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Cllr Smith abseiling down the walls of West Sussex CC in aid of charity. Henry Smith, the new chairman of the South East County Leaders (SECL) group, is determined to keep the ‘engine room of the UK economy' running. And there are plenty of challenges ahead for the leader of West Sussex CC as he takes up the new role, particularly with recent announcements about the future role of RDAs, regional assemblies and local authorities. ‘I'm concerned that the Government is coming up with such definite statements,' he tells The MJ. ‘Everything is presented by ministers in black and white. But the situation is actually much more complex. ‘There is a need for affordable housing, but I think it's a crude approach to just say, build this number of houses, come what may.' And Cllr Smith says the recent floods have highlighted the problem of building new homes on flood plains. A former member of Crawley BC, he was first elected to West Sussex CC in 1997, and at the tender age of 34, became leader in 2003. Under his leadership, West Sussex CC has been ranked as a four-star authority by the Audit Commission, and he has also represented the authority on the LGA, the County Councils Network and the County Joint Leaders Group. Cllr Smith admits the recent news that regional assemblies will be phased out is a case of ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire'. ‘We were never in favour of the regional assembly, but what we are concerned about is that its powers will be taken away to an even more remote body, such as SEEDA,' he adds. ‘It seems that local elected representatives will be even more at arm's length than they are now. ‘The prime minister says he is a localist. Well, now he has the chance to prove it by giving these powers back to those people who are accountable every four years through the ballot box, rather than an unelected quango.' For Cllr Smith one of the biggest challenges for the region is developing its infrastructure. One area close to his heart is health, and West Sussex CC is actively involved in campaigning against proposed cuts to the counties three hospitals. ‘Where I live, it takes 45 minutes to get to accident and emergency, because it has now moved to Redhill in Surrey,' he says. ‘Lives have been lost as a result, and that will be replicated throughout the county and the South East unless the Government recognises that we need to improve the infrastructure.' And, as for the future of local government, he concedes, with the right approach, it ‘could be very bright indeed'. ‘But, I'm not optimistic. At present, authority is being snatched from elected members. Powers are being taken away and given to a super quango,' he says. ‘The Government must learn to trust locally-elected representatives. ‘Currently, there is more and more local administration being taken over by Whitehall departments, but we are trying to change that and that's why we are being so vocal. ‘Over the last 10 years, we have had a top-down model imposed on regional working. We are not saying there is not the need to work on a regional basis. What we are saying is that it should be a flexible arrangement. ‘The SECL is a good example of an organisation which is flexible and works well. As leaders, we are capable of working together. And if all the regional arrangements stopped tomorrow, we would be able to carry on.'

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Engineering a better deal for local government

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