Tipping the Balance

Providing councils with greater influence in national politics

Author: Cllr Paul Bettison, Margaret Eaton, Neil McInroy, Tom Shakespeare   |   02/09/2009

In this edition of Policy Platform we have articles from: Cllr Paul Bettison from Bracknell Forest Borough Council, Cllr Margaret Eaton from the Local Government Association and Neil McInroy from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies on the topic of how local government should be represented in national politics.

In answer to the question of ‘How can councils be provided with greater influence in national politics?’, all contributors seem to agree that a stronger local voice in national decision making through a constitutional settlement would be beneficial for local government and the national economy.

However, they all also agree that at the heart of the solution is the need for enhanced local powers and responsibilities, first and foremost. In Paul Bettison’s article, he argues that local government has become the ‘executors of central government policy’, and that it is ‘Whitehall which wins local elections’. This is clearly a significant problem, and while it is clearly beneficial that local government should have more powers in central policy, it clearly needs to go much further. Furthermore, as Neil McInroy argues, there is a direct relationship between devolved powers and the strength of the national economy. In the current climate, this fact alone seems highly significant.

The current political and economic climate offers a new opportunity to begin thinking about governance in new ways. As Margaret Eaton points out, ‘It’s not that people don’t care. They do and they’re after a new and different type of politics’. All contributors seem to agree that this is the case, and it is clear that central government needs to take radical and urgent action to redistribute the balance of power. This should begin with an ability for local government to fundamentally ‘shape their own destiny’ starting with enhanced local revenue raising powers and devolved responsibility.

Bettison raises the point that we need to have a serious debate about how best to achieve collaboration on shared priorities. The importance of quangos in distorting the relationship between central and local government is noted, and it is suggested by Margaret Eaton that ‘the power of unelected quangos needs to be checked’. This is true, but as she points out, this also needs to go hand-in-hand with a ‘duty to devolve’.