Liberal Democrat LGA group leader, Richard Kemp says the national coalition means he and the Conservatives are also working together to lobby for local government.
As an observer, I can see that moving into government is only the same process, writ large.
The Liberal Democrats are clearly still a smaller party than the other two. And the advantage of that is we do really know one another. Having served on the committee which drew up the manifesto and which was the basis for our side in the coalition discussion, we met with all the people who have now become key players in the Government, and did so on a regular basis.
We clearly see this as an exciting time for relationships with a new government, but novelty is not the biggest factor. Above all, there are two big areas for work between central and local government.
First, there is the massive imbalance in public sector finance. That is clearly a major problem which all three parties acknowledged needed attention before the election, although one party now seems to think it isn't as serious as it once was.
Second, there is the fact that localism features as a major element on every page of the coalition agreement which will be the road map for government for the next five years.
Although both parties may have slightly different reasons for wanting to localise, the fact is that their destination is the same. And we must take advantage of this in a very real and practical way.
The last four weeks have involved a multiplicity of meetings with the Government, largely by Margaret Eaton and I, to reiterate a very positive approach from local to central government on these and other fronts.
We are meeting Cabinet and other ministers, sometimes on a purely party basis – where we go by ourselves – but wherever possible, the LGA has recognised that with two parties in government, we have to ensure their counterparts in local government also work together as much as possible, so we go together.
Our financial offer has been clear. Total Place activity shows there are too many quangos, layers of government and organisations. Each of these takes about 40% of available budgets to run themselves, leaving little for actual frontline spending. We have upped our offer, based on Total Place experience, to move ‘place-based budgeting' in which local councils with our local mandate take responsibility, to government and above all, to local people, for the delivery of all public services within an area.
We believe that, by doing this, we can maximise savings and thus, minimise cuts. Even though the Government has announced cuts in the Budget, we can still make some of these into savings by working with all parts of the public sector to build services around the people and communities which need them most. This positive approach has been welcomed by ministers, and a series of practical and political actions are now being put in place.
The push for localism is a mixed blessing, but one that we generally welcome. Clearly, the LGA is not happy with ideas for elected police commissioners – whatever that might mean – or elected health boards.
We have concerns about the cost of these, and the way they will reinforce silo mentality. Generally, however, the push to transfer more power down both to and through local government is to be supported.
Again the question is how? Some of the answers are clearly ‘macro' – the ending of ring-fencing and the abolition of CAA gives more power back to us. Some are structural, with the Government having to work with us to break down vertical decision-making within departments, in place of local decision-making in places and communities.
Some is just about improving delivery. Not all local government is good, and much of local government is not good at downward devolution.
We need to both up our game and encourage others to likewise. In both areas, the Government has indicated a strong desire to work with us.
This is a major window of opportunity. The Government is as receptive as I could ask it to be, given the financial problems we face. I strongly believe that if local government comes up with good ideas, is positive, and innovative, this Government will listen – at least in the short term.
Basically we have until the end of September to get those ideas across. After that, we all be delivering for the next 4.5 years whatever the Government has decided on.
