The State of Local Democracy in Britain

The logo for the Whitehall department responsible for English councils is a large capital ‘C’ spelling out the word ‘Communities’, sitting above a lower case (a magnifying glass may be required for middle aged eyes) ‘local government’. So it is ‘Communities & local government’ (CLG) and the signature of the current incumbent as Secretary of State is that of Hazel Blears, whose enthusiasm for ‘communities’ can be traced through a steady convoy of Government White Papers and legislation. The 2007 Local Government & Public Involvement in Health Act', for example, is soon to be followed by a ‘Regeneration and Democracy’ Bill currently making its way through Parliament. It is the final part of a relentless sequence of central government tinkering with local government, which is unequalled in the rest of Europe. Ostensibly, all of this frenetic activity is about the need to tackle an ailing local democracy and a disengaged local electorate. This scenario only fully works if one ignores the highly centralised system within which local government has to operate. So there are now duties placed on local councils to ‘involve’ local residents in helping to determine priorities; spend budgets and, where possible, ‘empower’ through transferring assets.