Councillors ‘yet to engage’
Author: Local Government Chronicle |
Concern is growing that councillors are failing to engage fully in the Total Place programme, leading to a lack of democratic input into the public spending debate.
The programme is looking at how a ‘whole area’ approach to public services can lead to improvements at less cost.
With the 13 pilot areas due to present interim suggestions for service rationalisation to the government in February, fear has been expressed that the biggest spending cuts for a generation could be devised without full political input.
At a seminar organised by London Councils, local government minister Rosie Winterton flagged up the importance of Total Place not becoming a purely technocratic exercise.
She said: “There are technical changes that we can bring in, but it requires political will with a small ‘p’ to make it happen.”
Rosie Winterton was backed up by George Jones, emeritus professor of government at the London School of Economics.
He said: “We should not leave Total Place to officers. This is not just a technical exercise, it is a highly political exercise that goes to the heart of what is wrong with our centralised system.”
Richard Kemp (Lib Dem), the Local Government Association’s deputy chair, said: “A lot of Total Place is seen as officer-led and complex, but this perception is very sad.
“Officers do technical things without the vision and direction that councillors with political and community knowledge give to the debate. Because of that you will get a much more restricted set of options unless members are involved.”