The Live Wire



Press Release

LGA response to 'Single Data List'

18 April 2011

Responding to the release by the Department for Communities and Local Government of the Single Data List, Baroness Margaret Eaton, Local Government Association Chairman, said:

“We want this announcement of the Single Data List to be a line in the sand. Councils are required to report more than 43,000 different pieces of information into the black hole of Whitehall bureaucracy and despite pledges to cut red tape we've yet to see any genuine reduction in that data burden.

“LGA research shows that the average single tier authority is required to fill in an estimated 12.6 million boxes a year to meet the bureaucratic demands of central government. It is estimated that it costs councils on average £1.8 million a year to fulfil this demand. This time consuming and costly burden must be slashed.

“Councils are widely regarded as the most efficient part of the public sector. They are working extremely hard to protect frontline services from cuts to their budgets. Last year they delivered more than £1.6 billion in savings through measures such as merging back offices and joining forces with other councils to get better terms from suppliers. They need Whitehall to do their bit too. With more than 140,000 town hall jobs to be lost this financial year councils cannot afford to waste staff time ticking boxes when their energy should be focussed on delivering the vital frontline services residents rely on.”

Notes:

A copy of the Single Data List is available from the CLG website at http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/decentralisation/tacklingburdens/nextstepslist/?view=Standard



Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.

Local Government Association

Local Government Association

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd