Local Government Act 1999
Act of Parliament | |
Status: Current legislation | |
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Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Local Government Act 1999 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Local Government Act 1999 is an
Part 1 of the Act introduced legal requirements for continuous improvement of services within a Best Value framework, expressed in terms of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. It mandated a transition from previous requirements for compulsory competitive tendering. It also introduced a regime of audit and inspection to assure the implementation and operation of Best Value, coupled with new powers of central government intervention in authorities failing to meet Best Value requirements.[1]
Part 2 of the Act replaced a prior system of universal caps on authority precepts and taxes, in favour of discretionary reserve capping powers, providing flexibility to the Secretary of State in deciding whether to intervene in authority budgeting.[2]
Provisions of the Act apply to local authorities (i.e. local government councils) as well as police, fire, waste, passenger transport, national park, development agency, and other authorities.[3][4]
Background
The UK, in common with a number of other countries, began from the 1970s to reconsider hitherto settled local government models. Increasing economic uncertainty arising from 1970s oil shocks and stagflation, and concerns about an ageing population, were coupled with a populist Conservative agenda to shrink the size, cost, and activities of government.[5]
Conservative governments from 1979 to 1997 enacted a series of legislative measures mandating compulsory competitive tendering for the provision of the range of services delivered by local authorities, starting with construction and highways maintenance work under the
By the late 1990s, there was political consensus that there existed a need to reinvigorate local democracy,[8] and from 1997 the incoming Labour administration pursued a Modernising Government agenda based on federalised and devolved principles - including Scottish and Welsh devolution from 1998. Best Value sought to provide a framework for authorities to develop higher quality and lower cost services meeting the established needs of their communities. [9]
Best Value ostensively replaced previous requirements for compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) to a wider range of authority services, and introduced requirements for consultation about services required by communities; challenge as to how services are delivered; comparison to elicit best practice; and competition to deliver value for money - collectively termed the '4 Cs' of BV. The focus of Best Value is on outcomes - what is achieved, in a wide societal context, by the actions of authorities - rather than upon outputs - what authorities produce.[10]
References
- ^ a b Vincent-Jones 2000, p. 84.
- ^ Vincent-Jones 2000, pp. 89–90.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1999, Section 1". legislation.gov.uk. 27 July 1999.
- ^ Vincent-Jones 2000, pp. 85–86.
- ^ O'Connell 2000, pp. 302–303.
- ^ Vincent-Jones 2000, p. 86.
- ^ O'Connell 2000, p. 303.
- ^ O'Connell 2000, p. 306.
- ^ O'Connell 2000, p. 307.
- ^ O'Connell 2000, p. 300.
- Sources
- O'Connell, Gerry (2000). "An Introduction to the Local Government Act 1999". The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. 73 (4): 299–322. S2CID 151514554.
- Vincent-Jones, Peter (January 2000). "Central-Local Relations under the Local Government Act 1999: A New Consensus?". The Modern Law Review. 63 (1): 84–103. JSTOR 1097465.
External links
- Modernising Local Government - Improving Local Services Through Best Value 1998 consultation paper mainly concerned with Part 1 of the Act
- Local Government Act 1999 on legislation.gov.uk