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Nick Raynsford believes there are three grounds for advocating unitary local government – efficiency, capacity and accountability. The progress of unitary local government has followed a curiously similar pattern under both the Conservative Government of the 1980s and 1990s and the current Labour Government. In neither case was the creation of more unitary authorities a political priority in the early years of the Government. Indeed, the Conservative Government in the 1980s showed more interest in abolishing metropolitan-wide councils rather than creating new unitaries. In both cases, the argument for unitary councils was recognised by the party while in government. In both cases, the process for identifying and establishing new unitary authorities proved highly controversial and difficult to carry through. And in both cases, the number of new unitaries created at the end of the process looked disappointingly small in relation to what might have been. Again, in both cases, this left the issue of whether or not further unitaries should be created hanging in the air, with some aspiring unitary councils eager for another wave, but with the opposition party at Westminster pledged to oppose further moves along the unitary route. Of course, such pledges are popular at the time they are made, usually when local government is exhausted by the subject after a fractious period of infighting about the number, size and shape of the proposed new unitaries. However, if history is a good guide to what will happen in the future, such pledges are unlikely to remain lasting commitments. We should remind ourselves that both major parties came to the same conclusion in government – that there was a persuasive case for more unitary councils. There are, essentially, three grounds for advocating unitary local government – efficiency, capacity and accountability. The latter is sometimes countered by the argument that bigger authorities are less well-known locally, and I for one certainly support the development of the role of parish and town councils to respond to very local concerns as a necessary corollary of the creation of larger unitaries. However, the key accountability argument in my view is the need, if we are to win the argument for devolving more financial muscle to local government, to demonstrate that the local authority can truly be held to account by its electorate for its spending decisions. When, as now, the electorate is unclear as to which tier of government is responsible for which services, let alone which part of the council tax bill, there is no chance of achieving that degree of clarity. With the future local government agenda likely to give even more emphasis than now to place-shaping and economic development roles, the case for powerful and capable unitary authorities able to punch their weight and drive effective local partnerships will look even more persuasive. So, I suspect that at some stage, we will see a further phase of unitarianisation. The obvious question this poses is, Can it be handled better than in the past? On the surface, the most likely answer is, No. The process is inherently difficult, raising as it does a complex raft of political, personal, geographical and economic conflicts which hardly ever allow an easy solution. However, different circumstances could create a more benign context for the creation of new unitary councils. The two crucial determinants will be a willingness on the part of local government to see it and a determination on the part of central government to drive the reform through. While discussing the issue in my final year as local government minister, when it came back on to the agenda in a significant way, I was struck by the many voices in local government which privately advised me to be ruthless in imposing a wholly unitary solution on local government in England in the early years of the next parliament. For a variety of reasons, my successors adopted a different approach, but I am ready to hazard the guess that the very same advice may be being proffered to their successors around 2014/15. Nick Raynsford is former local government minister

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WHITEHALL

Blown away by unitaries

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