Memorandum by the County Councils Network
(CCN) (DRA 51)
INTRODUCTION
The County Councils Network (CCN) is a Special
Interest Group within the Local Government Association (LGA),
with all 36 English Shire Counties in membership. We promote the
voice of counties within the LGA and the values and interests
of the English Counties. The CCN has also been a longstanding
contributor to the national debate on regional government and
this has manifested itself in a number of substantial pieces of
work such as our participation in Lord Dearing's regional hearings
in 1999. The CCN also responded to the Government's white paper
"your region, your choice" with a report entitled "Regionalism
in England" and followed this up in 2002 by commissioning
a report on regional government in Europe by Dr Elisa Roller and
Dr Benito Giordano of the University of Manchester.
Further work was jointly commissioned in 2003
by the CCN and LGA such as the research reports: "Devolution
to the regions"; "The Changing Regional Agenda",
and "Towards elected assemblies in the English regions",
by Charlie Jeffrey and Adrian Reilly of the University of Birmingham.
As part of our work for the local government reviews in the northern
regions, we also prepared major reports on model unitary authorities
and on how county unitary authorities could deliver strategic
services through local engagement. This submission draws extensively
from the findings of such reports. All of the CCN's work is available
on request, and we would be happy to share any reports deemed
relevant to your inquiry.
SEVEN PRINCIPLES
FOR ELECTED
REGIONAL ASSEMBLIES
— ERAs need to be capable of bringing
order to central-regional-local relationships and to recognise
the advantages that a co-ordinated regional-local voice will have
vis-a"-vis Whitehall;
— ERAs need to improve the strategic
co-ordination and planning of functions across related policy
fields;
— ERAs need to recognise the capacity
for innovation in policy-making and delivery that exist at the
local level in England. In maximising the capacity to produce
effective policies at the regional level they need to recognise
the importance of local authorities to implement their policies;
— Local government will need to establish
barriers against powers being drawn upwards without consent to
regional level and against over-regulation by the regional level;
— Local authorities must have confidence
in channels of access established for the local level into regional
decision-making process; regional LGAs need to be clear on their
strategy on inclusion and co-option and/or local interest representation;
— Local communities (especially in
rural areas) need to be confident that their interests count at
the regional level; regional decision-making therefore needs to
be, and be seen as, geniunely inclusive of all interests across
the region; and
— ERAs and local government need to
be aware of relevant experience elsewhere and to draw out and
emulate positive lessons learned (better access, shared commitment,
local input to regional policy, effective structures for co-operation)[82]
AN ASSEMBLY
FOR THE
ENTIRE REGION
ERAs must ensure a high level of accessibility
for their work. At a minimum all ERA business (excepting issues
of commercial sensitivity) must be placed immediately on public
record, including all plenary and committee business and cabinet
minutes. Modern information technology facilitates that immediacy,
but it is not enough to rely on technology. "Face-to-face"
interaction is needed too. Taking the ERA out into the region
will be a vital tool in building links between an assembly and
local authorities and communities. In both Scotland and Wales,
most parliament/assembly committees meet regularly outside Edinburgh
and Cardiff to take evidence and hear public views "on the
ground".
In Wales there are four regional committees
that bring together Assembly members from each region, meet in
the region, and offer another opportunity for open debate and
engagement with local interests. Such activities add costs, but
gain greater benefits by establishing an atmosphere of accessibility.
Given the less uniform pattern of support for the regionalisation
process in England, ERAs must emulate these techniques for inclusion,
not least to assure rural areas that regional government can also
serve their interests.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
PARTICIPATION
Local authorities have been identified by government
as key partners of ERAs. The CCN seeks assurances that the principles
of the white paper are retained: "Local government will remain
the community champion and more involved in service delivery,
while regional government leads in the development of the strategic
vision for the region. Elected assemblies will need to work with
local authorities and other bodies delivering public services
in the region" (Cabinet Office/DTLR 2002, p 59). The Bill's
vision as outlined in its accompanying policy statement is a crucial
one. It goes to the heart of the questions of regional policy
capacity, the strength and purpose of the regional voice in Whitehall,
and of better co-ordination of related services. There are however
many concerns in local government about whether this vision will
in practice be realised.
One of the biggest concerns of those in local
government who are sceptical about ERAs is that the current partnership
Assembly arrangements have brought significant benefits in joint
working at the regional level. There is a perception that the
practice of "partnership" may be neglected once ERA
members have a democratic mandate. That perception needs actively
to be countered if the Bill's objectives are to be realised. Local
government has to insist on opportunities for input at least as
effective as those currently provided by partnership assemblies.
This means that:
— any statutory duty on ERAs to consult
with "stakeholders" has to guarantee meaningful and
substantive involvement (no "box-ticking exercises"!);
— different regions have different
experiences and cultures of partnership working. These must be
respected and find their own organisation forms; any statutory
guidance must allow different regional solutions; and
— involvement must bring real influence
on decision making and guarantee local government a role in setting
priorities and creating structures of governance.
There are different organisational models for
bringing local government participation, both formalised and informal.
An informal model could be organised by regional LGAs, and build
on the practice of region-wide working by local government under
the current partnership arrangements. Clearly the problems of
COSLA and WLGA need to be borne in mind, not least because of
the different, more divided pattern of party politics in local
government in most English regions. The approach taken by the
ALG in London after its earlier flirtation with a "co-opted"
relationship with the GLA is perhaps the most instructive. An
arms-length, collective voice for local concerns, bridging party
political divides has worked for these bodies in making local
government "resources" count in regional decision-making.
But the ALG does not have the urban-rural division
that runs through local government in the English regions. In
order to ensure inclusion of rural concerns, a more formalised
approach may be more appropriate, Wales provides a model in the
form of the Partnership Council for local government, combined
with "policy agreements" between assembly and local
government. The former meets on a quarterly basis (not just in
Cardiff), and is supported by groups of policy specialists from
the assembly and local government which conduct a more systematic
exchange of views.
The exchanges have helped to construct "policy
agreements" which are rather distant relatives of central
government PSAs that mix target-setting at the regional level
with significant budgetary flexibility in delivery across services
at the local level (Laffin et al, 2002). The general perception
is that these arrangements work, with positive local government
endorsement, and with some impact in keeping regional-level regulation
at arms length and in joining-up the delivery of local services.
Local government in English regions which establish ERAs should
ensure that there are adequate formal (eg Wales) or informal (eg
London) mechanisms to facilitate their input into setting the
regional policy objectives on which they have to deliver.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
IN THE
ERA
Mechanisms for involving local government can
also extend to the working practices of the ERAs themselves. Indeed,
the Bill expects that there to be a process for involving stakeholders
in the work of ERA committees, such as the recruitment of policy
advisers or co-option onto Review and Monitoring Committees. There
are a number of points here for local government to bear in mind
such as adequate arrangements for bringing in the expertise and
innovative capacity of local government. Expertise in delivery
inevitably translates into expertise on designing the policies
to be implemented. Arrangements for local government input must
be formalised, and additional arrangements must be in place for
the nomination of local government advisers or, preferably, co-opted
committee members.
The Bill suggests that Review and Monitoring
Committees will focus on a scrutiny role. This is welcome insofar
as it offers an opportunity to develop further the practice and
growing experience in scrutiny under the current partnership arrangements,
but scrutiny is necessarily reactive. Review and Monitoring Committees
must also (as in Wales and Scotland) have a policy development
function. It is vital that local government has a substantive
role that brings demonstrable value to the policy development
process.
The Bill is unclear on the policy remit of Review
and Monitoring Committees. In order for effective scrutiny and
policy development practice to be built up, there should be a
"subject committee" model which mirrors the portfolios
of assembly cabinet members. A subject committee model would allow
a more systematic input from local government and help to build
a mutual relationship of local and regional government that strengthens
the region's policy capacity and effectiveness[83]
A STRATEGIC AND
LOCAL AUTHORITY
The second challenge which is facing the Government's
proposals for ERAs is that of local government review and the
subsequent unitary authorities that will be created. It is the
CCN's position that local government must close enough to the
community to be locally responsive, whilst at the same time be
of a sufficient scale to be able to plan and act strategically.
The CCN would be expected to recommend that authorities of the
scale of existing county councils are capable of achieving this
balance. However, we believe that this argument is very powerful
when made by others:
"the gap between local and regional can
be too grea in certain areas. The removal of county councils could
prove a recipe for disaster in such locations"[84]
The Vice-president of the Association of Social
Services has also commented on the role fulfilled by County Authorities
even when unitary authorities exist by saying:
"having a County Council still operating
is an advantage for a unitary because it gives opportunities for
sharing service provision and can create a sense of unity across
the county"[85]
We believe that smaller authorities will not
sit well between an enhanced regional tier of government and the
very local level of democratic representation provided by the
Town, Parish and Neighbourhood Councils. We believe that such
authorities will be of insufficient size to have the clout to
represent the wishes and concerns of their communities at regional
and national level, thereby failing their community leadership
role. Equally, they risk being parochial in their decision making
and will fail to reconcile conflicting regional needs and local
views. A county unitary will have the time and resources to represent
the interests of the rural areas and smaller towns.
Further, their size may work against devolution
to community level as smaller authorities will find it difficult
to effectively deal with large regional regeneration issues eg
salt mine or coal site restorations. County authorities have also
proven their effectiveness in attracting European funding and
investment. This is equally important for the regional authority
and central government who need this support too if strategic
planning is to operate successfully. Perhaps most importantly,
past experience and substantial research has shown that transitional
costs and ongoing costs resulting from local government reorganisation
are likely to be lower if an existing large council forms the
core of the new unitary.
CONCLUSION
The role of local authorities must be protected
in this draft regional government bill so as to ensure new powers
or duties are not inappropriately assigned to assemblies. Local
communities need strong and active local government that both
protects their interests and represents their needs. This cannot
be achieved unless a positive and mutually beneficial agreement
is created for national, regional and local government. County
Councils, as the highest performing sector of local government,
have the strengths and resources which will need to be utilised
by the new regional assemblies if they are to meet the demands
asked of them by government.
82 "Towards elected assemblies in the English
regions, where does local government fit in?" research briefing
April 2004 p 18. Back
83
"Towards elected assemblies in the English regions, where
does local government fit in?" research briefing April 2004
p 19-20. Back
84
British Chambers of Commerce response to the White Paper "Your
region, Your choice", August 2002. Back
85
Local Governance in Cheshire, The Council Submission to the Boundary
Commission for England, para 4.3.1, Cheshire County Council, September
2003. Back
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