Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

I am delighted to have the opportunity to go through the clauses and to offer positively some explanation, following the introduction of this short debate by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. Part 11 of the Bill introduces new powers, as the noble Lord, Lord Bruce-Lockhart, ably explained, to allow the creation of joint waste authorities in England. We have introduced these powers in response to requests by local authorities. Part 11 was introduced into the Bill in Committee in another place, where it was generally welcomed. In addition, the report into refuse collection published earlier this week by the Communities and Local Government Committee welcomed the Government’s proposals to allow the voluntary creation of these joint waste authorities. Waste is one of the top pressures on council tax, and not all local authorities are necessarily the optimum size efficiently to deliver waste services. Partnerships with neighbouring authorities can offer local authorities, particularly smaller ones, a means of achieving economies of scale. While there are already many well established waste partnerships, there have been a number of calls for the Government to make legislative changes in order to allow the establishment of joint waste authorities. A joint waste authority established under these powers would be a new legal entity with a statutory basis and would be responsible for discharging some, or all, of the waste functions of its constituent authorities. It is up to interested local authorities to develop proposals for a joint waste authority and submit them to the Secretary of State; no authority will be forced into joining a joint waste authority. Clause 206 gives authorities the power to make proposals to the Secretary of State to form a joint waste authority. Proposals for a joint waste authority for a specified area in England should be made to the Secretary of State for the functions specified in the proposal. Under this clause, the Secretary of State may make regulations on the matters to be included in proposals and information that is required to accompany a proposal. For example, proposals would be required to include detail on the exact membership of a joint waste authority. Local authorities would also be expected to have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State as to what a proposal should seek to achieve and matters that should be considered when making a proposal. Clause 207 requires local authorities to consult relevant electors and any interested person in their area before submitting a proposal to the Secretary of State. Clause 208 sets out how joint waste authorities would be established and dissolved. The Secretary of State may implement a proposal for a joint waste authority by order, with or without modification. However, the Secretary of State’s powers are limited so that he may not establish a joint waste authority, either for an area that is different from the area specified in the proposal, or to discharge functions that are not specified in the proposal. That picks up on the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, that the Secretary of State’s powers are limited so that the Secretary of State cannot go outside the parameters of the proposal. That is very important when talking about this being a voluntary coming together of authorities. The circumstances in which a joint waste authority may be dissolved are intentionally limited in order to ensure long-term stability. The Secretary of State may dissolve a joint waste authority where a request was received from—and this is important—all the constituent authorities, or where he considered it necessary to do so; for example, if it was significantly failing.