What do ministers think local government is really for? As delegates gather in Bournemouth for the Local Government Association’s annual conference next week, they might well ask themselves this.
The messages coming from Whitehall right now are certainly pretty confusing.
The controversial Planning Bill, the latest cause of friction between Gordon Brown and his troublesome backbenchers, will allow decisions on major projects to be made by an independent commission far away from the communities affected.
Critics have denounced the lack of democratic accountability, and there are suspicions that the role of councils will be diminished, despite ministerial assurances.
And, as Peter Hetherington reports in the cover feature, there are fears that Communities Secretary Hazel Blears’ drive to empower residents might mean bypassing their local elected representatives.
Communities in control is the snappy title of the latest local government white paper, due to be published shortly. But councils are asking if it will leave them out of the picture.
Such uncertainty raises question marks over the government’s oft-stated support for localism. That impression was only reinforced by Sir Michael Lyons’ comments to MPs this week, in which he lamented the failure of the Central-Local Concordat to provide a new constitutional settlement for the sector.
In Blears’ interview with Public Finance, she reminds local authorities that ‘with power, comes responsibility’, but at the moment it is not clear what new powers, if any at all, will be devolved to them.
Her desire for a new era of community empowerment is laudable – but councils are crucial to making it happen. As the co-ordinators of local services and the elected representatives of local people, they are uniquely placed to make her vision a reality on the ground.
Authorities have enough challenges to overcome – not least the wave of industrial action over pay due next month – without the threat of being sidelined by their own secretary of state.
If that is not Blears’ intention, her speech in Bournemouth will be an opportunity to explain the role she sees for councils in her brave new empowered world.
