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Press Release

LGA response to CLG select committee report on localism

9 June 2011

Responding to the CLG Select Committee Report on Localism, Baroness Margaret Eaton, LGA Chairman, said:

“This report is bang on the money. It shows how Whitehall's '57 varieties of localism' mean some departments are actually doing the exact opposite. Even where decentralisation is going on each department is running its own private version, which means councils still feel that the Government wants them to play entirely by its rules. A year into experimenting with localist policies it is now time for a clear Whitehall-wide commitment to devolving power.

“The LGA supports calls for more wholehearted adoption of place-based budgets across all Government departments. We made the point in our evidence to the Committee that place-based budgets can reduce the overhead cost of delivering public services and provide the kind of early intervention which can prevent costly social problems from emerging. We estimate that a full place-based budget in every place would save £100 billion over the lifetime of the parliament. There is no doubt all Government departments should devolve budgetary control to a degree which promotes true localism.

“We agree that the Government should avoid imposing methods of local accountability on councils. Hard and fast rules on how local authorities should engage residents in decision making takes power out of the hands of democratically elected representatives and puts it in the hands of Whitehall officials. The Committee is spot on to remind Ministers they cannot have it both ways, devolving powers but telling councils how to use them.

“Financial self-sufficiency for councils is a crucial foundation for localism, as the Committee makes clear. Ministers now have a chance to deliver it through the current resource review and we look forward to them doing just that.”

Article Comments

Baroness Margaret Eaton has my full support.

Perhaps we should look at the canton income tax system in Switzerland. This would de-centralise the tax structure putting money behind the mother hood and apple pie of localism.

Nobody believes rhetoric without funding these days.

Hugo Hardy
11th Jun 2011 at 2:42 pm



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