Labour calls for legal requirement on taking decisions “as close as meaningfully and practicably possible” to people affected by them

The common desire for more local control should be reflected in a legal requirement that decisions be taken “as close as meaningfully and practicably possible to the people affected by them”, the Labour party has proposed.

This would result in “putting power and opportunity closer to each citizen”.

The proposal came in A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy, a report by Labour’s Commission on the UK’s Future.

The report also recommends that there should be a "constitutional requirement" that the political, administrative, and financial autonomy of local government should be respected by central government.

These proposed reforms make up what the party describes as “double devolution”.

The report notes that devolved power is currently not uniform across England, “with different powers resting with different (and sometimes overlapping) tiers of local authorities, metro mayors and the Mayor of London and London Assembly.” It argues that this is likely to evolve further if county mayors emerge.

Proposals to ensure England’s towns, cities, regions, and nations are given the “right powers and resources to make a full contribution to the UK” are in Labour’s first set of recommendations. They include the following:

  • Local government should be given greater long-term financial certainty to enable them to invest more confidently in their areas’ futures.
  • Local government should be given more capacity to generate its own revenue with new fiscal powers.
  • Local leaders should be able to take new powers from the centre, through a new, streamlined process to initiate local legislation in Parliament.

Another set of recommendations concern Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The proposals intend to combine “self-government and shared Government”. One of the key proposals is to broaden the powers held by the Scottish and Welsh governments to help improve “public services and prosperity”.

The report states: “In Wales, our proposals strengthen self-government for a new era, but we are mindful that the Welsh Government has set up an independent Commission to make recommendations on constitutional issues.

“We know that we can rely on the Welsh Labour Government to publish its Plan for Wales that employs to the full the powers of the Senedd and, at the same time, maximises the benefits from co-operation across the United Kingdom.”

Another key aspect of the report is Labour’s recommendation to replace the House of Lords with a new second chamber of Parliament – ‘An Assembly of the Nations and Regions’, which would have an “explicit power to reject legislation which related to a narrow list of defined constitutional statutes.”

The report notes: “The role of second chamber in most countries is to act as an alternative source of opinion or advice, a check or balance on the more powerful part of the legislature.”

The report also discusses a range of local issues such as transport, housing and childcare.

In terms of powers over transport and infrastructure, the report recommends that control and funding over bus services should be “pushed to a local level”, and local leaders should be able to “shape local rail services, fares services and timetables”.

The report calls on the Government to support the principle of devolving stable, longer term infrastructure budgets, as recommended by the National Infrastructure Commission.

On the subject of powers over housing and development, the report recommends that it should be made easier for local authorities to make their areas better places to visit and work through "Compulsory Purchase powers to develop vacant sites".

The policy paper also proposes that local authorities should be able to regulate short term lets and holiday homes, “which can have a negative impact on the availability of housing”, and they should not need central government permission to manage landlord licencing.

Discussing childcare, the report recommends removing the legal barriers that prevent local authorities from establishing any new childcare provision. It notes that if local authorities are able to establish new childcare provision, they should be able to do so, as part of a “wider effort to build a modern childcare system that supports our economy and provides opportunity to working families.”

Lottie Winson