"I want to look at the big changes that will take place in local government if the Conservatives form the next Government" said Shadow Communities Secretary in the first of a two part series based on her lecture at NLGN event
And I’d like to do so drawing on some of the findings in NLGN’s recent publication ‘Control Shift: Alt, Insert or Delete’.
I’m pleased that Control Shift has provided a stimulus for debate around the issue of localism. I really think that it is a pivotal point in local government politics as it sets out in detail exactly what one of the main political parties would do to change our politics.
I think we all want to see local government given a shot in the arm. For too long, and under various Governments, power has been drawn away from local government in favour of top-down, one-size fits all solutions. Both have been to the detriment of local communities, local government and politics generally. We need to reverse that trend and for our Party ‘Control Shift’ is the route map for doing that.
The current system just hasn’t worked.
Housing
Centrally imposed targets, administered at an unelected regional level, have given the worst of all worlds. No accountability, public alienation from the planning system, spatial strategies stalled by legal challenges and ultimately the lowest level of house building since World War II. The fact is that if we’re going to get the level of new housing that our country needs, then we need to be honest enough to say the current system has failed. Our alternative will make communities participants in the planning system, rather than just at the mercy of it.
Local Planning Authorities will have to work with the communities to develop plans for meeting housing need and as part of the negotiation they will have the incentive of council tax match funded for six years on new housing. Given that most planning authorities already tendered for significant numbers of new housing under the original RSS offering, I would anticipate that being the baseline. But we need to be bolder and more ambitious for the level of new housing we want to see built - which is why in addition to the cash incentives we are drawing up a Green Paper which will radically streamline the planning process. We also plan to release public-sector held land which would prove suitable for development, and under our Local Housing Trust scheme communities would be able to grant themselves permission for incremental growth in local housing. there will need to be a degree of coordination in how development converges with neighbouring planning authorities and this will be addressed in our forthcoming Green Paper.
And as for a strategic minimum target – I have to say it’s the thin end of the wedge – local authorities have put forward reasonable proposals to start with and many are keen to go further. We should give them that opportunity to define their own patterns of growth. Chasing targets rather than reflecting market need is not going to get the right homes built in the right places. That core belief in giving communities a direct share in the proceeds of growth also underpins our proposal to let councils retain the business rates from increased growth for six years.
Local Economy
In this period of such grave recession, with the level of national debt forecast to hit £1.1trillion by 2011, the measures we take relating to the economy, enterprise and the success of local businesses are absolutely critical. By tying local authorities so closely to the proceeds of the increased business activity in their area I think we will create a powerful tool to help stimulate business activity.
As councils compete with one another to offer appealing terms for businesses to invest they will all be forced to up their game in attracting and sustaining businesses, jobs and commerce to their area. But securing new business activity is one half of the equation. The other half is helping to support existing businesses.
That’s why we would enable councils to levy business rate discounts where they see a local business in trouble and want to give it a temporary lifeline.
Regional Development Agencies
And that’s why we believe it is important to look afresh at how the RDA structure is working. The current configuration is unsustainable.
The lack of accountability is one problem.
The mission creep which has taken their focus off economic development is another.
In a recession as bad as this, saddling development agencies with a whole myriad of additional responsibilities like planning and housing cannot be an effective use of resources.
So we would take away all functions not directly related to business growth and re-focus them so all their time and money is spent getting us out of recession.
To overcome the accountability problem they would have lines of accountability to the local authorities they serve.
Regional Development Agencies will therefore evolve into Local Enterprise Partnerships – leaner, more focused and adding real value to their community clients.
There will also be the opportunity for them to break out of the regional straightjacket and instead operate on the basis of where there shared strategic interested between commissioning local authorities.
The NLGN pamphlet terms it as sub-regional natural economic areas and that seems to me a good way of configuring the remit of new Enterprise Partnerships.
Whichever political party forms a Government next year will have to work hand in hand with councils to help rebuild our economic position after the recession. Money is going to be tight.
But I want to give local government more imaginative ways of generating income than just the grant, taxes and charging.
I think people are coming to the end of their tether with direct and indirect tax-raising measures.
The next part of the series would explore local government financing and service delivery and also provide insight into the Conservative thinking on issues such as elected Mayors.
