Home Office minister champions role of ‘mature’ and ‘confident’ councils in delivering New Localism agenda

February 9, 2005

Home Office minister Hazel Blears has this week called on local councils to be given a pivotal role in the delivery of the New Localism agenda, but warned that in doing so they must embrace new forms of democracy at community and neighbourhood level.



The call comes in a new collection of essays, New Localism in Action – published this week by independent think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN). Writing in a foreword, Blears states:




    “On the outer fringes of the debate about New Localism, there have been some who seem to think councils can be sidelined or by-passed altogether. This is a mistaken approach. Local councils are essential to any process of passing power from central government to local communities. Local councils will remain the predominant form of local democracy in this country, alongside neighbourhood, regional, and national governance. What will change is the broader tapestry of civic society. Across a range of services, new forms of local democrtic control, accountablity and participation are being tried out. Local councils must have the maturity and confidence to work in partnership with new forms of local democracy.”

Elsewhere in the foreword, Blears observes New Localism as being more than a concept and in fact a route to more responsive services, delivered to more empowered citizens:




    “New Localism is more than an interesting academic dialogue. The basic premise that new forms of local ownership and control should be introduced to local services and activities goes to the heart of what progressive governments should be all about. New Localism is about democracy and citizenship. It has at its heart a basic notion that ordinary people are capable of taking decisions about their own services and communties.”

Addressing how New Localist thinking is impacting upon front-line delivery of public services, New Localism in Action features a range of essays from key practitioners and thinkers working in transport, education, the tackling of anti-social behavour and housing for sustainable communities. Writing in an introduction to the collection, NLGN’s Head of Research, Warren Hatter notes how public service policy generally is undergoing a process of transformation, with autonomy from central control being increasingly desired:




    “In transport and housing for sustainable communities, the centre of gravity is shifting towards the strategic regional tier. In education, the move is towards more autonomy for schools and less finacial clout with Local Education Authorities. In the world of crime, anti-social behaviour and policing the move is now towards increasing community accountability and responsiveness. So the plates are shifting in different ways in different policy areas – what they have in common is that they are shifting.”

The collection – which includes key contributions from Transport experts David Begg and Stephen Joseph, Schools adviser David Woods, anti-social behaviour supremo Louise Casey and the ODPM’s sustainable communities director Richard McCarthy – concludes with NLGN’s view that New Localism is both a philosophy for decentralisation and an architecture for delivering improved public services:




    “If we apply New Localism to the way we organise services and governance we will indeed end up with more responsive services. Less bureaucracy and wasted effort. Better joining-up and more innovation. Holding the right people to account, thereby clarifying accountability for the public as well as the system. And even the likelihood of more engagement from citizens in our services. New Localism may sound like a fancy bit of theory, but our conclusion is that if we followed its principles we could see profound improvements in the services that our citizens want and pay for.”



NLGN media enquiries to Ian Parker 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.



New Localism in Action is available from York Publishing Services (price £26.25 inc p+p). Tel: 01904 431213. Fax: 01904 430868. E-mail: orders@yps-publishing.co.uk


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