Using the Sustainable Communities Act A Guide for Town and Parish Councils

The Sustainable Communities Act gives you:

Assistance from government tell them what they can do for your community New powers more control over matters such as planning Transfer of funding from central to local control Real power to get what you want there is a legal duty for government to reach agreement with your proposals, not just to consult

Heres how the process works, step by step:

1) The Act gives Town and Parish Councils, together with their communities, the right to come up with proposals and to then submit these to central government. These proposals can be for any government action or assistance that would protect or promote sustainable communities. Sustainable communities are defined in the Act as incorporating 4 things: local economies, environmental protection, social inclusion and democratic involvement. So for a proposal to be valid it must a) promote sustainable communities as defined above by the Act b) require specific central government action or assistance. Communities and councils can submit proposals whenever they choose. 2) If a council chooses to use the Act by submitting proposals, they must involve the local community. They must not just consult them, but also try to reach agreement with them on the proposals the council will submit. How you do this is up to you but you will need to demonstrate that you have had a dialogue with members of the community. For example, you may wish to invite representatives of community groups to your parish meeting to discuss and reach agreement on the issue, or write to those you consider would be interested in the proposal to ask if they agree with you putting it forward. Proposals are submitted through the DCLG barrier busting website. 4) Government has a 6 month time limit to respond to proposals. Any proposal that is not given an initial yes by the government can be taken up by the Selector. The Selector is an external independent body (made up of representatives from National Association of Local Councils and Local Works) that central government must try to reach agreement with on whether the initially rejected proposal is implemented. This means an iterative dialogue, discussion and negotiation where the final decision is taken together by government and the Selector on whether and how each proposal will be implemented. So the results of this process can lead to reconsideration or compromise from the government on proposals that they initially said no to. VERY IMPORTANT: Reaching Agreement, NOT Consultation

address: Local Works, Unlock Democracy, 37 Grays Inn Rd, London WC1X 8PQ phone: 020 7278 4443 email: info@localworks.org website: www.localworks.org

Examples of proposals you could make:

More power to Town and Parish Councils in the planning process, for example a third party right of appeal for Town and Parish Councils. Help promote local businesses by requesting that small businesses are given automatic rate relief. Measures to restrict second homes, for example putting them into a separate use class. Measures to deal with empty buildings, for example allowing community groups to use empty properties. Helping to protect pubs, for example requiring planning permission and community consultation before a pub is demolished or converted to another use.

And this process gets results.

In 2012 following an exception made by the government, SALC and Leiston-Cum-Sizewell Town Council made a proposal under the Sustainable Communities Act that the government introduce a policy urging large planning applicants to 1) attend a meeting to answer questions on their applications and 2) provide funding to Town and Parish Councils in order to obtain an independent assessment of their applications. Communities Minister, Greg Clark, responded saying that it is government policy regarding the first request (attending meetings) to strongly encourage applicants to engage with, and respond to, reasonable requests from parish and town councils to meet. Regarding the second request (funding) that Let me briefly make a point about the funding side of things ... it is open to the developerthe applicantand the town and parish council to have a voluntary arrangement that would assist with the kind of community engagement we all agree is desirable, not least on the part of applicants. In 2013 Leiston-cum-Sizewell and five other Town and Parish Councils in Suffolk were able to secure thousands of pounds of funding from EDF to pay for an expert independent assessment of EDFs application to build the Sizewell C nuclear power station. So the Act gets results.

Local Works
Local Works can offer advice and assistance on how to use the Sustainable Communities Act. We also have a number of guides and resources on our website: www.localworks.org Please get in touch with us if you want to find out more about how to use the Sustainable Communities Act.

address: Local Works, Unlock Democracy, 37 Grays Inn Rd, London WC1X 8PQ phone: 020 7278 4443 email: info@localworks.org website: www.localworks.org