(CLG) Making it easier to change your Council\'s leadership structure

Hazel Blears thinks it vital to the well being of our democracy that local communities believe in their chosen leaders and that means they must have the power to decide how their council should be governed should they wish to do so.

Today's consultation, Changing Council Governance Arrangements includes three proposals to change the way a community can trigger a referendum on how to change it's local governance arrangements to either a directly elected mayor or indirectly elected council leader.

Lowering the petition threshold that triggers a referendum. The current threshold is 5per cent of local electors which could mean gathering over 15,000 signatures for large local council areas (1,500 for a small council), is a major challenge in just 12 months. One proposal is a straight reduction from 5per cent to either 4per cent, 3per cent, or just 2per cent which would be 6,000 signatures for large councils (just 600 for a small council).

Other threshold proposals could see maximum and minimum signature counts put on referendum petitions which would make the task of collecting signatures for large cities more manageable than is currently the case, whilst striking the right balance between that and ensuring there are enough signatures to demonstrate genuine local support for change.

Allowing online petitioning in addition to traditional paper petitions. Online petitioning by councils is on the increase - it gives people a quick and convenient way to become involved in their community ensuring their voice is heard and helps reduce the bureaucracy of local governments. The current identity safeguards would continue to be required.

Reducing the time between referendum votes from ten years to four years. If there was a no vote, local people should not be denied the chance to continue seeking a change for a decade. Four years would get the balance between giving communities control and maintaining a stable local government.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:

"People like to know someone is in charge of their town or city because they see that the buck stops somewhere. Both directly elected mayors and indirectly elected council leader can provide this type of leadership and reassurance.

"I believe local people know what is best for their area so they must have the power to decide how it is governed. It is right that we make it easier for them to decide which form of council leadership is right for them and relaxing the referendum rules ensures the whole community has a say."

Any petition submitted to trigger a referendum for a change in governance will be considered by the council under the new duty on councils to respond to petitions. So even where the signature threshold has not been reached the council must respond.

For example in Barrow on Furness they failed to reach the referendum trigger only managing to collect 1058 of the 2666 signatures needed by the June deadline. Under this new proposal the council would still have to debate the merits of the petition meaning petitioners know it was not just filed away.