The annual County Councils Network conference is usually graced by the local government minister and, indeed, this time last year, John Healey set out at the crack of dawn from his constituency in Rotherham to be morning keynote speaker at the CCN event in Oxford. In the past, Nick Raynsford and Phil Woolas have also sparred with the county delegates. This year's event in Durham this week was notable for the absence of any CLG minister. Even taking into account the fact that most county councils are Tory-controlled, the CLG, as far as I know, has not yet shut up shop, pending the election. Its ministers still run the department and need to speak to local government, even if it is controlled by the Opposition. Instead, the Government fielded a local Durham MP, Helen Goodman, who did her best, but her brief, as parliamentary under-secretary at works and pensions, was hardly likely to set the audience on fire. So the vacuum was filled by shadow local government secretary, Caroline Spelman, who, with an election just months away, is increasingly acting like a Cabinet minister-in-waiting (see page 5). She is also making a concerted effort to put behind her a reputation in some quarters for being a bit of a lightweight on the subject. Last week, she delivered a detailed address on what a Conservative Government would mean for councils to an audience put together by the New Local Government Network, and took questions. This week, at the CCN, she delivered a similar address, and also handled questions, not all of them easy, despite the sympathetic audience. With each speech one has the sense that policies are aired, tested for reaction, and sometimes modified. There is a consistent theme concerning council tax levels and retention of tax from new housing. Earlier promises to scrap RDAs seem to have been watered down. Oddities creep in, such as her tirade against council newspapers – where did that come from? Has the Daily Mail aka regional newspaper group Northcliffe Newspapers been on the phone to her? – and a promise to enhance the local government ombudsman role. How the scent of power concentrates minds… Michael Burton, Editor, The MJ
