Great debate last night at the CfPS annual debate held at the LGA.Speakers included Richard Bacon MP from the PAC, David Walker from the Guardiian and I represented local government.Good contributions around the role of central government & the Public Accounts Committee position of wishing to be able to follow every tax £ spent by government.My position was summed by by this synopsis by Tim Gilling, acting Director of CfPS:CouncillorRichard Stay (Lead Member for LeadershipDevelopment, Local Government Association) got things going bysuggesting that there have been enough government commitments, enough academicanalysis and enough media comment about these issues. Local councils want tomake things happen, they welcome government commitments to make it easier forthem to respond better to their residents but he identified a contrast betweenthe rhetoric of ‘devolution and localism’ and the reality of Ministers andcivil servants ‘letting go’. He contended that an imbalance in the relationshipbetween central and local government in the UK was at the heart of thiscontrast. It was different in the USAhe argued, where central government exists through the collective will of theStates – in the UK,local councils exist at the will of central government. Local communities want‘additionality’, the capacity to respond quickly to local issues and add value.He concluded by asking whether Parliamentary processes, for example the PublicAccounts Committee, could help establish a new approach?
