Westminster issues 'manifesto', calls on political parties to deliver on localism
Westminster City Council this week published a 'manifesto' containing five bills that any incoming government “could adopt to deliver practical improvements in the way that local authorities go about their business”.
In its Manifesto for a Living City, the council challenged all political parties to deliver on their claims of being champions of localism.
The proposals include the creation of “area boards” with the powers to direct all public spending in a local authority area, the transfer of neighbourhood policing budgets to councils, and the reform of local government finance.
Cllr Colin Barrow, leader of Westminster City Council, said: “Westminster’s people want to take greater responsibility for governing the city. This document sets out how central government can give local government the tools we need to manage our communities even more effectively and efficiently.”
The five bills are:
Streetscape Bill
This would:
- Enable local authorities to adopt strategic routes (currently managed by organisations such as Transport for London or the Highways Agency), subject to agreements over quality control and resources
- Improve parking management by providing statutory forms for penalty charge notices and road signage in line with the aspirations of the Traffic Management Act 2004
- Reform the Traffic Management Order process by removing the need for a TMO where lining is descriptive rather than prescriptive
- Develop a framework for utility companies to cooperate with local authorities when reinstating streetworks, and
- Hand local authorities flexibility in penalty charging.
Licensing and Community Safety Bill
This would:
- Transfer neighbourhood policing budgets to local authorities and require them to commission neighbourhood policing services in consultation with communities and the police
- Enable local authorities to set license fees based on their local economies and priorities, and provide powers to suspend or revoke the licences of defaulters
- Update street trading legislation to reflect the importance of urban amenity and place all traders on an equal footing, and
- Give local authorities the responsibility for delivering community payback schemes, and training and education for offenders.
Local Homes and Communities Bill
This would:
- Reform the Housing Revenue Account without introducing new debt and adopt the advice of the Building Research Establishment when setting allowances for management, maintenance and repairs
- Allow local authorities to set rents locally, and
- Reform the Local Housing Allowance system to link payments more closely with the performance of local rental markets.
Local Economies Bill
This would:
- Reconfigure the system of local government finance so that NNDR contributions are no longer used simply to equalise grant settlements between local authorities
- Allow local authorities to set variable rates based on local priorities
- Allow local authorities to access Job Centre Plus data and intelligence, an enable them to benefit financially from programmes that place residents into jobs, and
- Abolish “needless” quangos associated with skills and training budgets and redirect the £12bn saved at supporting schemes that complement local circumstances.
Local Democracy Bill
This would:
- Unify public spending by empowering councils to establish “area boards” with the powers to direct all public spending in a local authority area including council services, PCT functions, neighbourhood policing and jobs and skills functions
- Transform the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 to create a dialogue between communities which is not constrained by deadlines and bureaucracy
- Reduce burdens, inspections and performance indicators by at least 50% and abolish the Government Office for London, and
- Enable local authorities to take over failing academies and conduct continuous performance management when children’s education is significantly jeopardised.
