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We consistently allow central government to get away with a cavalier attitude to local democracy, says Andy Sawford. Speaking to members of the CLG select committee in recent weeks, I hear its members have become increasingly convinced that we need bold steps forward to transform the balance of power between central and local government. They are persuaded, not so much by the evidence that I gave to their current inquiry, along with others from local government, as the woeful contributions of ministers and representatives of policing and healthcare agencies. Look at the transcripts to see how ministers clutched at straws when challenged to describe ‘where the democracy is' in the local accountability framework for health and policing. It was laughable yet frustrating, because we consistently allow central government to get away with a cavalier attitude to local democracy. We, at the LGiU, are not purists, as I told the committee. I know that punters down at the Dog and Duck pub don't see local democracy as an end in itself. But we have to be stronger in asserting that the extension of local democracy will lead to real improvements in communities. The committee, of course, raised the ‘postcode lottery' fears, but this concept is a Whitehall smokescreen. With ever-rising public expectations, greater competition for scarce resources, and clear variations in local needs, it is right that local communities should get to make the decisions about local priorities. Whitehall fears this because under the current structure, and culture, ministers think they will be held accountable for these differences in local service provision – the postcode lottery. The answer is to shift the political and democratic accountability from Whitehall to local communities and the ballot box – through local councils rather than unelected ‘partnerships'. The first step is to agree a new settlement between central and local government. The current ‘concordat' – with its hollow words and lack of sign up across central and local government – can be put in the shredder. We should start again with a clear commitment, signed by all Cabinet ministers, to the principles of local self-governance; an assumption of local autonomy and discretion; the removal of financial and legal constraints; and minimal direction and intervention by central government. The first bold step in implementing the new settlement would be the introduction of a single local commissioning model for public services, starting with policing and healthcare, which puts power into the hands of councillors, held accountable at the ballot box. There will be cynics out there who say this is pie in the sky. But it is an idea whose time has come, and many serious politicians, including some on the brink of power, are embracing it, as I believe the select committee will. Andy Sawford is chief executive of the LGiU, the local democracy think-tank

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WHITEHALL

It's time to take some bold steps

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