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PART 4 DUTIES OF THE WILTSHIRE COUNCIL AND THE DISTRICT COUNCILS RELEVANT TO TRANSITION

General transitional duties of the Wiltshire council and the district councils

11.—(1) It shall be the duty of the Wiltshire council and the district councils—

(a) to take, whether alone or in any combination, such steps as may be necessary to prepare for the transfer of the functions, property, rights and liabilities of the district councils;

(b) to consult and co-operate with each other in order to secure the economic, effective, efficient and timely transfer of those functions, property, rights and liabilities; and

(c) generally, to exercise their functions so as to further the purposes of this Order.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the Wiltshire council and each of the district councils shall provide such information relating to its functions as any other of those councils may reasonably request for the purpose of giving effect to this Order.

(3) Any person authorised in that behalf by the council making the request shall be entitled, at all reasonable times, on producing evidence that the person is authorised (if so required by the council from which the information is sought)—

(a) to inspect any record belonging to or under the control of the council providing the information and relating to that council or its functions; and

(b) to take, or be supplied with, a copy of any such record or part of it.

(4) The rights conferred by paragraph (3) include the right to require any record which is not in legible form to be made available in legible form so that the authorised person may inspect or copy it or be supplied with copies.

PART 5 ELECTORAL MATTERS

Cancellation of parish council elections, etc

12.  Notwithstanding section 16(3) of the 1972 Act (election of parish councillors)—

(a) elections shall not be held in 2011 for the return of councillors to the council of any parish within Wiltshire; and

(b) the term of office of parish councillors elected in 2007 or at any subsequent by-election held before the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2013 shall end on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2013(8).

(2) Elections of parish councillors for those parishes in which, but for paragraph (1), elections would have been held in 2011 shall be held on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2013 and every four years thereafter.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order provides for the establishment, on 1st April 2009, of a single tier of local government in the county of Wiltshire (article 3). The area of the county remains unchanged. A new district is created, with the same area as the county.

The county will be administered by a county council, referred to in this Order as “the Wiltshire council”.

Article 4 of the Order provides for the winding up and dissolution on 1st April 2009 of the district councils in Wiltshire:

• Kennet District Council

• North Wiltshire District Council

• Salisbury District Council and

• West Wiltshire District Council.

Those councils are referred to in this Note and the Order as “the district councils”.

The districts administered by the district councils are also abolished.

The term of office of all district councillors expires on 1st April 2009 (article 5).

In Part 3 of the Order, article 6(1) confers on the Wiltshire council the function of preparing for the transfer on 1st April 2009 of the district councils’ functions, property, rights and liabilities (its “main transitional function”). Article 6(3) requires the Wiltshire council to arrange for the discharge of its main transitional function by a committee of its executive, to be known as its “Implementation Executive”. The membership of that Executive is to be drawn from both the Wiltshire council and the district councils.

Article 7 enables the Secretary of State, by the making of an order or regulations, to make other functions (including functions of the Wiltshire council or any of the district councils) the responsibility of the Implementation Executive during the transitional period ending on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2009 (“article 7 functions”).

Article 8(1) makes the discharge of the main transitional function and the article 7 functions a responsibility of the Implementation Executive. Article 8(2) and (3) modifies section 15(7) and (9) of the Local Government Act 2000 (“the 2000 Act”) so as to extend the range of arrangements available to the Executive for the discharge of that responsibility. Article 8(4) disapplies, until 1st April 2009 and in relation to the Implementation Executive, section 21 of the 2000 Act, which deals with the overview and scrutiny of decisions of local authorities. Instead, paragraphs (5) and (6) of article 8 enable arrangements to be made by the Wiltshire council and the district councils under section 101(5) of the Local Government Act 1972 for the review or scrutiny by a joint committee of decisions or other action taken by the Implementation Executive, and for recommendations or reports to be made to the Executive. Where a joint committee is established, article 8(7) provides for that committee to make quarterly reports to the Wiltshire council and the district councils. Article 8(8) provides for the dissolution of the Implementation Executive and any sub-committee of that Executive on the fourth day after the 2009 election day. Article 8(9) provides for the dissolution of any joint committee established by virtue of article 8(6) on 1st April 2009.

Article 9 requires the Implementation Executive to prepare an Implementation Plan which must include budgets, plans and timetables relevant to the process of transition to single tier local government. In discharging the main transitional function and the article 7 functions, the Implementation Executive is required to have regard to the Wiltshire council’s response to the Secretary of State in support of its proposal for single tier local government in the county.

Article 10 provides for the establishment of a team of officers drawn from the Wiltshire council and the district councils to assist the Implementation Executive.

Part 4 of the Order relates to the functions of the Wiltshire council and the district councils in the period before 1st April 2009. Article 11 requires the Wiltshire council and the district councils to prepare for the transition to single tier local government, to consult and co-operate, to disclose relevant information and, generally, to further the purposes of the Order.

In Part 5 of the Order, article 12 cancels the parish council elections that would otherwise have taken place in 2011. The term of office of parish councillors elected in 2007 or at subsequent by-elections is extended to the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2013, when all parishes will hold elections.

A full impact assessment has been produced for this and other orders that provide for a change to single tier local government. A copy of the assessment has been deposited in the Library of both Houses of Parliament and may be accessed at www.communities.gov.uk