Local Govt Bill Passes Final Consideration

The Local Government Bill, which provides the legislative framework that the 11 new councils will operate within, has cleared Final Consideration in the Assembly.

The Bill includes strong statutory governance arrangements that provide for the sharing of positions across the political parties. It also includes greater transparency in how a council conducts its business and a new ethical standards regime with a mandatory code of conduct.

The Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent within the next six weeks. Once Royal Assent has been received, the Bill will become law and will be known as the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

Environment Minister Mark H Durkan said: "The passage of this Bill marks a hugely significant achievement in the history of the Assembly.

"At 130 clauses and 10 schedules, this is the largest Bill that the Assembly has seen during this mandate, and after 40 hours of debate and countless hours of scrutiny, it is an achievement of which everyone who has been involved can be proud.

"To have reached this point, after several years and a couple of unsuccessful attempts at local government reform, hopefully demonstrates an increased political maturity.

"More significantly, we have finally passed legislation which will bring power closer to the people and establish local councils that are more effective, more efficient and more responsive to the needs of their local businesses and community.

"The reform of local government will ultimately result in the savings of over £300m over the next 20 years.

"However, there is still much work to do and I look forward to coordinating collaboration between central and local government to ensure a seamless transition and the smooth transfer of new powers and increased responsibilities to the 11 new Councils."

(MH/JP)