Commentary on Sections Introduction Chapter 2: Overview and Scrutiny Committees Section 124: Overview and scrutiny committees of district councils: local improvement targets
316.Section 124 inserts a new section 21E into the Local Government Act 2000.
317.Section 21E(1) and (2) allow the Secretary of State to make regulations enabling a district council in a two tier area to make reports and recommendations to its county council or to that county council’s executive, on matters relating to a local improvement target in the area’s LAA, where that local improvement target relates to a partner authority. Section 21E(4) sets out that a partner authority for these purposes means the county council and any authority which is a partner authority of the county council other than a police authority or the chief of police.
318.Section 21E(3) provides that regulations may also apply or make provision corresponding to the duty of an authority or executive to respond to an overview and scrutiny committee, the duties of associated authorities to have regard to reports and recommendations and the treatment of reports and recommendations, and responses to them, which contain confidential and exempt information, i.e. the regulations may make provision applying the provisions of new sections 21B to 21D of the Local Government Act 2000.