Nice as it is to be praised it is also disconcerting when in the same week both Government and Opposition heap plaudits on local government. What are they up to? In our front page interview this week John Healey praises local authorities as ‘unsung heroes' adding that their handling of the recession has won over Whitehall officials previously sceptical of local government's ability to deliver. This comes a few days after Shadow Chancellor George Osborne put in an appearance at the LGA to tell Conservative councillors that they were showing Whitehall how to deliver services while saving money. Apart from praising (Conservative) councils he went out of his way to emphasise his localism. During a Q and A session he said that ‘we really mean it' on the ‘localism stuff' adding: ‘It's significant in a Shadow Chancellor saying how localism will shape public spending ideas.' A bit later he said he was ‘100% committed to devolving local powers.' I think we were getting the message. But the emphasis on localism is two-edged. The next CSR may involve cuts in local government grants of 10%-20%. The Government of the day does not want to be blamed for cutting day centres and causing more Baby P scandals because of over-stretched resources. Nor does it intend to because localism means the problem is at local government's door. Chancellor Osborne, or Darling should Labour win, will trade some extra powers (of general competence for example) in return for the understanding that decisions over local spending priorities belong to local government. Mr Osborne might even in his speech last week have added the phrase ‘with rights comes responsibilities.' Both Labour and Conservative national politicians have come to realise that interfering in local government becomes self-defeating because they then get the blame for failure without necessarily receiving the plaudits for success. Emphasising a commitment to localism helps deflect public concern. More importantly it will prepare the ground for the next difficult budget rounds when councils will find that the onus for balancing the books and making difficult decisions over service provision will be down to them, not Westminster. Michael Burton, Editor, The MJ
