Challenging council service provision - by stealth?

摘要

The Localism Act 2011, which received Royal Assent on 15 November, is a hotchpotch of measures covering several significant policy changes affecting local government, and many column inches have already been devoted to the various issues. However, the 'Community right to challenge' has not attracted the degree of interest which one might have expected, especially given that it might lead to local authorities having to relinquish in-house provision of services, something not seen since the days of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT). The significance of the new measures should not be underestimated, for, if nothing else, the administrative burden of mapping out services and dealing with challenges will be significant.