Raynsford promises “radical new approach” to local government
The Local Government Minister has said that a new pilot on Local Area Agreements (LAA) is a radical step in local and central government relations.
Nine English authorities will be involved in next year’s pilot in which authorities will negotiate targets on the key themes of children and young people; safer and stronger communities; and health and older people and then be given freedom on how to locally achieve them.
Nick Raynsford said “We want to develop a new relationship between central and local government. We want councils and their partners to find local solutions to local problems. We want to cut red tape and bureaucracy. And we want the public to have a greater say on the issues, which concern them.
“Local Area Agreements represent a radical new approach in the relationship between local and central government.
The announcement of the pilot came as part of the launch of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) debate on local government, which the Government hopes will “build up a shared vision with active participation from local government and other stakeholders”.
John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “We are not starting with all the answers but with the issues that need to be discussed. Some of those issues are not easy to resolve and lead to some difficult choices. But now is the right time to talk about them so we can map out a way forward together that will deliver services people value and the places they want to live in.”
The Local Government Association (LGA) who have often been critical of Government’s attempts to exert more control over local government welcomed the consultation.
Its chairman, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said he looked forward to a “constructive relationship” and said that: “It is clear that the process of negotiating what is done best centrally, and what is best delivered locally, should be an ongoing one. It is equally clear that the UK is unique amongst modern economies in its level of centralisation. That centralisation has to be reversed if we are to free up councils to deliver effective, efficient and responsive services.
“For the ten-year strategy to become a reality we need all Secretaries of State not just to sign up, but to deliver in practice. Local government has shown that it is much better positioned than Whitehall to join up public services.”
Mr Bruce-Lockhart was very positive about the Local Area Agreements pilots, saying they “show a concrete way forward, provided they are democratically accountable to the public via the leadership of the local council.”
The Conservatives however claimed that the small print of the plans envisages a smaller number of councillors on higher pay. Eric Pickles said: “At a time of soaring council taxes hitting pensioners and hard-working families, local residents will justifiably resent John Prescott’s plans to hike the pay of councillors and establish a tier of fat cat, full-time bureaucrats.”
