The draft regulations, which were laid before the House on 19 February, will, if approved by Parliament, complete the legislative framework for overview and scrutiny committees, and audit committees, of combined county authorities. They make provision about the membership and proceedings of these committees and in relation to allowances for committee members. The regulations also provide for allowances for members of a combined authority’s overview and scrutiny and audit committees.

The wider context of these regulations is that these committees are essential components of the architecture of accountability in combined authorities and combined county authorities. As more powers and resources are devolved to these important bodies and their mayors, the responsibility to ensure sound governance and effective decision-making in the interests of local people becomes ever more important.

Through these regulations we are ensuring that the new combined county authorities have strong and effective overview and scrutiny committees, and we are pursuing a number of further initiatives to develop this architecture of accountability. In particular, we have published the English Devolution Accountability Framework and a scrutiny protocol, and we intend shortly to issue revised statutory guidance on overview and scrutiny.

It may be helpful to say a little more about these initiatives. The English Devolution Accountability Framework sets out how institutions with devolved powers, such as combined county authorities,

“will be scrutinised and held to account … by the residents and voters of their area”,

by local leaders and businesses and, as appropriate, by central government. As part of this framework, the scrutiny protocol in particular sets out how a combined county authority’s or a combined authority’s overview and scrutiny and audit committees hold the institution—and, where there is one, the mayor or directly elected leader—to account.

We intend shortly to issue revised statutory guidance for overview and scrutiny, aimed at local authorities, combined authorities and combined county authorities, to help them carry out their overview and scrutiny functions effectively. The guidance provides advice for senior leaders, members of the overview and scrutiny committees, scrutiny officers and officers with a role in supporting these scrutiny committees. The regulations which we are considering today provide the foundation for these initiatives in their application to combined county authorities.

I turn to the detail of the regulations. They provide for the membership and proceedings of overview and scrutiny committees and audit committees of combined county authorities. They do so by extending the Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017 so that it applies to combined county authorities as well as to combined authorities. This approach ensures parity between the two types of authority. The regulations also enable the payment of allowances to members of constituent councils of combined authorities and combined county authorities who are appointed to the overview and scrutiny and audit committees.

We have made a few minor changes to the drafting of the 2017 order to reflect the inclusion of non-constituent members and their nominating bodies in the constitutional arrangements for both combined authorities and combined county authorities, and to ensure that the provisions work for both types of authority.

The regulations also accommodate the constitutional difference between combined authorities and combined county authorities. In particular, if the provisions of the 2017 order were simply applied without modification, there would be no duty on a combined county authority to enable, for example, a district council that is within its area but which does not nominate a non-constituent member to refer a matter to the overview and scrutiny committee.

The regulations recognise the legitimate interest of such district councils in certain decisions which could be made by the combined county authority. They do so by extending the referrals provision to include such councils where the matter relates to the council’s area. This extension also applies to the supply by the combined county authority of related documents to a council making a referral.

I turn to the new allowances provisions. These were included in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 at the request of some of the existing combined authorities, to aid quoracy at meetings of overview and scrutiny committees. The regulations enable both combined authorities and combined county authorities to pay an allowance to members of their constituent councils who are appointed to overview and scrutiny, and audit, committees.

The provision is enabling only; if an authority does not wish to make such a payment, it is not obliged to do so. However, where a payment is made, it must be in accordance with a recommendation from an independent remuneration panel. The regulations also include consequential amendments to existing combined authority orders to ensure that the new allowances provisions may have effect in those authorities.

The Government undertook extensive consultation ahead of the 2017 order for combined authorities. The regulations before us today apply the 2017 order provisions to combined county authorities. They make only essential changes to reflect the constitutional provisions in the 2023 Act and to add the provisions enabling payment of allowances. That said, throughout the drafting process, we have engaged officers from the existing combined authorities and from constituent councils of the East Midlands Combined County Authority, as well as the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny. The approach we adopted has been welcomed and the consequential amendments to existing combined authority orders were agreed with each area.

Under the 2023 Act, we hope to see the establishment of more combined county authorities, which, like combined authorities, will have increasing decision-making powers and budgets. The regulations provide that with these powers comes robust, transparent local accountability. This ensures that the public can have confidence in decisions that these new authorities and their elected mayors make.