Prime minister promises local authorities greater freedoms

The government will let local areas set priorities and guide resources under a streamlined national performance framework, the Prime Minister said this week.

The announcement – contained in a white paper called Putting the frontline first: smarter government – was made as part of a package of measures designed to slim down central government.

Local authority leaders suggested that the announcement was a step in the right direction but warned the government “needs to go further” in addressing quangos and the lack of accountability over the services they provide.

Key proposals in the white paper include:

• A reduction in the number of national indicators for local areas by April 2010, and further reductions from 2011;
• A reduction in the number of revenue streams to local government by the 2010 Budget. This will include proposals to reduce the level of ring-fencing for local authorities;
• Guidance on the alignment and pooling of local-level budgets to frontline services; and
• Alignment of the timing and coordination of grant payments from central government departments to local authorities for 2011/12.

The white paper also promises support for local authorities that wish to use their trading powers to create further commercial opportunities, and guidance on the effective use of joint ventures by local authorities and their partners in February 2010. Single area-based capital funding will also be considered by next year’s Budget.

The government added that it would look at coordinating the timings of all assessments, inspections and reporting arrangements by 2010/11 where they focus on similar outcomes, as well as conduct a review of the work and number of inspectorates. The Total Place pilots will be asked to quantify total burdens across local agencies and priorities for streamlining burdens.

Gordon Brown, who revealed that some 123 quangos will be either merged or abolished, said: “Government must change for the new era – and change for good. Having demonstrated the value of government action, our task now is to develop government to work in partnership with individuals and communities to deliver the services people want in the way they want them and to preserve them in the face of all the challenges this new era presents.”

The Prime Minister signalled a crackdown on senior pay in the public sector, including local government. “The culture of excess must change and will change," he told an audience at the Institute of Government. "It cannot be right that taxpayers fund 300 local authority officials who have salaries over £150,000 or that in total over 300 staff across public sector bodies are paid more than £200,000.”

Calling on the government to go further, Councillor Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, said: “Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being spent on bureaucracy. Reducing administration and red tape could save £4.5bn a year before local services are affected.”

She added that councils are the most efficient part of the public sector. “During these tough times they have a vital role to play if people are going to get the local services they demand and deserve.”