Town Local Government

Introduction
The Programme for Government commits to the examination in the Green Paper of “the establishment of town councils in those towns that have shown significant population growth in recent years (including the upgrading of the former Town Commission towns, where appropriate, to full town councils).”

Background to Town Government in Ireland
The relationship between towns, town councils and county councils has been visited and revisited in some depth in numerous official reports over past decades. The core of the debate is focused around the value of local democratic structures which are close to the citizen, versus the need for economies of scale and strength of capacity in carrying out functions in a more complex world. There is no real consensus as to the best structure for sub-county local government in Ireland.

Town government is firmly rooted in its mid 19th Century origins. This consisted of a primary layer of local government - county councils and county borough Corporations (now city councils) – and a lower tier within counties of borough councils, urban district councils, town commissioners and rural district councils. The first half of the 20th Century saw some upheaval of the sub-county structures. Rural district councils were abolished by the Local Government Act 1925 and a number of Urban District Councils (UDCs) and town commissioners were dissolved for various reasons at different times, with others being incorporated into city or borough authorities. Since independence 4 new town councils have been established.¹⁸

The 2001 Local Government Act changed the title of all urban district councils (UDCs) and town commissioners to town councils but without affecting the core differences in function. There are currently 80 town councils in the State (5 titled as boroughs, 49 former UDCs and 29 former town commissioners).

Town government continues to attract comment and criticism, for disparate reasons, including that:

For reasons of local and political resistance, there has been little appetite to dissolve the smaller councils. At the same time, for reasons of efficient local service delivery and possible cost implications, there has been reluctance in Government to establish new town councils.

Previous Town Governance Reviews
Previous reviews have grappled with the challenge of securing efficient and economic service delivery while ensuring a meaningful role for the sub-county tier of government.

The Local Government Reorganisation and Reform Report (Barrington Report) considered this issue in 1991. Rather than suggesting incremental changes to the sub-county tier, the Barrington report put forward 2 possible models for wholesale reform of town government. One suggested model was the establishment of a new universal district tier of local government for all localities, sitting under the county and city tier. The other involved the wholesale abandonment of the sub-county tier, and the redeployment of resources from town councils to county councils with town interests being incorporated into relevant area committees.

These approaches were not acceptable to Government and the Report of the Reorganisation Commission (the Lacey Report) of April 1996, took an approach based on bringing more coherence to the place of town government within the existing institutional framework. This Report considered the system to be unduly fragmented and recommended closer cooperation and more integrated customer service between town and county.

Summaries of two these reports are set out in Annex III.

The OECD, in its April 2001 report Regulatory Reform in Ireland, stated that “the sheer number of local governments has created fragmented industries incapable of reaping scale economies, for instance, in the maintenance of social housing, road repair, engineering and architectural design, or disposal and water supply.”

While the models suggested in the Barrington Report could be re-visited, such an approach would likely falter for a number of reasons, not least on the basis of political or popular acceptability. The wholesale reform approach would also involve significant additional costs or a significant reduction in democratic representation. As such, they are not likely to be realistic or deliverable.

The Approach under Better Local Government
Better Local Government 1996, took up the approach in the Lacey Report. It stated that it was proposed to support the development of town authorities and to enhance their capacity to play the fullest role possible in local government affairs. A new structured system of town/county meetings and a move towards the shared/harmonised delivery of service at local level was envisaged. Better Local Government promised legislation to:

The Local Government Act 2001
Following Better Local Government the Local Government Act 2001 contained a number of important new elements in relation to town government:

The Powers of Existing Town Councils
Local government law differentiates between 2 types of town councils, those which were Urban District Councils (UDCs) and those which were town commissioners. The perception is that former UDC town councils, as rating authorities, are conferred with real powers while former town commissioner towns have a predominantly representational or ceremonial role. (There are 8 former town commissioner towns which have a population in excess of 7,500.)¹⁹

However, the reality is that rating authority town councils vary hugely in function, operational capability and effectiveness. Larger towns such as Dundalk, Ennis and Tralee have a significant range of operational functions, while smaller rating authorities in practice exercise far fewer. In many cases county councils provide services on an agency basis for these town councils.

All town councils have had functions centralised at county level in recent decades, water services being the most recent area affected. This has been progressed for very laudable reasons of efficiency and in recognition of the difficulty for small urban authorities in employing the specialist expertise across a wide range of areas which local government now requires – from sophisticated environmental management and control to resource intensive social inclusion and community building initiatives.

This centralisation has been bemoaned by some at town council level. However, the much wider range of local government activity since the ending of the ultra vires rule, greater economic wealth, and new policy directions under Better Local Government, has allowed local authorities, of all status, to expand into new areas. The larger town councils especially have been able to develop new roles in community building, social inclusion, economic development, sport and recreation, arts and tourism etc.

Local Government Disconnect
While the issue of town versus county functions does not generally excite public debate (as opposed to debate within local government circles), the findings of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship are instructive. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the Taskforce reported that “the perceived distance between the citizen and local authority was too great – particularly but not exclusively in urban areas.”

The Taskforce referred to discussion around a new tier of sub-county democratic institutions and further decentralisation of decision-making power. It suggested that there was a need for public debate on the merits of a reform programme. The Taskforce did state that considerations of enhanced or additional democratic structures would need to be mindful of the risk of potential fragmentation.

Given the Taskforce’s conclusions in relation to the local disconnect, it is of note that the smaller local authorities, particularly in predominantly rural areas, whether county or town, had greater rates of electoral participation during the last local elections, regardless of the responsibilities of the local authority in question.²⁰

Demographic Changes, New Communities and the Role of the Town
The recent demographic changes in Irish society have been touched on in Chapter 1. The CSO Regional Population Projections 2006-2021 projects a population for the State in 2021 of 5.07m. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government’s more recent projection, from February 2007, states that the most likely scenario is a population of 5.33 million in 2021.

If the experience of the last 10 years is indicative, town populations will account for much of the expected population growth with immigration contributing substantially.

A notable aspect of recent population growth has been the impact on the demographic make up of towns. The distribution of the 380,000 non-Irish or U.K. born residents identified in Census 2006 is not even. 3% of persons resident in rural areas were not born in Ireland or the U.K., as compared to 12% in the aggregate urban area.²¹ The smaller towns, those with populations from 3,000 to 4,999, collectively have populations of 11% that are non-Irish or U.K. born. Towns with populations of 1,500 to 2,999 are similar, with a 10% proportion. Within these categories of towns there are some striking statistics, for example, 36% of Gort’s population was not born in the E.U. From town to town, the state of origin of the immigrant population varies. In general, in the smaller towns, the majority of immigrants are from the new E.U. States of Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia etc. However, in other towns, such as Athenry or Lusk, the majority of the immigrant population is from non-E.U. countries.

Town government, therefore, plays a key role in meeting the needs of a much more heterogeneous society. The local franchise which is available to all residents, regardless of nationality, is an important instrument in creating a collective sense of community. A major question for this Paper is to consider if town government can be enhanced to deliver on its potential to integrate immigrant populations with the local community.

County and City Area Committees
Irish local government is unusual, but not unique, in that a relevantly small proportion of the electorate, around 14%, is represented and serviced by two tiers of local authority - town and county council - while the majority of the population is serviced by one authority only, either a city or county council.²² County councillors representing those towns carry the interests of the town electorate in so far as county council functions are concerned.

County and city council area committees have grown in importance in recent years as a method of localised decision making while leaving more important policy issues to the full council. Area committees can often cover a more coherent geographical functional area – a town and its environs – rather than just the area within the legal town boundary which may have less relevance to the real town.²³ Area committees are regarded by many as a substitute for town councils where such councils do not exist. Area Committees also provide an opportunity for local authorities to address the distinct needs of rural districts.

As noted above, area committees covering towns now include town mayors as an ex-officio member of the committee.

Submissions from the Public and Consideration by the Consultative Committee
A number of common themes emerged from public consultation. Some submissions called for new town councils in all towns over certain population thresholds, for example, populations over 7,500, or for all “satellite villages.” Individual groups called for the establishment of new town councils in particular towns, including Ashbourne, Maynooth, Newbridge and Carrigaline. Several submissions also stated that the mechanism for the establishment of new town councils should be simplified.

A number of submissions took the opposing view, pointing out the risk of costly duplication of administrative structures. The abolition of almost all town councils was also mooted, on grounds of the primary loyalty of citizens to county and city structures, economic efficiency, and the capacity of county council area committees to perform the role of town councils.

Several submissions raised the possibility of the establishment of unified local government structures to represent clusters of towns, e.g. Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth, or Laytown, Bettystown and Mornington. The proportion of elected representatives to population was also raised with suggestions of a more uniform ratio than exists at present; 1 councillor per 1,500 population was suggested.

Several submissions favoured enhanced powers for existing town councils, particularly the upgrading of the weaker town councils, such as Droichead Nua, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Shannon and Tramore to include full rating powers. Enhanced powers for all town councils in areas such as transport, housing, community development and public order were also called for. This view was not unanimous with some submissions calling for planning functions to be retained only at county and city level i.e. transferred from those towns which have planning functions.

There were divergent opinions at the Consultative Committee as to the proper role of town councils. The “county” view was that county councils have the resources and strengths in service delivery and are best equipped to provide an efficient local service. Local service provision could be delivered through area offices and local democratic connection with the citizen maintained through local councillors and area committees of the council.

The contrasting view considered that town government was much closer to the citizen and was best placed to bridge the citizen disconnect. Where towns have real functions experience shows that they can make a real difference to the community.

Arguments in favour of new town councils included the need for the local government system to be responsive to changing circumstances. Town councils should be established where there is a demand and where the circumstances warrant. The point was made strongly that efficiency should not be the only criterion considered in a democracy, and further, that town government is inherently efficient, in that it is closer to the citizen and therefore better capable of identifying and meeting public needs.

Arguments against new councils included cost, economies of scale in service delivery, and a question mark over whether new councils would actually make a difference on the ground. The question was raised as to the real demand from the public for new layers of bureaucracy.

Principles in relation to Town Reform
The principles guiding local government reform in this Green Paper are:

Accordingly, options for change should be measured against these principles. In considering the options it is important to note that town councils are not islands. Just as the county and city tier of local government exists in a national and regional context, town councils exist and operate in a county, and often cross-county, framework.

I. Town Powers and the Appropriate Relationship between Town and County
Much work has been done in aligning town and county structures and service delivery. The challenge now is to ensure that those councillors which town residents elect to represent them have a meaningful role in their community, while not adding to the cost burden or introducing inefficiencies in local authority service delivery.

Traditionally, local government law has provided rigid definitions of local authority powers, i.e. a town council can be a planning authority with full legal independence from the county, while a county council may be a roads authority for national roads within a town with no legal obligation to consult with the town council. In practice, under common managers there is a more fluid relationship between towns and counties than the law suggests. This should be built on. It is possible for many strategic policies to be laid down at overall county level, while leaving detailed implementation to be decided at town level.

This is the philosophy which is being pursued in relation to the housing function of local authorities. The 2007 Housing Policy Statement – Delivering Homes, Sustainable Communities sets out a number of key principles:

It is suggested that this philosophy is the most appropriate way ahead for local government in Ireland and sets out the optimal relationship between town and county government – subject as necessary to local circumstances.

Local Government Act 2001
The Local Government Act 2001 already contains a number of provisions that can be used to support inter-authority cooperation:

Options for Reform
Having regard to the need to balance strategic decision making at county level and the benefits that proximity brings to town government decision making it is suggested that reform for town government decision making could be based on the following options.

Non-statutory Initiatives for Extending Power to Town Councils
The footpath grants initiative for former town commissioners, introduced in recent years, has established a model in which decision making, within defined limits, is delegated to town elected members for delivery by the county council. This was done on a non-statutory basis by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in 2006. If this model was to be extended, town councils could draw up a programme of works (e.g. road repairs, local water services, parks, community facilities) and submit the programme to the county council as a basis for negotiation between the town and county tier.

A More Flexible Approach to Local Functional Arrangements
An alternative approach would be to make the functions of a town council, whether former UDC or town commissioner, an issue for local settlement on a case by case basis, rather than one which is centrally determined (largely by legislation). A larger town council, including non-rating towns, could, subject to local willingness and service level guarantees, receive devolved statutory decision making powers from county councils. For example, having been elected as public representatives, should councillors in non-rating towns not have a say over the development plan for their town, without necessarily becoming a full-scale planning authority?

It may be considered that this type of approach could bring about a cultural change in the local government system, in which the ‘lower’ tiers of authority individually negotiate with ‘higher’ tiers for powers, argue for local ownership, make commitments in relation to delivery and are then held to account by both the citizenry and higher tiers. Such negotiations could encompass a range of services and topics and be subject to periodic review. It would be envisaged in such a scenario that the county council, as primary authority, would still provide the staffing and administrative support services so as not to negate the efficiencies of scale which have been achieved in recent decades.

Consideration would need to be given to how to encourage such flexibility in decision making where county councils were reluctant to transfer functions.

Introducing inter-authority negotiation would bring added, and perhaps unwelcome, complexity to the local government system in Ireland. The trade-off for the public in devolving powers to town councils should be better and, more importantly, more accountable service provision. This would help to address some of the disconnect identified by the Taskforce on Active Citizenship. The issue of comparing the added democratic benefits versus the potential loss of efficiency needs careful consideration.

Area Committees and Town Councils – Better Integration
Many towns could benefit from better integration of their town councils with the relevant county council area committees. Regular contact, joint meetings and cooperation should be a priority for both town and county councillors to ensure that policies and activities are coherent and mutually supportive.

Central Determination of the Powers of Town Councils
Another approach would be to determine at central government level the powers available to each town council based on a scheme of criteria, such as population or the territory controlled by each town council. For example, could all 25 town councils with a population of less than 5,000 have the most limited powers, while the 17 town councils with a population of 15,000 be granted the full suite of town council functions?

New Forms of Engagement with the Community
Chapter 7 discusses the possible use of new forms of engagement with the community, i.e. the use of plebiscites, participatory budgeting, the use of petitions etc. These forms could be used by all local authorities and may be particularly useful in urban areas as a means of engaging communities which may otherwise feel disconnected.

Conclusion
Having regard to the benefits of empowering decision makers at the lowest tiers of local government, this Paper suggests that increased local decision making, within defined limits, should be delegated to town elected members for implementation by the county council. This should be done on the basis of local settlement.

The county council, as primary authority, would still provide the staffing and administrative support services. While such inter-authority negotiation would bring added complexity, the trade-off for the public in devolving powers to town councils should be better and more accountable democratic decision making.

II. The Establishment of New Town Councils
From the perspective of the inhabitants of an individual town, it may be difficult to justify the discrepancy between those towns that enjoy their own dedicated tier of local democracy, and those not so represented. However, the cohesion of the local government system must also be taken into account as referred to above in relation to the Lacey Report and the 2001 OECD Report.

There is no consensus within local government regarding the introduction of new town councils, or indeed the expansion of the powers of towns. Recent Governments have exercised caution in relation to the establishment of new town councils, mindful of the primacy of county authorities, the issue of costs and efficiencies and the possibilities that new structures may be ill-equipped to meet heightened expectations.

There are a number of non-municipal towns (i.e. towns which do not have a town council) and which have a population in excess of 7,500. There have been persistent calls for the establishment of new town councils in many of these towns, including, Celbridge, Carrigaline, Maynooth, Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington, Ashbourne, Rush and Kildare. A population of 7,500 is significant in that Part 17 of the Local Government Act 2001, which has not been commenced, sets out a legal process by which a non-municipal town with a population above that level may establish a town council. Such a town council would, under the 2001 Act, have a limited range of functions, i.e. it would correspond to that of a former town commissioners.

It is notable that there has been very little demand for town councils in the Dublin ‘census’ towns such as Swords, Malahide, Skerries and Portmarnock. At the Consultative Committee there was recognition that Dublin was different and required a separate set of structures to deal with its challenges – see Chapter 3 on the Dublin Mayor. In addition, the 3 existing county councils in Dublin are relatively new and geographically compact. It is not proposed that additional town councils should be created in Dublin.

Options for New Town Councils
One option is to press ahead with the intention under the 2001 Act to allow the Local Government Commission to consider the case for new towns with populations above 7,500 (subject to final Ministerial approval). This approach would also require local initiation of the process and support from the relevant county council etc.

Alternatively, varied or additional criteria could be introduced. For example, with town populations rising is the 7,500 threshold still valid? Should there be a differentiation between what is a town and what is a suburb of a large conurbation?

Should a decision be taken not to establish new town councils? The establishment of new local authorities is at odds with international trends, which are to reduce the number of local authorities. ²⁴

Conclusion
There are strong arguments for and against the establishment of new town councils. In view of the competing perspectives, the establishment of new town councils would need careful consideration having regard to the potential impact on resources and efficient service delivery. The minimum population threshold of 7,500 may need to be revisited given the general growth in town populations since the enactment of the 2001 Act, as identified in Census 2006. Any decisions to proceed with such proposals should only be based on clear demonstration of the added value, and where there is full integration of administrative support with the county council so as to eliminate any significant cost implications.

III. Mayors and Towns
Given the significant structural reform involved in introducing mayors at a county level, this Paper does not propose the widespread introduction of directly elected town mayors at this stage. This position can be reviewed in the light of experience in operating the city/county mayoral system. Consideration could, perhaps, be given to piloting full term mayors in selected towns, either directly or indirectly elected. (See also Chapter 9 on mayors and regional governance.)

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