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United Nations Human Settlements Programme

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government has taken to discuss the United Nations Human Settlements Programme guidelines on decentralisation and the strengthening of local authorities with local authorities; and what measures it plans to introduce to implement the best practice outlined in the guidelines. (219804)

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.