It is quite clear that the Conservatives nationally intend to keep their powder dry when it comes to detailing policies over the next two years.
This, however, is a little inconvenient if you are a local authority wondering exactly what is in store should the opposition win in 2010, and, indeed, in the past couple of months there has been much speculation about Conservative policy towards local government. There have been many questions but few answers.
But in his speech to the LGA conference last week, David Cameron laid out his stall as much as he could without providing any hostages to fortune. In his confident address, which he delivered without notes, he laid down some clear markers about the future direction a Cameron Government would take with town and county halls.
Some of it was old news. He took the usual pop at the Standards Board, he promised to scrap regional assemblies even though they are going anyway and he reiterated his opposition to more unitaries and his backing for shire districts.
Some of his content was hardly much different to that of Government ministers. He backed more city mayors, less inspection and more devolution to community and voluntary groups. The deal, he said, was that if councils get less burdens, in turn they must devolve locally. And he emphasised that ‘the cupboard is bare' and said that, should he win in 2010, ‘there won't be a magic extra pot of money for local government.' There would be no big shift in the balance of funding and council tax would stay. Close one's eyes and it could have been John Healey/Hazel Blears.
Only on education, when he backed Sir Simon Milton's call for more privately-run state schools outside LEA, did he move into more radical territory.
But the impression he left was that a future Conservative Government, at least initially, would leave local government alone. Although he suggested there might be ‘an early local government Bill' there were no fundamental changes earmarked. But then he could hardly propose the emasculation of councils when they make up his power base and provide the infantry.
