20 December 2002
David Triesman told the general assembly of the Local Government Association that the government had not reversed the attacks on councils' autonomy by previous Tory administrations. Instead, he said, Labour's efforts to improve services had led to it imposing its own burdens on authorities.
'So much ringfencing, so much control over how specific grants should be used, so much inspection,' Triesman said. 'We haven't done what we could to reverse the trend.'
Speaking during a panel discussion at the assembly, which convened on December 17, Triesman said that ministers had recognised their error. But he made clear that authorities needed more autonomy to convince the public that local government mattered. 'We need to move very much more to a position where local government reasserts and re-establishes its ability to control the issues that concern local people,' he said.
Conservative Party chair Theresa May, also on the panel, said changes to councils' political structures had thwarted efforts to encourage wider participation in local democracy.
Cabinet government had made greater demands on councillors' time, she argued. 'The amount of time expected is a problem… the number of people who can give that time is very limited.'
Later, assembly delegates passed the LGA's 'Moving towards excellence' resolution on Comprehensive Performance Assessments. This commits councils to helping one another to improve their services, and pledges that by 2006 no authority should be subject to government intervention.
LGA chair Sir Jeremy Beecham said: 'Local government is best placed to support itself to improve.'
PFdec2002
