly women and children by tackling demand for prostitution and strengthening arrangements around sex offender prevention orders and foreign travel orders.
	Prevent low level crime and disorder taking root in communities by tightening controls around lap dancing clubs and the misuse of alcohol, including the sale of alcohol.
	Strengthen the ability to fight serious and organized crime through improved recovery of criminal assets and improved international judicial co-operation.
	Provide greater clarity for all in airport security by improving inter-agency co-operation in establishing airport security arrangements.

Equality Bill

A substantial body of equality legislation has been introduced over the last four decades, protecting millions of people from discrimination and promoting greater equality. But the legislation has become complex and hard to understand. The Equality Bill will simplify and strengthen the law.

The main elements of the Bill will be:

	The Bill will reduce nine major pieces of legislation, and around 100 statutory instruments into a single Act, making the law more accessible and easier to understand, so that everyone can be clear on their rights and responsibilities.
	The Bill will encourage a culture of equality, so that people from all backgrounds are able to make the most of their skills and talents.
	The Bill will deliver much needed simplification and harmonisation of discrimination law, providing straightforward, practical guidance so that everyone can understand and comply with their responsibilities.
	The Bill will require public bodies to give due regard to the need to tackle discrimination and promote equality through their purchasing functions.

Child Poverty Bill

This legislation will enshrine in law the Government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and will help to ensure that action is taken to tackle the causes as well as the consequences of poverty.

Health Bill

The main aims of the Bill will be:

	To ensure the highest possible standards of care and give more power to individuals to shape the care they receive.
	To reinforce the core purpose and values of the NHS, placing a duty on providers and commissioners of NHS services to have regard to a new NHS Constitution. The Constitution will be published alongside the Bill and will secure the enduring principles of the NHS, setting out the rights and responsibilities of patients and staff.
	To allow the further development of ways to give patients greater personalisation and control over the health care services they receive by involving them directly in the commissioning of health services.
	To drive up the quality of health services through a duty to produce new quality accounts - information on quality for patients, clinicians and managers, which would be used to inform local accountability for services, and to assist clinicians, commissioners and patients in driving improvements.
	To reduce the impact of tobacco on health and well-being in future generations by protecting children and young people from the harm caused by smoking.
	To extend the remit of the Local Government Ombudsman to enable him to consider complaints from people who have arranged their own adult social care. This will place these users on a similar footing to those adults whose social care is arranged and/or funded by Local Authorities.

Children, Skills and Learning Bill

The main elements of the Bill are:

	School standards - Ensuring every school is a good school by reducing burdens on the best while strengthening the powers to intervene where schools require support, and continuing the development of a world class school workforce.
	Tackling poor behaviour - Strengthening collaboration between schools giving them the powers they need to improve standards of behaviour.
	Realising potential - Giving people new rights to apprenticeships and training and improving the support to children and young people outside the mainstream sector to help them to realise their full potential and to provide employers with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century economy.
	Local involvement - Ensuring that delivery of learning and skills provision and other support to children and their families is locally owned, locally integrated and also accountable and responsive to individuals’ needs and choices.
	Slimmer National Infrastructure - Establishing a slimmed down, lighter touch national infrastructure which is driven by customer choice and exists to support local delivery, promote excellence and increase confidence.

Political Parties and Elections Bill

The Political Parties and Elections Bill, being brought forward from the previous session of Parliament, will strengthen the regulatory role of the Electoral Commission, introduce greater transparency of political donations, and strengthen the arrangements for regulating candidate expenditure. The Bill also makes reforms to improve the administration of elections in the UK.

The main elements of the Bill are to:

	Strengthen the regulatory powers of the Electoral Commission, to provide new powers of investigation and the option of civil sanctions;
	Enable political parties to put forward four Electoral Commissioners to be in a minority on the Commission, and relax political restrictions on staff of the Commission;
	Regulate spending by candidates for a longer period so that spending for electoral purposes is more effectively constrained;
	Place further requirements on parties and donors to clarify disclosure of the source of donations;
	Amend the Representation of the People Act 1983 to provide a more flexible system for adding to the register of electors when an election is called during the canvass period while the register is being updated;
	Allow for the administration of European Parliament elections by local authority (rather than Parliamentary) returning officers, to help ensure the successful delivery of elections.

Business Rates Supplement Bill

The main elements of the Bill will be:

	To give local authorities new flexibilities to set a supplement on the current national business rate of up to 2p per pound of rateable value, to be used to promote economic development in their local area.
	To provide a vital new tool for councils to promote long-term economic growth, working with local businesses and the local community. These measures were recommended by Sir Michael Lyons in his inquiry into local government.
	The Bill would include a national upper limit on the Supplement of 2p per pound of rateable value, and an exemption for business properties with a rateable value of £50,000 or less.
	Councils will have a legal duty to consult businesses and other stakeholders before introducing a Supplement – where a supplement will fund more than a third of any one project, businesses will have the opportunity to vote.

For More Information Contact:
Peter Hill
TPP Law Limited
53 Great Suffolk Street
London SE1 ODB

t 020 7620 0888
f 020 7620 0778
e info@tpplaw.co.uk

Email: Peter

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