27 October 2006
Local government needs to be bold if it is to make the most of the opportunities presented by Local Area Agreements, a senior manager in the sector said last week.
Addressing the CIPFA local government finance conference on October 20, Roger Latham, chief executive of Nottinghamshire County Council, said finance professionals would have a 'pivotal' role in the LAA agenda. Nottinghamshire was in the second wave of LAAs, and its agreement went live in April this year.
'LAAs stand at a crossroads,' Latham told delegates. 'You can't cross a chasm by taking small steps. You have to do something big.
'I think LAAs lay down a challenge for us and we have to show we're up for it.'
Looking forward to this week's local government white paper, he predicted that the government would loosen its 'command-and-control' style which could mean the beginning of a whole new relationship between central and local government.
But he said that although his own authority was a round two LAA, it was still stuck with traditional ways of working and there was no sign that bureaucracy was diminishing.
'There is a real opportunity to make a change here,' he said. 'As long as budgets are aligned [rather than pooled], there is a nervousness about taking a step forward. We have to keep focused on what we're trying to achieve. It does require us to hold hands and jump together.'
The conference also heard from Tony Travers, director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics, who said the publication of the white paper and the final report of the Lyons' inquiry represented a chance in a generation for significant change.
'The next 12 months and up to the next general election offer opportunities for radical change but I think it's either a “Big Bang” reform or nothing,' he said.
PFoct2006
