Route Map to Localism

Dick Sorabji Fri Aug 11, 2006 at 10:10:02 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

The Liberal Democrats have once again announced their support for a form of local income tax, despite significant evidence that it could be a more regressive tax than council tax. But Labour should not deceive itself into thinking that solving the council tax conundrum alone will restore power, influence and relevance to local government. What is required is far more fundamental.
Writes Dick Sorabji, Head of Policy and Research at the New Local Government Network



Labour needs a lot more than a change of leadership to renew itself - as someone once said it is the issues not the personalities that need renewal. But Tony Blair is right to argue that just because an idea is a change in direction does not make it a good thing.
Some who see themselves on the Left may hope it but refreshing New Labour with the best ideas from the 1970s will not help. As part of the New Local Government Network, I think we have some genuinely new ideas to offer.

Our recent work on the Lyons inquiry into the future of local government - Pacing Lyons: a route map to localism -  led us to answer questions that can contribute to reform of all public services and restoration of people's trust in politics.

Reform is not like fixing a machine; it cannot be done piecemeal. Instead it is like restoring a river valley, the connections between each part of the system are so dense that failure to address any one area will undermine and ultimately cancel out progress in all other areas.

We show how it is possible to join up public services by doing it a local level instead of in Whitehall. We show how locally joined up services can create the incentives for improvement that New Labour has delivered through its top down target regime: a regime that has now run its course. These reforms can be used to put Whitehall under external challenge, the missing ingredient in the long list of New Labour attempts to reform the core civil service.

These reforms could equip public services to meet the far more complex challenges of the 21st century. They could do so in a way that does not rely on the idea that private sector delivery is public services last hope. They offer a new model of public service with its own internal ecology of improvement.

To ensure that better local delivery was also politically legitimate, NLGN has made a range of proposals for political reform to strengthen the links between local politicians and the public. The result of these changes is to draw power out of Ministerial offices, providing Parliament's Select Committees with new authority as the umpire in arguments between central and local government. We make recommendations that will strengthen council leaderships. We also propose new powers for front line councillors. Reviving the role of councillor so that it is attractive to the next generation must be the most effective basis on which to revive Labour's active membership.

Lastly, we propose a solution to the council tax and finance reform. In doing so we show why income tax devolved is a regressive tax. Instead we create a framework to retain the revenues from existing taxes in the hands of local politicians and so free them from dependence on Whitehall.

Since 1997 Labour has transformed the landscape of public service and the debates about its future. That is why renewal is so urgent; this chapter is past its sell by date. But Labour will only move on as a party when it can answer our Prime Minister's question - so what would we do next? I believe that NLGN has some of the answers but there remains a question over whether Labour has the political will.  

Dick Sorabji
Head of Policy and Research
New Local Government Network


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Route Map to Localism | 2 comments (2 topical)

Re: Route Map to Localism (#1)

by JonRogers on Sun Aug 13, 2006 at 02:07:27 AM GMT

But Dick, local government has still less power and autonomy now than when you were a Council Leader.

Stock transfers are taking housing out of local democratic control. A variety of partnerships subordinate elected politicians to others who are not democratically accountable. The Government appears not to want local education authorities to exist.

Unless we can break free of New Labour's neoliberal control freakery surely we will see the continuation of this trend?

I'd be interested to hear more about your proposals, but I am sceptical. (Also the answer to the Prime Minister's question about what we should do next includes getting rid of him surely?) :)


Re: Route Map to Localism (#2)

by radical1 on Sun Aug 13, 2006 at 03:12:23 PM GMT

The Bow Group recently published proposals for changes in local government taxation, it did not receive much of a reception from the Tory party in general. Despite that I thought there was merit in some of their proposals. They proposed a 1% levy on house value. I personally think 1% is to high 0.5% would be more acceptable. This would be combined with a 1% levy on income to the property. That is if you had one person in a £200,000 property earning £30,000 local tax would equal, £1300. If you had two occupants combined income £60,000 £1600 and so on. Richer areas would have their Government support reduced, poorer areas boosted. Second homes which are not rented out at all: a levy 2% of value, rented out as holiday homes a levy 1% of value.  


Route Map to Localism | 2 comments (2 topical)