The approval of an LGR proposal

For the purposes of local government reorganisation (LGR), the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (2007 Act) defines each county council and district council in England as a  ‘principal authority’. For a principal authority operating executive governance arrangements, ordinarily, the preparation and approval of an LGR proposal will be an executive function because LGR:

• Is not reserved to full council under the 2007 Act;
• Is not a non-executive function in accordance with the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000;
• Is not normally a budget or policy framework item, or a decision which is contrary to, or not wholly in accordance with, the budget and policy framework. 

As such, unless the full council of a local authority has resolved that the approval of an LGR proposal is to be a policy item, and whilst it will likely be the preference of an executive to obtain full council’s views on an LGR proposal, and possibly also those of scrutiny, ultimately it will be a matter for the executive. Local authorities will want to check their constitutions and governance arrangements, and factor into their governance timetable seeking the views of members and any potential grounds for call-in by scrutiny.  

LGR transitional arrangements

The arrangements for transitioning to unitary government will largely depend on whether unitary government for an area will involve the establishment of one or more unitary authorities comprising a number of predecessor councils, or alternatively involve an existing county council or district council becoming a single unitary authority on the reorganisation date. The former requires the establishment of a ‘shadow council’ and ‘shadow executive’ as part of the transitional arrangements, the latter involves a ‘preparing council’ and ‘implementation executive’. 

For further details on this, see our previous article - Transitional Arrangements for Local Government Reorganisation: Shadow Councils and Preparing Councils 

Regardless of whether transitional arrangements will involve a shadow council or a preparing council, in the first instance, the principal authorities of the area concerned will likely need to establish a joint committee. Whilst the Structural Changes Order (SCO) affecting LGR in a given area may (in the case of a preparing council) and will (in the case of a shadow council) require the establishment of a joint committee, it will usually have to be established beforehand. As such, the member authorities will need to consider appointments to the joint committee and its terms of reference, and be established by a resolution of their full councils. 

For more information, you can visit our LGR hub or contact Matt Marsh or Claire Ward.