Flickr/Ewan-M
The Localism Act 2011 was originally introduced in Parliament as the Decentralisation and Localism Bill (note the italics). Clearly, something major got lost in the process. Perhaps this explains why, despite the Chancellor’s persistent claims – most recently in his 2015 Budget speech - that unprecedented powers are being given away to localities, and satisfaction with local authorities and public services in general has never been higher; the reality’s less positive.
In our relentless trawl of press reports, government websites and blogs, LocalismWatch has found little evidence that the 2011 Act has sidelined the Westminster village and put local people in the driving seat. The same conflicts, the same outcomes, indeed the same faces, keep showing up. If anything, it suggests that, far from being marginalised, the powerful and well-connected are using (or sidestepping) the new legislation to entrench their interests at the expense of grassroots communities. Equally, where local councils and people are seen to be doing something new and positive, the chances are that it’s despite - not because of - the government’s localism agenda. Let’s look at some recent examples.
