# Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, Section 69: Local authority and strategic authority economic assessments

Extent: E+W

(1) A relevant authority in England must prepare an assessment of the economic conditions of its area.
(2) A relevant authority may revise the assessment, or any part or aspect of it, at any time.
(3) In this Part “relevant authority” means—
(a) a county council;
(b) a district council, other than a non-unitary district council;
(c) a London borough council;
(d) the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a local authority;
(e) the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
(f) a combined authority;
(g) a combined county authority.
(4) In discharging its functions under this section, a relevant authority must consult such persons as it considers appropriate.
(5) Where a relevant authority is a county council for an area for which there is a district council, the following duties also apply in relation to the discharge by the county council of its functions under this section—
(a) the county council must consult and seek the participation of the district council;
(b) the county council must have regard to any material produced by the district council in the discharge of the district council's functions under section 13 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (c. 5);
(c) the district council must co-operate with the county council.
(5A) Where a relevant authority is a combined authority or combined county authority, the following duties also apply in relation to the discharge by the authority of its functions under this section—
(a) the combined authority or combined county authority must consult and seek the participation of the constituent councils and any other local district council;
(b) the combined authority or combined county authority must have regard to any material produced by a constituent council or any other local district council in the discharge of the council's functions under section 13 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004;
(c) the constituent councils and any other local district council must co-operate with the combined authority or combined county authority.
(6) A relevant authority must have regard to any guidance given by the Secretary of State—
(a) as to what an assessment under this section should contain and how it should be prepared;
(b) as to when to prepare an assessment under subsection (1);
(c) as to when to revise any assessment, or any part or aspect of an assessment, under subsection (2).
(7) Before giving guidance under subsection (6) the Secretary of State must consult—
(a) such representatives of local government (including combined authorities and combined county authorities) as the Secretary of State considers appropriate, and
(b) such other persons (if any) as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(7A) Where a relevant authority is a constituent council of a combined authority or combined county authority, any requirement in any legislation for the relevant authority to exercise a function under this section may be fulfilled by the exercise of that function by the combined authority or combined county authority.
(8) In this section—
“combined authority” means a combined authority established under section 103 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009);
“combined county authority” means a combined county authority established under section 9(1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023;
“constituent council” means—
(a)in relation to a combined authority—
(i)a county council the whole or any part of whose area is within the area of the authority, or
(ii)a district council whose area is within the area of the authority;
(b)in relation to a combined county authority—
(i)a county council for an area within the area of the authority, or
(ii)a unitary district council for an area within the area of the authority;
“other local district council” means a district council—
(a)whose area is within the area of a combined authority or combined county authority, but
(b)which is not a constituent council;
“unitary district council” means a district council whose area is not part of the area of a county council.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/20/section/69 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/local-democracy-economic-development-and-construction-act-2009/section-69
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.