London boroughs outline vision for foundation councils

Three London boroughs have called for a range of powers to be handed to a proposed new breed of ‘Foundation Council’.

Writing on Conservative Home’s local government blog, the leader of Westminster City Council, Cllr Colin Barrow said the foundation concept had been developed with Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth.

Under the proposals, foundation councils would be given powers to:

• set local fees and charges, including variable business rates, to enable them to recover costs and generate a profit for reinvestment in local public services
• generate income and save money through full freedom to trade and share services
• exempt them from regulatory burdens, including the excess of Ofsted and Care Quality Commission requirements. “We recognise that in areas of high risk social care, assurances are needed but these two regimes have gone beyond ‘safeguarding’ to regulate local authority activity in these areas,” Barrow claimed
• introduce bye-laws and manage the public realm without reference to specific enabling legislation
• present ‘offers’ to central government for more specific powers, freedoms and flexibilities in particular areas, such as employment and skills services, where it can be demonstrated that these would improve performance, increase satisfaction, and reduce cost.

Barrow said councils were hampered by an onerous, centrally-imposed performance framework, despite the axing of Comprehensive Area Assessment and the Audit Commission.

“We still have the onerous regimes of Ofsted and the CQC plus the ‘control freakery’ from Whitehall departments with directives, guidance and data demands requiring us to produce numerous plans and strategies implementing government priorities,” he argued.

Barrow also said that councils had insufficient operational freedom to design services that suit local circumstances, and lacked financial control in their areas.

He suggested that productivity and competitiveness “must be built into the DNA of local public services”, and that the proposals would match payment with results.