The levelling up white paper has landed, heralding that bigger local government bodies, with power siphoned to the few, are better.
However, to shore up this concentration of power we must have a new ‘data collection body’, reminiscent of the Audit Commission, to keep an eye on us to make sure this power is being used in a way that national government wants, rather than in a way our local residents and those who have voted for us want.
The paper seems to assume that the widening disparities in wealth, life experience and life expectancy are because of how local government is organised, rather than underlying historical factors, the huge squeeze on council finances and the on-going uncertainty created by single-year financial settlements.
“Local decisions [should be] based on the needs and ambitions of local people”
The LGA’s Independent Group will continue to advocate for genuinely accountable local representation where local decisions are based on the needs and ambitions of local people.
We had hoped that the imperative COP26 presented would be reflected in the levelling up white paper. Instead, we have policy silos, with the Net Zero Strategy on the one hand and levelling up on the other.
Our group is keeping climate change at the top of its agenda, and our climate change conference on 18 March promises to bring together inspirational speakers with practical examples of where our councils are improving life on the ground.
It is through collective action and decision-making that we will make the difference at the local level to build up to global change.