War between Local Government and National Government?

Over the past few weeks we have seen a number of skirmishes between Local Government and National Government. And with the number of changes being implemented, no-one should really be all that surprised…

Local Government Reorganisation

As we all know by now, the Government asked the turkeys to consult on whether turkey would be the ideal Christmas dinner… I am of course talking about putting local Councils in charge of consulting on whether they should be abolished and put into Unitary Councils with those rotters next door. The Councils then did a half-hearted attempt at this and it ended up in Court. The Court then found that the consultations weren’t properly done and LGR would be unfair. So it hit the buffers at about 60mph and unless the Government now passes more robust legislation, it’s dead… and they may not have enough time left in this Parliament to pass this.

Local Government 1 – Government 0

Local Plan Making

The previous Government (the Tories not Starmer… just to be clear) instructed Councils that if they wanted to make Local Plans using the legacy-plan (old) rules, they needed to get things in by 31 December 2026. This Government stuck to that. Then a number of Councils cried foul and attempted to delay or entirely scrap their Local Plans and some even tried to reinvent the wheel and make up their own rules.

I won’t list them all, but there are some very clear examples such as Three Rivers, Tonbridge & Malling and Basildon (to name but a few) who tried to do it differently or delay, and they were all fairly bluntly instructed by Minister Matthew Pennycook that it’s not an option and if they don’t want to do it, he will send his people in to do it for them.

The Government also reiterated that they have no intention of extending deadlines… However, a number elected to abandon the legacy-plan process and make new Plans using the up-to-date targets and method. It’s better than being on the receiving end of a (by now) famous Pennycook telling-off.

Local Government 0 – Government 1

Implementation of National Scheme of Delegation

Many Councils up and down the Country are amending their constitutions to reduce the power and size of Planning Committees to accommodate the new National Scheme… But last week Central Beds councillors voted the changes to their constitution down.

One of the Councillors said: “We have had the right to challenge planning officers in a public setting, voice our concerns and get accountability”… decisions would now instead be “made behind closed doors … primarily by unelected officers”.

Fair enough, but with no constitution to govern planning locally, the Council now can’t determine any applications and subsequently will be breaking the law come 1 November… They had better fix this post-haste!

Local Government 0 – National Government 1

This is far from over, but the Government is showing steely determination.

Until next week,

Henry
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