Commentary on Sections Introduction Section 214: Further provision about orders
501.Section 214 makes further provision as to what an Order made under Section 212 may include. An Order may require an entity, a local authority or trustees to obtain the consent of the Audit Commission (in England), or the Auditor General for Wales (in Wales), before taking a particular action.
502.Under Section 214(3) an Order may also require a local authority to make arrangements for enabling questions to be put to certain members or officers of the authority including those who are members, directors or holders of specified positions with the entity concerned. An Order under this power may prescribe circumstances in which a local authority would be prohibited from taking action which would permit a person becoming a member, director, or holder of a specified position in relation to an entity. An Order may also require an authority to ensure that, as far as practicable, entities connected with that authority comply with the provisions of any Order applicable to them. Section 214(4) makes provisions in relation to trusts and trustees which corresponds to the provisions in Section 214(3).
503.Where an Order makes provision in relation to entities, trusts, or trustees, of a particular description it may provide for any expression used in identifying the description of the entity to have the meaning given, for the time being, by a “relevant document” identified by the Order. Section 214(7) defines a relevant document as a document which has been identified as proper practices for the purposes of section 21(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 2003 by regulations made under section 21 of that Act. The intention is that descriptions are able to be based on documents such as those setting out standard local authority accounting practices, for example SORP, without needing to amend the Order where changes are made to such documents.