The Labour Government has given us significant and major advantages in local government. Labour hit the ground running and has moved forward on a number of fronts. The main gains for local government have been:
- More resources year on year.
- A drive towards a performance related culture.
- Increased focus on people and their communities.
- New political management arrangements.
In looking towards a second term Labour Government, there are several issues which need to be addressed. First, the question of inspection overload. Whilst everyone would agree that local authorities should be subject to rigorous assessment and inspection, there is a real danger this is being overdone and having the opposite effect to that intended. We are in the business of delivering quality, good value services, relevant to local people’s needs. Too much red tape gets in the way of this.
Second, Labour has been good in the first term at switching the Tory regeneration focus from bricks and mortar to people-centred regeneration. This must be built upon and the various regeneration funding streams should be ‘joined up’ and synergised thus helping to build community capacity and social inclusion.
Third, we need a clear definition of Labour’s intentions regarding the key local government services of education and social services. Nationally and locally, Labour has continued to develop the partnership approach to service delivery. But a clear and unambiguous commitment to an acceptable and understandable structure will be very necessary if future plans for these vital services are to be made with confidence.
Last, but not least, all of us in Labour local government need to be reminded of the Tory alternative. Labour councillors are also Labour activists: they work tirelessly to get out the vote on election day, not just for Labour’s sake but for the sake of local government and the people and communities that it serves.
As someone leading Labour locally, I welcomed the Labour Government’s progressive and radical approach towards restoring the health of local democracy. The Local Government Act 2000 provided a valuable focal point for the first stage of reforming local government and I’m sure local councils will not be exempt from Tony Blair’s intention to make his second term more radical than the first.
We will not see the benefits of the Government’s modernising approach to local government until well into the second term when mayors in other parts of the country become commonplace and the concept of local political leadership is well and truly established.
The second term should include a bold and radical package of reforms for local democracy, including measures to ensure that local councils are sufficiently reformed. The demands for more powers and resources by local leaders must be tempered by a greater responsiveness on the part of local government to local people and to meeting the Government’s agenda.
I would like to see a reduction in the number of councillors serving on councils given further consideration, with the aim of driving up the quality of local elected representatives.
Electoral reform for local councils would lead to a more co-operative and responsive style of governance and have a significant impact on turnout at local elections.
Finally, the number of London boroughs should be halved in order to complete the re-ordering of local politics in London now the GLA is operational. Potential over-governance by the GLA and the 32 London boroughs means that a reduction is both desirable and necessary. ‘Super boroughs’ will provide strategic planning and leadership of local communities.
This coherent series of reforms would finally enable local authorities to get on with the job and form the basis for local politics in the progressive century.