Title

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

We're not the 'parents'

District and shire county councils would all face abolition if the Government’s formula for the devolution White Paper is implemented, says Ian Miller. And let’s hope Whitehall doesn’t think town and parish councils will need 'parenting', he adds.

Local government minister Simon Clarke recently caused a spat on Twitter, referring to ‘parent councils' in an exchange about parish councils. It was good he joined the conversation, but his phraseology was rightly criticised. Districts and unitaries can hold community governance reviews that create, merge, split or even abolish parish councils, but they are not their parents.

Parish councils are independent local authorities which enjoy more autonomy than their principal authority cousins. They choose what services and assets they run. While some larger town and parish councils have significant operations and various income streams, most depend on a tax they set for 100% of their income.

Whitehall's language is often unnecessarily inaccurate. London boroughs are not ‘upper tier' when the Greater London Authority exists. Most areas that are described as ‘two-tier' have parish councils and some, such as Cambridgeshire, also have a mayoral combined authority.

The minister's speech at the virtual Local Government Association (LGA) Conference praised ‘city region mayors, who each have the powers to stimulate job creation, build homes, improve transport and reduce local carbon emissions'. These are the powers of principal authorities. District councils are the strategic housing and planning authorities, responsible for air quality as part of their responsibility for environmental health.

The minister said ‘we will always be led by the evidence'. England is over-centralised: powers and funding need to be taken away from Whitehall, but should this require local government reorganisation and more mayoral combined authorities? It is too soon for evidence that they produce better economic outcomes and ‘levelling up'. ‘Better' performance might reflect greater propensity for growth in city regions, reinforced by the location of universities, businesses and excellent transport links – advantages which many shire county areas may lack.

The Government's prescription of ‘many more elected mayors and unitary councils' in the devolution White Paper will ‘remove the complexity of governance and reduce costs to the taxpayer' only by making principal authorities more remote. District and shire county councils would all face abolition. In ‘making space for town and parish councils to be genuinely empowered', let's hope Whitehall doesn't think that they will need parenting.

Ian Miller is chief executive of Wyre Forest DC

Clarke vows to 'finish the job' on mayors and create more unitaries

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

Local government needs genuine devo

By Louise Gittins | 25 July 2025

The Local Government Association 'supports devolution where governance is local by default, with built-in subsidiarity and accountability', says Louise Gittins.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

Planning for the future of planning

By Dr Wei Yang | 24 July 2025

Dr Wei Yang presents the case for investing in tools that improve transparency, efficiency and inclusivity, to support a modernised planning system fit for t...

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

This transformation is a time for pragmatism and vision

By Gill Kneller | 24 July 2025

It is a deliberate programme of sustained and ongoing cultural change that will make local government reform sustainable, cohesive and impactful, argues Gill...

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

Let the electorate decide what they are willing to pay for

By Heather Jameson | 24 July 2025

'Fiscal devolution – particularly for council tax – has a lot going for it', says Heather Jameson.

Ian Miller

Popular articles by Ian Miller