A local authority General Power of Competence

Overview

The Scottish Government would like to invite you to respond to this consultation on a local authority General Power of Competence.

We are pleased to be taking forward this work as part of our commitment to joint partnership working with COSLA and Local Government and would like to ask for your views and perspectives on potential legislative changes to enable local authorities to more effectively deliver public services.

A General Power of Competence

A General Power of Competence is commonly defined as a statutory power to do “anything that individuals may generally do”, and is currently available to local authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

A number of representations have been made to the Scottish Government seeking the introduction of a similar General Power of Competence for local authorities in Scotland. 

However, despite the existence of a General Power of Competence in England, Wales and Northern Island, many local authorities continue to be reluctant to use that power to explore activity beyond those functions explicitly set out in statute, due to concerns as to potential legal challenge and interpretations by the courts of the limitations of the scope of this power.

This consultation therefore seeks to establish what functions, beyond those already conferred by statute, local authorities in Scotland may wish to pursue and whether new legislation or amendments to existing legislation would be required to deliver those additional functions.

This consultation also seeks to explore how best to deliver a level of confidence and assurance to local authorities to ensure that any further powers are utilised effectively. 

Responses are sought, in relation to both existing legislative powers in Scotland and the wider legislative powers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, on the barriers to using such power, the concerns and perceived risks and potential conflict with other legislative provisions.

Views are also sought on how best to ensure that legislation contains the right balance of flexibility and control to mitigate risks arising from any greater statutory freedoms.

Read the consultation paper. The consultation paper contains full background information for this consultation. You may find it useful to read or refer to while responding.

Why your views matter

Consultation responses will be collated and used to inform the development of proposals to deliver greater local authority functional empowerment. A formal Scottish Government response to the consultation will be published in due course, setting out the conclusions drawn and proposed next steps.