The Secretary of State was also allowed to require reduction in individual local authorities' budgets.

The guidelines are helpful but I am concerned it still leaves too much to individual authorities and agencies to decide for themselves.

Before 2001 the responsibility for the regulation and inspection of childcare lay with 150 individual local authorities.

Prior to this, public transport was run by individual local authorities and private companies, with little co-ordination.

The issue here is whether or not individual local authorities choose to do that.

However, it is up to individual authorities to make specific decisions regarding prohibition.

"They prefer to exercise their individual regulatory authority before seeking a legislative fix."

The members of these councils, themselves, have no individual authority.

This has led to various services within individual local authorities maintaining separate and incompatible address databases.

Obviously, the Commission works in close liaison with individual national authorities in such cases.