Local government, through the LGA, have been involved in such discussions, and an officer of the LGA joined the official from my Department who led the EU’s input at the UN HABITAT Governing Council last year when the guidelines were adopted. The guidelines reflect the more rigorous European Charter of Local Self-Government, which the Government signed on 3 June 1997 and ratified on 24 April 1998, and the principles of which are reflected in the United Kingdom system of local democracy.