By David Williams
24 March 2010
Proposals outlined in this year’s Budget to devolve more power from Whitehall have been met with faint praise and scepticism by localists.
The Budget revealed councils would be given more control over £1.3bn of funding that is currently ring-fenced, and that the number of funding streams from central government to local authorities would be cut from 110 to 94.
The plans are part of the government’s response to the Total Place pilot schemes, in which public bodies in 13 areas in England, including Birmingham and Kent, examined how money could be more effectively spent by pooling their budgets.
Total Place: a whole area approach to public services, which expands on the pilots’ findings and further details the next steps to be take, was due to be published by the Treasury on March 25.
As Public Finance went to press, the document was expected to include details of a second wave of trials, which include a fresh batch of pilots and further work by the first 13.
Chris Leslie, director of the New Local Government Network, said the Budget’s broad recommendations were encouraging.
‘It’s not too bad, really,’ he told PF. ‘At least local authorities will be able to play with those sums of money according to local priorities.’
However, he said the crucial detail of whether some funding streams would be rolled together or simply cut completely was still unclear.
Leslie also described a pledge to give more freedom to agencies that agreed to make additional savings as ‘generosity with a raised eyebrow’.
He said: ‘It’s handing the knife to councils – or at least devolving the axe a little bit… but it’s still the right thing to do.’
But Leslie added that a recommendation to grant new freedoms around strictly defined themes such as innovative policing indicated that the Treasury was unsure whether to devolve power or continue to dictate how money should be spent.
Andy Sawford, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit, attacked the government for tying councils’ hands by centrally protecting NHS, policing and schools spending.
‘Talk of billions of pounds’ worth of savings will have a disproportionate effect on the non-protected services, including social care, housing and transport,’ he said.
‘Instead, the government should move rapidly to implement the Total Place concept.’
24 March 2010
Proposals outlined in this year’s Budget to devolve more power from Whitehall have been met with faint praise and scepticism by localists.
The Budget revealed councils would be given more control over £1.3bn of funding that is currently ring-fenced, and that the number of funding streams from central government to local authorities would be cut from 110 to 94.
The plans are part of the government’s response to the Total Place pilot schemes, in which public bodies in 13 areas in England, including Birmingham and Kent, examined how money could be more effectively spent by pooling their budgets.
Total Place: a whole area approach to public services, which expands on the pilots’ findings and further details the next steps to be take, was due to be published by the Treasury on March 25.
As Public Finance went to press, the document was expected to include details of a second wave of trials, which include a fresh batch of pilots and further work by the first 13.
Chris Leslie, director of the New Local Government Network, said the Budget’s broad recommendations were encouraging.
‘It’s not too bad, really,’ he told PF. ‘At least local authorities will be able to play with those sums of money according to local priorities.’
However, he said the crucial detail of whether some funding streams would be rolled together or simply cut completely was still unclear.
Leslie also described a pledge to give more freedom to agencies that agreed to make additional savings as ‘generosity with a raised eyebrow’.
He said: ‘It’s handing the knife to councils – or at least devolving the axe a little bit… but it’s still the right thing to do.’
But Leslie added that a recommendation to grant new freedoms around strictly defined themes such as innovative policing indicated that the Treasury was unsure whether to devolve power or continue to dictate how money should be spent.
Andy Sawford, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit, attacked the government for tying councils’ hands by centrally protecting NHS, policing and schools spending.
‘Talk of billions of pounds’ worth of savings will have a disproportionate effect on the non-protected services, including social care, housing and transport,’ he said.
‘Instead, the government should move rapidly to implement the Total Place concept.’
