Written evidence submitted by Localis
CABINET MANUAL RESPONSE
3. Are there areas in which the Cabinet Manual
appears to alter existing conventions or rules, or create new
ones, rather than acting as a "factual record" based
on precedent?
P105, paragraph 298 states: "However, the Government
sets the overall level of central government funding for local
government in England, and decides expenditure priorities and
standards for improvement"
- We understand that although central government
does indeed set the overall level of funding for local government
in England, it does not determine all local government's expenditure
priorities. Nor does the Government set standards for improvement
in all local government services.
- The manual might be more specific about how the
centre does seek to control expenditure priorities (ring-fencing,
dedicated grants) and standards for improvement (centrally determined
targets and performance indicators, Audit Commission inspections
etc)
- That said, this statement will need to be altered
in the near future to reflect the Government's changes to the
local government finance system and its commitment to move away
from a top down system of performance management (via the end
of Comprehensive Area Assessment and the Audit Commission) towards
a system based on transparency.
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