House of Commons - The Balance of Power: Central and Local Government - Communities and Local Government Committee

House of Commons portcullis

House of Commons

Session 2008-09
Publications on the internet
Communities and Local Government Committee Publications

Communities and Local Government Committee - Sixth Report
The Balance of Power: Central and Local Government

Here you can browse the report together with the Proceedings of the Committee. The published report was ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 12 May 2009.

Contents

Terms of Reference

Summary
1  Context

Why this matters
A brief history of local government reform
Lessons learned from Layfield and Lyons
The situation today
The European context

Visit to Denmark and Sweden

2  Key issues

Key challenge 1: Public expectations
Key challenge 2: An unequal society
Key challenge 3: Financial reform

3  The role of local government

The scope for local variation
Does local government need new powers?
The delivery of local police, health and healthcare services: the role of local government
Developing current frameworks
The case for local government cultural change

4  The role of central government

The case for minimum standards
Is CLG on the right lines?
Do other government departments need to change?
Does the civil service need to change?

5  The finance question

Local government accountability
The scope for financial reform
The business rate
Capping
Alternative forms of grant allocation
Changing the local government tax

6  A constitutional solution?

Local government and constitutional renewal
The Central-Local concordat
The European Charter of Local Self-government
Is a constitutional settlement important?

7  The role of Parliament

Parliament's role
The case for cultural change in Parliament
Parliamentary scrutiny

8  Conclusion
Conclusions and recommendations
Annex: Committee and IPPR North joint seminar: Balance of Power
Formal minutes
Witnesses
List of written evidence
List of unprinted evidence
List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament

Oral and Written Evidence
Monday 23 June 2008
Monday 7 July 2008
Monday 10 November 2008
Monday 17 November 2008
Monday 8 December 2008
Monday 15 December 2008
Monday 12 January 2009
Written Evidence

© Parliamentary copyright 2009
Prepared 20 May 2009