2010 08 structural reform plans briefing

© Urban Forum 2010

In July 2010 the Coalition Government announced new Structural Reform Plan. These outline how each department will implement proposals in the Coalition Agreement, including on localism, public service reform, and the Big Society.

The Structural Reform Plans replace the Public Service Agreements introduced by the last Government as part of the Spending Review process.

Draft plans published - by department

12 department Structural Reform Plans are publically available so far. The plans are published in draft until the results of the Spending Review are known. Once finalised, they will become part of each department's business plan and will be updated annually.

• Cabinet Office SRP (pdf, 218kb)
• Department for Communities and Local Government SRP (pdf, 137kb)
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport SRP (pdf, 167kb)
• Department for Education SRP (pdf, 107kb)
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs SRP (pdf, 98kb)
• Department of Health SRP (pdf, 153kb)
• Ministry of Justice SRP (pdf, 169kb)
• Home Office SRP (pdf, 141kb)
• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills SRP (pdf, 225kb)
• Political Reform SRP (pdf, 154kb)
• Department of Energy and Climate Change SRP (pdf, 107kb)
• Department for International Development SRP (pdf, 113kb)

Below is are highlights of the proposals contained in two departmental plans, CLG and the Cabinet Office (Office of Civil Society)

Communities and Local Government (CLG)

The CLG Structural Reform Plan covers plans in 5 areas - decentralisation, housing, planning, local accountability, and open government.

Much of the plan will be included in the Localism Bill, which will be introduced in November 2010, and they plan to have passed into law by November 2011.

1. Decentralisation
• Give councils the ‘general power of competence'
• Abolish the Standards Board
• Give communities a right to ‘save' local facilities faced with closure, and take over local state run services.
• Let councils to return to the old committee system if they wish to
• Develop Local Enterprise Partnerships - bringing together local authorities and businesses, transferring responsibilities from Regional Development Agencies. To be in place by April 2012

In addition removal of regional government
• Abolish Government Office for London (GOL) immediately
• Consider case for abolishing all other Government offices and decide by October 2010
• Scrap Regional Development Agencies - terminating RDA planning and housing functions by April 2012, transfer other RDA functions (Business Link, Tourism etc) to other bodies by April 2012
• Complete RDA and GOL stand alone projects and dispose of their assets (e.g. offices) by April 2012.

Bring in Local Government Bill by October 2010 to stop the restructuring of councils in Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon.

Look at options for neighbourhoods and local authorities to lead economic growth and regeneration (including through the Regional Growth fund) as part of the Spending Review in October 2010

2. Housing
Through the Localism Bill
• Create more local housing trusts
• Changing Housing Revenue Account -publishing consultation response in July 2010
• Abolish Home Information Packs
• Scrap plans for ‘pay as you throw' rubbish schemes
• Introduce ways to increase mobility among social housing tenants

In addition
• Design scheme (with HMT) to incentivise local authorities to build homes, implementation to start April 2011
• develop new ways for social tenants to become owner occupiers by April 2011.
• improve current home swap and mobility schemes for social housing tenants by October 2010
• develop new measures to bring empty homes back into use, by December 2010
• develop options for energy efficiency in new housing by December 2010

3. Planning
• Reform the planning system - more powers to local authorities, more power to neighbourhoods, incentives for local authorities and communities
• Create a presumption in favour of sustainable development
• Create a new designation to protect green areas of particular importance to local communities (in addition to existing policies on Green Belt etc)
• Develop a new national planning policy by April 2012
• Replace Infrastructure Planning commission with a new system, aimed to be more efficient and more accountable by April 2012
• Local Planning Authorities able to work in new ways on local plans in advance of Localism Bill

All of the above are to be included in the Localism Bill. In addition, revoke Regional Planning Strategies with immediate effect in June 2010

4. Local accountability
• Enable largest 12 cities in England to have directly elected mayors from 2012, subject to public referendum and scrutiny by councillors (through Localism Bill)
• Abolish Comprehensive Area Assessments by October 2010
• Identify areas where central government needs to retain an oversight role by October 2010
• Set out expectations for local authorities regarding publication of local data on spending in June 2010, with all local authorities to comply by January 2011
• Develop new approach to local government reporting, to reduce reporting requirements by April 2011
• Develop options to reduce control of local government by central government departments in guidance rules and funding mechanisms by October 2010
• Develop ways of making more use of public buildings, land and capital investment in public building projects by July 2011
• Phase out ring-fencing of government grants to local government from October 2010
• Freeze Council Tax in England for one year in April 2011, and seek to freeze for a further year
• Provide for a veto by business on plans to impose supplementary business tax if the majority of firms affected don't agree, by November 2011
• Develop framework for local incentives for local authorities to support growth, including reinvesting the benefits of growth into local communities, by 2012
• Local Government resource review from summer 2011 and published 2012

5. Open government
• Publish all local authority performance data and data sets held by central government, working with Cabinet Office by September 2010, and encourage data use by inviting a range of third parties to create online analysis by December 2010
• Local authorities to publish all items of spending, contracts, tenders over £500, and job titles and salaries above SCS Pay Band 1 by December 2010
• Give Councillors the power to vote on large salary packages for council officers (Localism Bill).
• Run public awareness campaign to encourage transparency of local authorities by December 2010
• Amend code of practice on local authority publicity to stop perceived unfair competition with private newspapers by November 2010
• Local Authorities can submit proposals from communities about how to improve well being in their area, under the Sustainable Communities Act from January 2011
• Work with Home Office to review the power that allow councils to carry out surveillance, banning local authorities to use powers unless signed off by a magistrate, by October 2010

Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office's Structural Reform Plan focuses on reform of public bodies (quangos), issues of open government, the Big Society, as well as some details about reducing costs internally around ICT and procurement.

Public bodies
• Reduce number of public bodies - those that don't meet assessment criteria to abolish, or move to Government department: For those with a non statutory function, by January 2011; For those with statutory function from January 2012 (part of Localism Bill)
• Establish new reporting process for public bodies, and introduce a system of 3 year reviews by January 2011
• Review terms and condition of public body board members and employees - Oct 2010
• Publish details of senior civil servants, including in public bodies, with salaries over £150k, and anyone earning more than the PM to be signed off by Treasury
• Require public bodies to publish online job titles and salaries of all staff, and salaries and expenses of senior officials
• Strengthen powers of select committees to scrutinise public appointments
• New protection for whistle blowers
• Working with CLG on the measures on transparency in relation to local councils (see CLG plan)

Open government
• Publish central government tenders over £10 000 from September 2010, and spending over £25 000 from November 2010k
• Work with MoJ on new FOI legislation ‘right to data' - by 2013
• Publish data sets on crime, education, health, parliamentary bills MP expenses (the Combined Online Information System) from June 2010
• Publish an efficiency score card for each dept Sept 2010 - Jan 2011

Big Society
• Set up joint Cabinet Office-BIS task force to make recommendations on reducing burdens on small civil service organisations, for implementation by February 2011
• Consult on improving infrastructure to support frontline organisations July - April 2011
• Set up Big Society Bank by April 2011 - working with HMT to use funds from dormant accounts
• Identify (with HMT) options for to incentivise more social investment and philanthropy by January 2011
• Reform public commissioning process, creating a more level playing field for the voluntary sector, by December 2010
• Devise measures to improve transparency, consultation and accountability in the relations between the VCS and the state by December 2010, to implement January 2011
• Parliament invited to create new Select Committee for Civil Society by November 2010
• Public sector workers have new right to form employee owned cooperatives June on wards
• Identify how to break down barriers to social action and volunteering, including making it part of civil service appraisals June - December 2010
• Launch national day to celebrate social action in June 2010, announce date in September 2010
• Train community organisers by January 2011 and create a fund to support neighbourhood groups December 2010
• Prepare work for pilots (and identify authorities) for National Citizens Service by September 2010, and plan roll out post September.