Jonathan
Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGIU, said:
“The Government's devolution agenda as set out in today's White
Paper is ambitious and far reaching. At LGIU, we have for many
years argued that complex problems find their best solutions
locally and that power needs to be devolved from Whitehall to our
regions, councils and communities. Localism is both a democratic
good and a better way of getting things done.
On that basis, we welcome the White Paper's intent and direction
of travel, though we believe it should also include a real
commitment to fiscal devolution.
But devolution is a process not an event. The most important
thing is not what's in the White Paper but how we respond to it,
how the government seeks to implement it and the conversations
that sit around that.
From a local government perspective, the White Paper holds out
promise but also creates risk. We need to ensure that the
coming months are not just spent in fractious debate about the
appropriate size for unitary councils. Our agenda cannot just be
about shuffling existing powers and functions around between
different sized units of government. This must be about genuine
added value and better outcomes for communities whatever the
structures we end up with.
As a sector, we need to rise to the challenges the White Paper
presents and to fill some of the gaps that it leaves. As we
formulate our response to the paper, we must hold on to some key
principles and continue to push for: clarity of purpose; a solid
constitutional foundation; metrics, evaluation and data to
measure progress and build innovation; a functional funding
system as an essential component of devolution; a clear vision
for towns and rural areas, as well as city-regions; and greater
dialogue with local leaders as well as combined authority mayors.
Devolution on its own will not transform public services or fix
the financial foundations of local government. We need to see all
these agendas as a single piece of thinking and we need to ensure
that no one of them holds up the others.”
ENDS
Notes to
editors
How can 10 years of English
devolution inform our response to the UK Government's White
Paper? This think piece from Dr Andrew Walker surveys
the approach to devolution that has been pursued in England since
the first deal was struck a decade ago.
2024 State of Local Government
Finance - the key headlines
-
Published
annually since 2012, more than half of councils (47
respondents) face bankruptcy within the next parliament, with
nearly one in ten (14 respondents) warning they could go
under in 2024/25.
-
Cuts in
grants from central government, increased need for services
and inflation costs mean councils nationwide are struggling
to balance the books.
-
Residents'
council tax makes up a quarter of local government funding
with the rest coming from central government grants, fees and
commercial activity
-
For
councils with responsibility for social care, children's
social care is by far the most urgent short term pressure,
and adults and children's social care together make up the
most serious long-term pressure.
-
Among
councils without these responsibilities, housing and
homelessness is the most serious short-term and long-term
pressure, with environment and waste a close second place for
long-term pressure.
-
Only 4% of
councils have confidence in the sustainability of local
government finance system
-
The results
of the first annual finance survey in Scotland from 2023 can
be found here.
State of the Locals Our
annual polling carried out by Ipsos on UK attitudes to local
elections, the work of councillors and the role of local
government in England. This year, more than half of respondents
consider local councils to have the most impact on the
quality of life in local areas (57%), far above the Westminster
Parliament (14%).
