Breaking down big government

Author: Tom Shakespeare, Inside Politics - Oct 9, 2009

Two things that were not mentioned consecutively in David Cameron’s speech to the party conference yesterday were the words ‘local’ and ‘government’. Instead, he spoke at length about the need for people to take more individual responsibility, the destruction of ‘big government’ and about providing ‘power to people’. He also spoke about the need to dismantle Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) which reinforce the big-government approach taken by Labour over the last 12 years.

Yet one question constantly levied from proponents of RDAs is: what happens to strategic planning and development over wider economic geographies if it is left to local government? How will they spontaneously organise themselves to plan over meaningful economic geographies for transport, economic development, skills and housing?

A Localis and Policy Exchange report launched this week had two simple answers to this question: More devolved powers to local government; and strengthened partnerships between them. The report explored the case of Greater Manchester and demonstrated that city regions provide just such a vehicle for taking on strategic powers from RDAs, and that local government, working together, is a much better agent for delivering substantial improvements to cities and their surrounding areas. As Michael Heseltine wrote in his foreword to the report, we need mechanisms that drive communities together, embracing academia, the private sector, the voluntary sector and others with a stake in our society to seek solutions designed in the circumstances on the ground and not forged as a national “one solution fits all” diktat from London.

In the fringe meetings and discussions at the Conservative party conference this week, there was a commitment to supporting and rewarding local government. And with all the rhetoric about localism and breaking up big government, we can be hopeful that the Conservatives will see the pragmatic potential for local government in delivering the vision outlined in David Cameron’s speech.