The Local Government Act 2000 (c.22) is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that reformed

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

. Its principal purposes are: * to give powers to local authorities to promote economic, social and environmental well-being within their boundaries * to require local authorities to shift from their traditional committee-based system of decision-making to an executive model, possibly with a directly elected mayor (subject to approval by referendum), and with a cabinet of ruling party group members * to create a consequent separation of functions with local authorities, with backbench councillors fulfilling an overview and scrutiny role * to introduce a revised ethical framework for local authorities, requiring the adoption of codes of conduct for elected members and standards committees to implement the codes of conduct; the introduction of a national Standards Board and Adjudication Panel to deal with complaints and to oversee disciplinary issues * to require each local authority to produce a publicly available constitution The introduction of

directly elected mayors Directly elected Mayors or Leaders in England, informally known as Metro Mayors or Leaders, are local government executive leaders who are directly elected by the residents of a local authority area (typically, but not always, a metropolitan are ...

(leaders) was the most radical innovation in the Act. To 2017, 53 referendums have been held, 16 of which have agreed with so resulted in an elected mayor (directly elected leader) option. The role of all other mayors is a charitable councillor, somewhat as a figurehead, in ceremonial occasions wearing the civic regalia and sometimes as chairman of events, usually co-opted to serve outside of their duties as councillor for one year only, the most powerful example of which is the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. Directly elected mayors resemble the old borough mayors of Great Britain, before reform by corporations and legislation, and some European equivalent empowered figures.

Options for council executive forms

The act, as amended, stipulates that the executive of a local authority must take one of the following forms: *Leader and cabinet executive *Mayor and cabinet executive *Alternative arrangement (Section 31) (referred to as a Section 31 arrangement, most commonly seen in coalitions of political parties) A mayor and council manager (fourth) option was repealed by the

Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (c 28) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act allows for the implementation of many provisions outlined in the Government white paper ''Strong and Prosperous Com ...

. Changes made by the Localism Act 2011 made it possible for larger authorities (more than 85,000 population) to adopt a committee system of governance.

External links

*
The Local Government Act 2000
as originally enacted, from the Office of Public Sector Information.
Explanatory notes
to the Local Government Act 2000 from the Office of Public Sector Information. Local government legislation in England and Wales United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2000 {{UK-statute-stub