20 January 2006
The government is running out of time to deliver on its localism agenda and risking disaffection throughout local government, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart has warned.
The chair of the Local Government Association told Public Finance that although recent discussions with ministers across Whitehall had been productive, 'the big question' was whether they would lead to a meaningful devolution of power.
'We have reached a stage in the rhetoric where, if we don't see movement in 2006, we are not likely to, and people will be very disillusioned,' he added.
Bruce-Lockhart sounded his warning after David Miliband used a major speech to the New Local Government Network's annual conference to pledge to tackle the 'power gap' that exists at the local level.
The communities and local government minister said this would be achieved by a 'double devolution' of power, from Whitehall to town halls, and from town halls to neighbourhoods.
Miliband, speaking on January 18, said 'neighbourhood empowerment', taking a variety of forms, would be the key. 'It is not possible, sitting in Whitehall, to say what approach will work for what community under what circumstances. That is a matter for councils and other public service providers in consultation with their residents,' he told delegates.
Residents could have the right to trigger inquiries into local issues, or extend the right of petition so problems are forced on to the authority's business agenda.
Miliband pledged to work with the LGA to draw up a national neighbourhoods framework, which would provide authorities with a range of options they could use when setting up local structures. Each authority would then draw up its own neighbourhood charter.
These 'bottom-up' mechanisms could help reduce the current system of top-down accountability through inspection and regulation.
There would always be a need for national monitoring, Miliband said, but there should be a 'new balance' between national and local accountability.
He suggested that poor satisfaction ratings among council residents could trigger intervention in failing services, rather than a critical inspection, a proposal recently floated by the Audit Commission.
'Inspection should only be necessary for that part of performance that citizen power – voice and choice – cannot monitor and control,' Miliband said.
PFjan2006
