The Localism AgendaThe challenges facing local

government and the impact on the role of the councillor

Alan Waters, LGIU

Localism, Decentralisation, Big Society

• Localism is the ethos: doing everything at the lowest possible level and only involving central government if absolutely necessary

• Decentralisation is the process: Giving away power to individuals, professionals, communities and local institutions

• Big Society is the vision: A society where people, neighbourhoods and communities have more power and responsibility and use it to create better services and outcomes. (CLG)

Significance of the Coalition’s Localist Agenda

‘The core of a radical and highly risky attempt to engineer a particular form of localism from the centre’ (Wilks-Heeg) Frontloaded cuts with a purpose -It is important that local government restructure its administration and its services, and the only real way to do that is to start the process early on’

Eric Pickles – CLG Select Committee 2010

The Localism Bill

• It is huge – several bills rolled into one. – 405 pages– 208 clauses– 24 schedules– Over 140 regulation making powers,

order making powers, guidance, statutory requirements, duties.

The Localism Bill

• Puts the flesh and bones on the big ideas of the ‘Big Society’

- ‘empowering communities’ - ‘opening up public services’ - ‘promoting social action’

Headline areas of impact

• Powers to call referendum• Power of General Competence• Community Right to Challenge• Assets of Community Value• Council / social housing tenancies and rents• Community planning• Rates• Councils (governance)

But doesn’t come cheap

But..

• Must be seen as part of an even larger landscape encompassing

- Welfare Reform - Open public Services White Paper - Health Service & Police reforms - Reform of Local Government Finance - Public expenditure cuts - National Planning Framework

‘Great Expectations?’The General Power of

CompetenceMore Powers for Local

Government?

General Power of Competence

• Framed as though local authorities can act as an individual (i.e. anything not expressly illegal)

• Duties still exist around e.g. competition, equalities; ‘reasonableness’ and Human Rights

• Secretary of State reserves the power to make orders preventing specific activities using the power

• E.g. no abolition or variation of any tax.• ‘Balance of interests’.

General Power of Competence

“ If there is in practice little room for local government to expand into, the power is likely to have very minimal impact”Nicholas Dobson - ‘What does the Localism Bill Mean for Councils’.

Henry VIII Clauses

• These allow a Minister to use regulations to create new laws which have the same force as Acts of Parliament but which don’t undergo the same rigorous process.

• Localism Bill peppered with HVIII clauses.

Great Expectations?

More Power to the People?

Local Referenda

‘Local Referenda on General Issues’ – removed from the Bill in the House of LordsBut remains for - ‘Excessive’ Council Tax increases - Changes in Governance - Neighbourhood Planning

Community Right to Challenge

• Enables a “relevant body” to challenge the provision of any service provided by a council

• Whilst these are primarily community, third sector or staff, if successful a procurement must be undertaken which is then open to all

• Not clear at this stage if councils would be precluded from bidding

• Unknown number and scale of challenges and subsequent procurement processes

Community Right to Challenge

• Local authority must accept or reject an ‘expression of interest’ and give grounds for doing so.

• Local authority in coming to a judgement must “ consider how it might promote or improve

the social economic or environmental well-being

of the authority’s area”Likely to generate some case law…..

Assets of Community Value• Duty to maintain a list of assets designated

as being of “community value”• Nominated by councils and groups• Restricts timing of sale of such assets to

give communities a right to bid (not buy)• Does not guarantee the service, simply the

asset from which that service was delivered• Councils liable for compensation to

landowners for associated costs

Implications• Unknown demand and cost (referenda,

rights to challenge, assets)• Unrealistic expectations? (no pubs

close, no new supermarkets, no local development)

• Impact of the sum of local decisions on overall council objectives & outcomes

• Delays in decision making?

Localism and the bigger picture

Case Study: Planning

Planning and Neighbourhoods

Neighbourhood planning will allow people to come together through-a local Parish Council-‘neighbourhood forums’and say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should go – and what they should look like.

Planning and Neighbourhoods

Neighbourhood development plans will need to be in line with - national planning policy - council planning policies - confirmed by a vote by referendum - The NP will set the policy for the neighbourhood area – but planning permission will be granted by the Local authority.

The councillor role in the community planning

process• Silent• Very important to establish a clear role for

elected members in this area. - complexity of the issues; resources;

capacity and time involved. - role for members to achieve community aspirations within existing council plans?

National Policy Planning Framework

• Possible tensions: Localism (neighbourhood planning) v ‘presumption in favour of ‘sustainable development’

Finance: ‘self funding’ – driving growth

• Reform of the funding of local government (from 2013) predicated on individual local authorities driving growth

- Community Infrastructure levy - New homes bonus - Reform of Business Rates - Discretionary RSG Stability of the system to fund services?

Great Expectations?Transparency & Accountability?

‘Big society plans raise concerns for parliamentary

democracy’Guardian (22.1.11)

Issues of transparency and accountability

‘Big Society’ literature has hardly focused on the core issue of ‘accountable governance’‘Tension between devolution and localism and political accountability and public expectations’.An issue for national politicians but also local councillors

Issues of transparency & accountability

• Concerns by the information commissioner that outsourced services could end up outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act

• Need for an FO1 2.0 along side privatisation and outsourcing of government functions.

Governance arrangements

Localism Bill sets out the governance options that will be available to local authorities•Leader and Cabinet•An executive mayor and cabinet•A committee system•Another model – subject to SoS approval.•Scrutiny powers have been consolidated in the Bill, largely unamended the previous legislation.

Governance Issues

• Will need to reflect public sector reform

- Health and Well-being boards - Police & Crime Panels - Plurality of service providers (CRTC) - Local Enterprise Partnerships. Trend in the direction of more

scrutiny

A dream come true?

Local Councils meeting once a year to set contracts

The late Nicholas Ridley, former Secretary of State for the Environment

2015

The Impact on Elected Members as community

leaders

Contentious issues?

Council / Social Housing

• Ability to restrict access to waiting lists• Choice to offer “flexible tenancies” at

“market rents” – possible impact upon new build

• Ability to make greater use of private sector for homeless applicants (without agreement)

Welfare Reforms

• Localisation of Council Tax Benefit• Housing Benefit Changes

A taste for ‘Tea Party’ politics’

Small Government?

“The Government believes that strong local government has a vital role to play in a landscape of open public services – both as a direct commissioner of services and as champion of all public services across the locality. The Government also recognises the crucial role that local authorities play as democratically accountable leaders and representatives of local communities”

Local Government’s role in Localism.

Strong politics

Logic of choiceLogic of care

Thin politics

Localism reshaping local politics

Local government promotes and regulates a ‘market’ of service providers reflecting preferences of budget holding users who commission directly through user–led consortia

Local government facilitates a ‘market’ of service providers to meet the preferences of individual users

Local government determines what should be provided and how based on local priorities, (balancing technical assessments of need with political demands mediated by local representatives)

Local government facilitates a network of delivery options reflecting decisions made through collective encounters between communities, politicians and professionals

Sullivan, 2010

Adding Market ‘democracy’ into the mix ?

Handling market failure: a political responsibility

Posing the question

Is the localism bill an extension of local freedom or

a significant advance in centralisation?

• Local rights but central control of the strings• Council Tax referenda & Mayoral referenda• Small number of elected mayors may have

services transferred to them • Powers to tell councils how to deliver services• Rights that have been created v. cumbersome

& expensive• Some services – e.g. Education moving out of

local government control.

CLG Select Committee

• Councils strategic framework: find ways to turn fragmentation into co-operation.

- placed based budgets - strengthening existing councillor routes to

raising and resolving issues and supporting local aspirations

- careful study of (as yet unpublished) regulations.

- Interaction between local freedoms and other legislation (e.g. Planning)

Possible ways forward

Impact on elected members

• The councillor as ‘commissioner’ of services

• Power traded for ‘influence’?• Co-ordinating and partnership

building role • Scrutiny• Contracts• Champion and advocate