Constitutional Implications of the Cabinet Manual

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.