Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend regulations made under Part I (competition) of the Local Government Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”) in respect of the defined activities of construction and property services, financial services, housing management, information technology services, legal services and personnel management services, carried out by the majority of defined authorities in England.
In the case of all services, a credit in respect of voluntary competitive tendering is allowed by means of a new definition for the purposes of the relevant formula (the definition of “D” except in the case of housing management, where the relevant element in the formula is “B”). For work awarded after 12th December 1997 (the date on which these Regulations come into force), the credit is of an amount equal to 125% of the cost of the work.
In the case of all services, the cost of specified work for the purposes of the relevant formula is re-defined to provide for such work and its overheads to be treated as forming part of the cost of one activity only.
In the case of all services except housing management, a percentage credit is allowed for work carried out by a defined authority which is funded from a school’s delegated budget (the definition of “G” in the relevant formula).
In regulation 3, other changes are made to the regulations relating to construction and property services which—
reduce from 65% to 55% the amount of work that is subject to competition;
raise the de minimis threshold from £300,000 to £450,000;
restore the credit for work in progress for authorities which have been subject to, or created by, local government reorganisations that took effect on 1st April 1996 and 1st April 1997 or are due to take effect on 1st April 1998. The credit will run for a period of two years beginning with the date on which the authority first became subject to section 6 (functional work: restrictions) of the 1988 Act; and
change some of the dates from which section 6 of the 1988 Act is to apply (“the implementation date”). Current implementation dates of 1st April 1998 and 1st April 1999 are put back to 1st October 1998 and 1st October 1999 respectively.
In regulation 4 other changes are made to the regulations relating to financial services which—
require all authorities to expose 40% of financial services work to competition; and
change some of the implementation dates. Current implementation dates of 1st October 1998 and 1st October 1999 are put back to 1st April 1999 and 1st January 2000 respectively.
In regulation 6 a change is made to the regulations relating to information technology which puts back, for authorities which are not subject to reorganisation and for those which were reorganised with effect from 1st April 1996, current implementation dates of 1st April 1999 and 1st October 1999, respectively, to 1st April 2000.
In regulation 7 a change is made to the regulations relating to legal services which puts back current implementation dates of 1st April 1998 and 1st April 1999 to 1st October 1998 and 1st October 1999 respectively.
In regulation 8 changes are made to the regulations relating to personnel services which—
allow a 60% credit (“J”) for employee training work funded by grants for education support and training paid to a school’s governing body under a delegated budget scheme or by a matching contribution paid to the governing body by the authority;
put back current implementation dates of 1st April 1998, 1st October 1998 and 1st October 1999 to 1st January 1999, 1st January 1999 and 1st January 2000 respectively.
Regulation 9(1) revokes the Local Government Act 1988 (Competition) (England) Regulations 1997. The revocation does not affect amendments (which took effect on 21st February 1997) made by those Regulations to regulations under Part I of the 1988 Act relating to construction and property services, financial services, information technology services, legal services, personnel management services and services relating to the supervision of parking, management of vehicles and security work, nor does it affect the revocation of paragraphs (2) and (3) of regulation 3 of the Local Government Act 1988 (Defined Activities) (Competition) (Supervision of Parking, Management of Vehicles and Security Work) (England) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/3165).
Regulation 9(3) revokes the definition of “the allowable period” in regulation 2 of the Local Government Act 1988 (Competition) (Financial Services) (England) Regulations 1995 with effect from 1st January 1999. (That provision would have been revoked with effect from 21st August 1998 had the revoking provision (regulation 4(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1988 (Competition) (England) Regulations 1997) not itself been revoked (by regulation 9(1)), on the coming into force of these Regulations.)