Policy overkill costing government departments 1.5bn pounds each year

6 May 2011

Central government departments could save as much as £1.5 billion each year by reducing the amount of nannying guidance they issue to councils and pruning back unnecessary statutory duties, town hall leaders have said.

In its response to the Department for Communities and Local Government's statutory duties consultation, the Local Government Association concludes it is right that statutory duties apply to the provision of residents' core needs and ensure the protection of vulnerable people. However, it is calling for the elimination of statutory guidance notes, which describe in minute detail exactly how local authorities should go about fulfilling their duties. It is also seeking the removal of out-of-date duties and elimination of ministerial consent for minor activities.

The LGA believes that achieving this aim would significantly reduce the administrative burden on the central Government departments which do business most often with local authorities. Its analysis reveals that stripping back policy work in those departments by 20 per cent would produce a saving of up to £1.5 billion each year.

The LGA has identified around 50 duties that are unnecessary, inappropriate and costly. These could be removed immediately. In its consultation response the LGA, which represents more than 350 local authorities, also calls for an immediate review of many more duties to ensure they are fit for purpose.

Among the issues highlighted in the LGA response are:

1) The data reporting demands of central government departments which oblige the average council to fill in and submit an estimated 12.6 million individual pieces of information each, at an estimated cost of around £1.8 million a year.

2) Gold plated regulations which see poorly drafted legislation accompanied by reams of confusing and dictatorial guidance notes. An estimated 80 per cent of CLG sponsored duties are accompanied by further instructions. The LGA would like to see all statutory guidance revoked.

3) The requirement to publish planning notices in local papers, at a cost to councils of around £40 million per year. The LGA believes this is an anachronism from the pre-internet age which should be done away with immediately.

4) Bossy guidance prescribing how and when local authorities should do things like collect rent on properties.

5) The requirement to seek ministerial consent to use traffic signs that are locally appropriate.

6) The requirement to seek ministerial consent in order to manage street works carried out by utility companies on local roads, which currently cause £70 million of damage to roads each year.

Baroness Margaret Eaton, Chairman of LGA, said:

“The elimination of statutory guidance notes and a root and branch prune of unnecessary duties would not only ease the costly red-tape burden being placed on local authorities, it would help government departments avoid unnecessary policy work, saving them up to £1.5 billion each year. In 2010 town halls delivered more than £1.6 billion of savings through measures like joining forces with other councils to get cheaper terms from suppliers and merging back offices. So far, more than 200 local authorities are in the process of entering shared services arrangements with neighbouring councils to bring down management costs. Local authorities need that level of endeavour matched in Whitehall.

“The Government has an opportunity to completely revise the existing culture of excessive bureaucratic oversight. We would like this review to take away the more restrictive and unnecessary duties and introduce a system which ensures residents' core needs are met and vulnerable people protected, while offering councils the flexibility to deliver services in the most locally appropriate way.

“We are not seeking to abolish the statutory duty to provide core services and protect the vulnerable. However, some of the duties currently placed on town halls are perverse, unnecessary and run contrary to localism. Bossy guidance telling councils how to collect rent, costly duplication in the collection and reporting of data and confusing and contradictory policy guidance increase the administrative burden and make it harder for councils to deliver the services people want in the way they want them.”

Notes:

A full copy of the LGA's submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government's statutory duties consultation is available from http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/18247884

Savings of £1.5 billion could be achieved through a 20 per cent reduction in the total 2008/9 outturn administration budgets of the DCSF, Home Office, CLG, DWP and Defra.

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