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Communities secretary, Eric Pickles, is poised to remove legal hurdles governing the use of cash within the Local Government Association and its satellite bodies, under council plans to assume more responsibility for public services. While delegates gathered in Bournemouth for the LGA's annual conference this week, The MJ discovered that Mr Pickles and senior LGA staff will hold talks over the summer, to hammer out a deal on the public service outcomes local authorities would become responsible for under Government's promised devolution agenda. As part of the plan, a provisional agreement has already been reached between the CLG, LGA and the Improvement and Development Agency, which will remove the legal obstacles preventing the association from direct access to the IDeA's top-sliced central government grant. In return, the LGA has accepted a significant reduction in the CLG-backed grant, believed to be around £17m. The move is designed to help the LGA Group provide seamless and improved support – such as research tools – at lower cost to the local government sector, as it is handed devolved powers by Whitehall. A partial re-branding of the LGA and its satellites, outlined in Bournemouth, already means more activities will be performed under the ‘Local Government Group' banner. Writing in The MJ this week, IDeA managing director, Rob Whiteman, explains: ‘Over the last few weeks, we have agreed with the secretary of state to remove the legal structures which currently operate in the Local Government Group, in return for agreement on the outcomes we will deliver that the sector has identified it needs – although with significantly-reduced funding.' Mr Whiteman explains that the likely focus of the new outcomes agreement with CLG will be councils' role in supporting and developing ‘strong, local economies', in part through the newly-created local enterprise partnerships. However, the removal of the IDeA's ring-fenced CLG grant within the LGA family has caused concern among some senior officials, who fear that – with the group under pressure to make savings – an effective merger of the LGA and IDeA could lead to job cuts. One senior official said: ‘Trade union representatives have already pressed senior LGA staff for assurances on jobs. It's up in the air.' However, John Ransford, LGA chief executive, told The MJ that the subtle repositioning of the LGA brand did not mean the IDeA, for example, would cease to exist. ‘This is about our offer to the Government – on dealing creatively with the situation which faces us, not our internal arrangements. It is possible there could be some organisational change further down the line – but that's tomorrow's issue. ‘Today's priority is configuring local government to deliver the outcomes asked of it.'

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WHITEHALL

Pickles poised to ease access to grant funds

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