Society of Local Council Clerks Northampton, 21 June 2012 Sylvia Brown Chief Executive, ACRE Localism Act – local impact

‘The Localism measures are the means by which we generate the Big Society’ Changing relationships, and expectations, between the state and civil society A shift from ‘engagement’ to allowing communities to empower themselves A focus on genuine neighbourhoods Local people taking action for themselves

The Localism Act Localism Bill introduced December 2010 Vast number of sections tackling: – Freedoms for Local Government – Standards in public life – Referenda (council tax) – Simplification of the planning system – Introduction of Community Rights – Specific, but permissive role for local councils – Changes to Social Housing provision Enacted November 2011, part implemented

Localism and the role of Parish and Town Councils Opportunities for action Delegation drive Community involvement Bureaucratic processes It doesn’t have to be the parish council doing it Enable and inspire!

The Localism Rights The Right to Plan (neighbourhood planning) – parish councils propel a community-led vision into a statutory framework, within limitations The Right to Build – communities able to develop small scale sites, but at what cost? The Right to Challenge – improving public services through community influence, but not necessarily community control The Right to Bid – safeguarding assets of ‘community value’, but taking ownership requires a willing seller The Right to Reclaim Land –citizens can require public bodies to put under-used land on the open market

Work up details with the community and consult statutory consultees Independent Examination Local authority checks proposals Community referendum Development Plan Document The local authority must help here – ie advise on conformity with Local Plan A simple majority required Potential for challenge by consultees/others Submit proposals to the local authority The examiner is checking the basic conditions – a plan or order must: have an appropriate fit with local and national policy; have special regard for listed buildings and conservation areas; be compatible with EU and ECHR obligations If there is a parish or town council, they take the lead The Neighbourhood Planning Process

How will communities use the rights? A one-off project OR an integrated community vision As options in the toolbox Via a local authority ‘offer’ OR via external source Who does what and how will still be largely dependent on the attitude of your local authority SAVE OUR SHOP HANDS OFF OUR LIBRARY

Existing tools in the toolbox Right to Plan – Supplementary Planning Documents, Area Action Plans – Specific planning policies Right to Build – Rural exception sites with or without cross-subsidy – Community Land Trusts Right to Challenge – Community involvement in service delivery – Parish Charters and Agency agreements Right to Bid – Planning policies safeguarding key service outlets against change of use

The Right to Plan: Neighbourhood Planning Communities take the lead; local authorities support Parish councils submit plans and evidence to independent examination Ideal for long term visioning and planning Essential in a growth area to influence how it happens The downside: A bureaucratic process; passing formal planning tests Must conform with local plan (if it exists) and NPPF Gaining the community’s confidence and knowledge of what’s possible and what needs to be done Passing a referendum test

Lessons from the front runners Capacity within the community – Community development skills, community leaders – Technical planning skills – negotiating with the local planning authority, Infrastructure Levy Impact of the NPPF – Desire to protect against development – Will a neighbourhood plan make a difference? Developer role – Role of pre-application engagement – Whose plan is it anyway? Continuity and maintaining local action – One-off exercise or continuing dialogue – Risk of the referendum or examination failing

How to set about a neighbourhood plan Key questions the community should ask: Can a neighbourhood plan lead to anything more than a statutory planning document? If not, is it worth it? Do we also want the Big Society outcomes and to stimulate community action? Key solutions: Think wider than spatial planning What do you value and can you preserve it? What would you value and can you deliver it? Where are the community activists you need for the future? Try basing it on a more holistic Community Led Plan

Community Led Planning The Role of Parish Councils is to: – Kick start action, then step back – Enable community involvement, not control – Keep in touch, pick up on issues when needed – Act as the ‘governance body’ for any funding and the channel of wider communication – Extract aspects of the action plan that can be delivered through neighbourhood planning or similar vehicles – Implement, monitor and review the action plan

What value can Localism deliver? Shifting power to neighbourhoods – job done! Parishes have the opportunity, but also the responsibility Few may end up actually using the ‘rights’ Each community should be negotiating its own pathway through the approaches now available More influence, more sustainable communities BUT, do not get led up the garden path by: – Local authorities – Activists in the community – External consultants who offer to do it all for you!