OurKingdom is running a short series of posts looking at various aspects of local government - you can read the series in full here.
This is an anonymous post from someone working within local government.
As a local government practitioner, I would like to say that Stuart Weir's argument (which began this series) is right in an ideal world. But the centralising tendencies of central government are only one part of the problem. The other is the lack of real 'demand' from the majority of people in local government for autonomy; the relative lack of capability or vision of councillors to make their place different; the dominance of councils who want to be left alone to be incompetent. Some of this is not surprising, since very few people with real ambitions or vision have stood to be a councillor for so long. It's interesting when you do find one of those, in a big city or in a local area, to see what a difference they can make. Plus it is only recently that young bright people have come into local government - and then usually via a 'profession', e.g., regeneration, where you can work for many different agencies, rather than those making a career as a local authority officer. This is a real issue, as it takes time to attract the capabilities into the sector to take advantage of the much greater potential for localism that does exist.
Also, there is the extent to which 'local' issues demand national policies, especially redistribution. Local services, which have the capacity for local difference, are so constrained by lack of resources and legislative minimum standards, plus the lack of tolerance for a post code lottery - and they are only a small part of the local council's role. Big issues like poverty, housing investment, education, etc., require local councillors to stand alongside local and national campaigners and advocate changes in national debates, etc. The party culture does not help with that. And councillors see themselves as managers, not advocates.
I must say that I am still not at all sure which way it should go!
