Like elephants giving birth, the surprise about the Conservative Green Paper, which shares almost a similar gestation period, is not in its content but the fact that it emerged at all. The paper was originally delivered last November to county council leaders, and then promptly underwent some more revision, although most of it was leaked to The MJ at the time. Since then, the recession has worsened, and issues such as elected mayors and decentralisation have slipped further down the public's agenda. It is to the Conservatives' credit then that the subject has not been quietly kicked into touch or postponed to infinity and beyond, but revamped to take in recent events arising from the fast-moving economic scenario. Whether it means much long-term is another matter. There is emphasis on councils using their powers to help local economies, such as through general competence and wellbeing, benefiting from extra business rate revenue, setting up local enterprise partnerships, and ensuring population figures are up-to-date and accurate. The Audit Commission, shorn of the CAA, is given a new task to monitor the grant regime. A nod to public annoyance over council senior salary levels is reflected in a requirement to publish pay. Other clauses, such as pushing directly-elected mayors and local referenda on council tax rises, are carried over from previous papers. There is the usual call to reduce inspection and central ‘burdens' and trim the RDAs. The paper also calls for directly-elected police commissioners, a scrapping of the Government Office for London, and dropping plans for regional fire authorities. But, overall, it is hard to see where the clear blue water flows. Much of the Green Paper's themes chime with the Government's own White Paper last year, although the former is more specific on giving councils more power to retain new income from housing and business rate. And the Conservatives shy away from two key questions, namely a) whether they will undertake any fundamental rebalance of funding, and b) whether they will properly fund local government through what is expected to be a long period of post-recession public spending squeezes – when commitments are being made to the NHS and schools.
