12 May 2006
New Local Government Secretary Ruth Kelly is poised to delay the sector's planned white paper.
Senior sources at the new Department for Communities and Local Government have told Public Finance that a delay to the government's white paper on local government's future form and functions is likely while Kelly gets to grips with her new remit.
Former communities minister David Miliband was due to publish his proposals in the summer. But one DCLG source told Public Finance that Kelly wanted to 'take a long, hard look at the issue of local government reform' before putting her name to any proposals.
John Prescott's former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which held responsibility for local government, housing, planning and community renewal, was swept away in favour of the DCLG following Prime Minister Tony Blair's Cabinet reshuffle on May 5.
Asked if a delay to the white paper was 'probable', another DCLG source said: 'Exactly that. The honest answer about the white paper is that we don't know when it will be published. Ruth is committed to taking forward a white paper agenda but has not yet taken a decision about timing.'
However, it is unclear whether the delay will stretch until after Sir Michael Lyons publishes his final report on local government structures and finances later this year.
Miliband's intention to publish his proposals before Lyons' final recommendations recently led shadow local government minister Eric Pickles to accuse the government of deciding on crucial reforms before a full assessment of councils' financial functions is released.
It is believed that Miliband's proposals could have initiated plans for unitary local government structures across England, similar to those in Wales and Scotland.
Referring to her broad new remit on May 9, Kelly said she would 'address some of the most pressing challenges our country faces: insecurity, community cohesion, environmental sustainability and democratic renewal'.
She also indicated that she will draw on the 'city-regions' agenda backed by Miliband. Like her predecessors, Kelly said she was 'determined to devolve more power and responsibility' at 'neighbourhood and local authority level'.
But critics have questioned just how Kelly would achieve this. As education secretary, she angered town halls with heavy government input into local education policies.
In creating new funding arrangements for schools, for example, she largely bypassed town halls and retained a government veto over 'freedoms' to create new schools.
Local Government Association chair Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: 'What really matters is whether Ruth Kelly will take the plunge… and devolve, deregulate and decentralise.'
Privately, Whitehall experts believe Kelly could favour the Treasury's approach to devolution, which a study published alongside the 2006 Budget indicated would make use of existing structural frameworks, such as regional development agencies, to deliver city-regional 'autonomy'.
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