Nick Raynsford

Ministers have set out a 10-year plan for better local government.

Deputy prime minister John Prescott and local government minister Nick Raynsford published a strategy paper on the structure of councils on Tuesday.

Raynsford said local authorities are likely to be greater in size but smaller in number by 2014.

The government said it wants to devolve more powers to town halls but has been accused of increasing centralisation, particularly over council tax capping and education funding.

But the strategy outlined plans for pilot "local area agreements" which will allow authorities to draw up contracts with Whitehall for service delivery with cash bonuses for success.

Raynsford said they would help redefine the relationship between councils and Westminster control.

"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," he said.

"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. We are focusing on what is important: the outcomes in key areas.

"Central government will set strategic priorities but will leave authorities and their partners to decide the detailed implementation."

'New localism'

The document is designed to feed into a white paper next year and Raynsford said ministers want "to get away from incremental change" and set out a clear picture of reform.

He acknowledged that "there was a long way to go" before the government's "new localism" and partnership agenda is realised.

And the minister conceded that all councils would have their own individual needs.

"We accept that not every authority is going to follow the same pattern," Raynsford said.

The document stressed that as many of the changes would have to happen in Whitehall as in lower tiers.

"Better joining up across central government is needed to ensure that a coherent message is given to local government and that actions by one part of government complement and support the overall aims for local delivery," it said.

"At present there is a risk that fragmentary and contrasting (and even occasionally contradictory) approaches can hinder improvement.

"A more coherent approach does not mean uniformity. Different services will require different approaches. It also does not mean simply removing some of the levers available to different departments.

"If a new approach is to work, and to secure the vital support of all those with an interest in the services, it must start by identifying better ways to secure the outcomes that local and central government want to see, building a genuine working partnership that delivers results."