17 April 2025Today, Adam Keppel-Green FSLCC, Chair of the SLCC Board, has written to Baroness Taylor of Stevenage OBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords Minister for Housing and Local Government) asking her to consider an amendment to Circular 06/03: The Local Government Act 1972: General Disposal Consent (England) 2003.
The proposed change would help make it easier to transfer land and buildings from principal councils in England to parish and town councils in their areas, supporting the ongoing programme of local government reorganisation and devolution in England.
The letter was prompted by issues identified by a number of clerks, who have encountered their principal councils referring to ‘community asset transfer’ which is loose term not based in statute, when discussing the transfer of assets and services in the context of devolution. This has highlighted that there isn’t a common understanding of how assets and services can effectively be transferred from principal councils to local councils.
A simple change in the guidance to principal councils could establish a default mechanism for these transfers, which emphasises that transfers to local councils retain public ownership and community governance.
The proposed amendment would give principal councils across England a clearer route to devolving assets and services more effectively, aligning with the government’s broader objectives for local government reorganisation and devolution.
