Committee for the Environment 2007 - 2011 Mandate Legislation

Local Government (Finance) Bill

The purpose of this Bill is:

to remove the requirements for district councils to gain departmental approval for the application of their funds, proceeds from sale of capital assets and borrowings
to introduce certain new powers, including the power to invest
to introduce a “prudential regime” for capital finance, along similar lines to that which operates in England and Wales
to clarify the nature of the General Grant by replacing the two elements of the grant (the resources element and the de-rating element) with two separate grants – a rates support grant and a de-rating grant (the de-rating element of the General Grant compensates district councils for the loss of rate income due to the statutory de-rating of industrial properties)
to introduce a power to allow all departments (not just the DOE) to pay grants to councils
to enable the DOE to establish an independent remuneration panel to advise on the level of allowances for councillors and make it a requirement that councils publish information about the remuneration of councillors