The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has briefed Members of Parliament on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, setting out some of the key issues and implications for local (parish and town) councils and highlighting several concerns.
The Bill aims to drive local growth, empower local leaders to regenerate their areas, and ensure everyone can share in the United Kingdom’s success.
Key points from NALC’s parliamentary briefing include:
- Empowering communities is the key to levelling up and improving local public services, and that includes unlocking the potential of local councils.
- While the government has acted on calls from NALC to strengthen neighbourhood planning and give neighbourhood plans more weight and protection, NALC is concerned the Bill gives National Development Management Policies primacy over local plans and neighbourhood plans
- Communities in two-thirds of England are being left behind in taking community-led action to level up their areas because they do not have a local council and the Bill should establish local councils everywhere.
- The Bill will give new county combined authorities a general power of competence, this should be extended to all local councils.
- NALC welcomes the new Infrastructure Levy which will be mandatory and set at a local level. Local councils must be consulted on the setting of the level. It is right that local councils will receive the 25% neighbourhood share of the Infrastructure Levy and they must have full flexibility in how the levy is used.
- The Bill should provide funding to the local council sector to take forward the white paper commitment to fund a programme of improvement to build capacity and capability.
- The Bill should be amended to allow councils to hold online and hybrid council meetings.
The Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 10 May 2022 and following its introduction to parliament on 11 May 2022 will receive its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 8 June 2022.
Read NALC’s Parliamentary Briefing on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill