Call for ‘super-sizing’ of councils and greater community governance forms radical vision for UK local government

March 8, 2005

A new pamphlet by independent think-tank, the New Local Government Network (NLGN) is calling for a radical rethink of the purpose and structure of UK local government, and its replacement with a new system made up of powerful community governance and strategic level, ‘super-sized’ cities and counties.



Published today the pamphlet, What is local government for? – by Professor Gerry Stoker of the University of Manchester – outlines the reality faced by both governed and governing alike:



“We have to reinvent local government to meet the new circumstances of the 21st Century and develop institutions that can help sustain our urban, suburban and rural lifestyles. We need a system capable of meeting the challenges and richness of the economic, social and ecological realities of our world now and for the next quarter of a century.”



Professor Stoker’s proposals are based on a reassessment of the core purpose of local government to make it more meaningful to people in their everyday lives and offering ‘community leadership’. To do so, requires three core outcomes:



• To create the conditions for sustainable communities in the areas of transport and social mobility, the management of the environment, personal safety, community cohesion and economic inclusion.



• To sustain and facilitate the growth of more self-organising capacity by giving people a stronger sense of involvement in their communities, and engaging them to make their neighbourhoods better places to live.



• To improve responsiveness and productivity by developing more efficiently and effectively delivered public services.



Stoker – a co-founder of NLGN – also asserts that local government is not currently equipped to deliver consistently on these outcomes, and he argues for a new system that is simultaneously more strategic and more local.



This vision includes calls for the ‘super-sizing’ of cities, towns and counties, with examples offered of how this might work within both the North West of England and Greater London:



“In Greater Manchester, you could go for a ‘super-sized’ City of Manchester bringing in Tameside, Trafford, Salford and Stockport, as well as the existing city. That could be joined by a South Lancashire ‘mill town’ grouping of Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Wigan and Bolton. These two new groupings would constitute authorities on a scale to be strategic, although some co-operation between them and surrounding areas drawn from Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and Yorkshire would still be necessary. You can see how a similar solution might work in London, dividing the capital into four or five groupings of London boroughs”.



With the launch recently of NLGN’s City Region Commission, Stoker also anticipates how this debate will unfold within the ‘patchwork’ nature of UK local government:



“A key challenge is deciding the basis on which to draw up a city region, but all options fundamentally rest on super-sizing around a core set of towns and cities. In areas without this core, super-size counties might provide the base. Crucially we need to accept that different systems will suit the circumstances of different parts of England.”



Meanwhile, at neighbourhood level, Stoker champions mechanisms whereby initiatives emerging from community led groups should be allowed to develop alongside those backed by local authorities. To do so is not just about creating individual opportunities to run services and make choices but the establishment of a system of representative devolved government that is truly within reach of people.



All media enquiries to Ian Parker at NLGN on 020 7357 0116



Notes for Editors:

The New Local Government Network (NLGN) is an independent think tank, seeking to transform public services, revitalise local political leadership and empower local communities. www.nlgn.org.uk



What is local government for? Refocusing local governance to meet the challenges of the 21st century by Gerry Stoker, and published by NLGN is available price £11.25 from info@nlgn.org.uk or 020 7357 0051



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