04 July 2003
Town hall leaders this week hit out at ministers for relegating councils to the sidelines in the rush to reform public services, and promised to 'fight for local government'.
As delegates gathered in Harrogate for the Local Government Association's annual conference, its leaders attacked the increasing interest Cabinet ministers have expressed in holding elections for various local bodies.
In recent weeks, plans to elect the boards of foundation hospital trusts have been spelled out, and the same idea has been floated for primary care trusts and police authorities.
Councils fear this will dilute their democratic mandate and drastically reduce their role as the main provider of local services.
LGA chair Sir Jeremy Beecham used his opening address to the conference on July 2 to spell out the strength of opposition felt by members.
He warned that 'new localism' – the government's policy initiative to devolve power to the frontline – risks artificially separating public services from one another and divorcing them from local political control.
'Much of the government's proclaimed devolution of power and responsibility appear to be managerial, now with the added gloss of a thin veneer of direct democracy,' Beecham told delegates.
'The creation of separate bodies with separate mandates is likely to lead to a deepening of the silo mentality, obstructing effective joint working…Furthermore they will diminish the capacity of local councils to mediate conflict and weigh priorities across a range of services.'
Beecham made a veiled plea for support from Chancellor Gordon Brown and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, both due to address the conference on July 4, praising their apparently council-friendly version of new localism.
He said the vision must rest on the devolution of power and accountability, as well as managerial responsibility. And he repeated the LGA's habitual call to ministers to give local authorities the tools they need to meet their responsibilities effectively.
'We need more financial autonomy, we need much less regulation, we need to be taken much more seriously by every minister and shadow minister, by civil servants and by quangos.'
Beecham's rallying cry reflects growing fears among councils that Labour's desperation to achieve tangible improvements to public services to please voters will lead to authorities being pushed aside.
His speech is a tacit acknowledgement that local government will have to go on the offensive to prevent any further stripping away of its powers.
Beecham's comments have received cross-party backing. Liberal Democrat LGA group leader Chris Clarke said: 'Too often we hear commitments to devolution and decentralisation from one arm of government, while centralist edicts are issued by another. We have seen too little evidence of joined-up government recently.'
Gordon Keymer, outgoing Conservative LGA group leader, echoed these concerns. 'The challenge of improving public services will be met only if there is an effective partnership between central and local government. Not enough progress has been made.'
PFjul2003
