The Threat to the Sustainable Communities Act
Last year, the Sustainable Communities Act Amendment Act was passed. It ensured the original Sustainable Communities Act of 2007 became an ongoing process and was not just a one-off. It also opened up the possibility of parish and town councils being able to submit proposals to government under the Act, as well as local authorities. This was a fantastic achievement – thanks to your help.
The Amendment Act also required government to put down new regulations governing how the Act would work in future. The idea was to use the regulations to make the Act work more effectively.
However, government’s plans announced in a recent consultation would not make the Act more effective. Instead, they would greatly weaken the Act. The regulations as set out in the consultation do NOT contain any of the following:
- A requirement for councils using the Act to not just consult but to also “try to reach agreement” with local people on the proposals they will put forward. This will take away the right people have to make their voices heard and will destroy the idea of the Act being a “bottom-up” process.
- A time limit for government to deal with proposals. Without this, government could delay responding to proposals indefinitely, effectively ignoring requests it doesn’t like.
- The right for parish and town councils to submit proposals - one of the key aims of the Sustainable Communities Act Amendment Act 2010.
- Councils will be given the power to offer discretionary business rate relief to encourage and sustain small and medium sized local businesses and shops.
- Measures are being introduced to make it easier to introduce renewable energy schemes by introducing permitted development rights for small scale renewable and microgeneration energy.
- Sheffield City Council have been given new responsibility to maintain and sustain the local Post Office network, which if successful will be offered to other areas around the country.
- A new “community right of purchase” will be established, allowing communities to bid to take over local assets, including giving community groups time to prepare a bid.
- Communities that host renewable energy projects will be allowed to keep the additional business rates these projects generate.
We must campaign to ensure the regulations DO contain these points – so please donate to help us ensure that the powers the Act gives you are retained.
Successes so far
The Act has already shown it can deliver results for communities: in the first round of the Act, 100 councils, together with local people, put forward 300 proposals to government for action to help their communities. At the end of last year, government agreed to implement a whole range of these proposals. Here are some examples: