18 October 2002
At an executive meeting of the Local Government Association on October 17, members were due to debate a 'more radical' package of freedoms for councils.
The meeting follows the announcement last week that high-performing authorities would see a reduction in ring-fenced funding and planning requirements. Inspections will also be cut in half.
Chancellor Gordon Brown said on October 11: 'This is our vision of a modern partnership between central and local government – a new localism where there is flexibility and resources in return for reform and delivery.'
The LGA said it was concerned that it saw little evidence that Brown was contemplating the same freedoms for them as for schools and hospitals.
It also fears that any new flexibilities will only be available to a few authorities under Comprehensive Performance Assessments. It wants councils in the second CPA category to be able to have some of the same freedoms as high performers through their local public service agreements.
These could include being allowed to use Private Finance Initiative credits for non-PFI projects, a five-year 'grace' period between corporate assessments and automatic selection for any government pilot scheme.
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