The Local Government Act 2003

2.21  Section 101 of the LGA 2003 confer powers on the Secretary of State to require best value authorities in England and Wales, when engaged in contracting-out exercises, to deal with staff matters in accordance with "directions" issued by the Secretary of State. Following consultation, DCLG decided not to issue a general staff transfer direction, but the Direction described in 2.10 above was issued to ensure pension protection for transferring employees (see Section 3).