11 July 2008
Conservative leader David Cameron told councillors that the Tories were the true localist party – but declined to commit to a reform of town hall finance.
Speaking at the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth on July 3, Cameron insisted the party had changed and was open to more local decision-making.
'The Conservative Party is now a localist party… and I really mean it this time,' he said. 'The party has changed… I think the reason we became so centralising in the 1980s was because of the challenges of the very hard Left Labour councils. That Labour party doesn't exist any more.'
Answering questions from the audience, Cameron would not be drawn on specific changes to local government finance. 'I do totally understand the balance of funding issue,' he said.
'We are looking at ways to try and build some greater balance into the system. The point about council tax is, yes, it is an unpopular tax, and I think that's because of the level it has got to, rather than the nature of the tax.'
Cameron told the conference that the economic conditions and current budget deficit meant any Conservative government would not be able to provide a 'magic pot' of money for councils.
Closing the conference, Communities and Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears said that the Community empowerment white paper would seek to 'rehabilitate party politics' and, at the same time, give more power to local communities.
On the bargain between central devolution and councils handing responsibility to individuals and other organisations, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg echoed Cameron and Blears, but said his was the only party committed to radical change for town halls.
The LibDems propose a local income tax and to give councils control over business rates. This would reverse the current funding structure, dominated by a grant from central government, creating a local/central split of 75%/25%.
Council chief says local tax powers could cut racism
The chief executive of a London borough which has 12 British National Party councillors has said allowing councils to raise a 'tax shield' from high migration would help prevent the growth of extremism.
Rob Whiteman of Barking and Dagenham told the LGA conference during a debate on tolerant communities: 'One of the interesting things about the UK, unlike many other countries, is that the benefits of migration seem to be national: how the economy works, how the national health service works. The consequences and cost on services and localities is seen to be local.'
Whiteman said other local government systems allowed the benefits of migration to be felt locally through greater tax-raising powers, which could translate into improved services.
In the discussion on July 3, Whiteman said the lack of plural political representation in his area had allowed extremism to flourish. 'We've been a one-party borough, where people identify organised politics with the Labour Party.'
For many people, he said, it was a case of saying: 'I'm voting against the established order of politics because I don't like what's going on. I'm going to lodge a protest vote.'
Broadcaster Yasmin Alibhai-Brown backed the LGA's calls for a contingency fund for councils to cope with sharp population changes. In recent years there had been a failure at the national level to confront racism, she added.
'Scrap jail sentences for council tax' plans
Prison sentences for council tax dodgers could be scrapped under proposals to enforce the tax through the civil courts, the local government minister has said.
Addressing the conference on July 2, John Healey said council tax had been an anomaly ever since its introduction in 1993, as it was a civil debt enforced through magistrates' courts, leading to sanctions that were designed for criminal offences.
'But most civil debts — like rent arrears and unpaid credit card bills — are effectively enforced through the county court system, with tough sanctions available as needed, like freezing and seizing money in banks or building societies to ensure payment.'
Healey told delegates that county court judgments could also affect a person's credit rating. The aim of the change was to increase already high collection rates and cut the number of people jailed for not paying bills.
In 2005/06, 368 people went to prison for unpaid council tax, and 335 were committed to prison but did not serve a sentence. The council tax collection rate is 97.1% in England.
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