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Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, local authorities do important work on attracting inward investment to their areas. High-performing councils—those that provide good services and good local leadership—will attract inward investment to their areas. The White Paper does not deal with the amounts of money available. That must wait for another occasion.
Lord Maclennan of Rogart: My Lords, the Government's proposed changes for local government will be welcomed in so far as they result in a reduction in excessive central prescription. Much of what the Minister has said about expenditure—particularly on allowing freedom of borrowing without consent, subject to satisfaction that the debt can be serviced—seems to move in that direction.
However, the Government have much less to say on the fiscal side. The Minister has mentioned charging. What consideration, if any, have the Government given to allowing greater autonomy in respect of taxation? In particular, has any thought been given to the possibility of moving towards a more responsive form of taxation, such as local income tax, which has long been considered the best way to hold local government to account?
Has the Minister noticed that, following the report of the Kerley commission, the Scottish Executive have addressed the issue of greater local accountability by agreeing to seek to introduce a new system of election to local government by proportional representation?
We look forward to seeing the timetable for that before the end of the year. Have the minds of Ministers south of the Border been similarly moved in that direction?
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, the answer to the last question is that the White Paper contains no proposals for a change in electoral system along the lines referred to by the noble Lord. Ministers have also not been persuaded by the arguments for a local income tax and the idea plays no part in the proposals. The noble Lord was talking about making local authorities more accountable. The White Paper makes it clear that the performance of local authorities will become much more transparent and the delivery of services and the quality of local leadership will play a much more important part hereafter in the way in which they perform their duties.
Lord Smith of Leigh: My Lords, I declare my interests as a leader of a local authority and as a member of the board of the Improvement and Development Agency, which is mentioned as part of the proposed system for improving local authorities. I welcome the Statement with much greater enthusiasm than it has received from other parts of the House. Local authorities should be judged on their outcomes, not by regulation from civil servants. The financial changes that my noble and learned friend outlined are welcome to many authorities. Unlike the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, I would like greater turbulence rather than stability. Those at the bottom of the heap need significant changes in the system of local government finance.
I agree with the noble Baroness's comments on the need for a change in attitude. If the White Paper is to be a success, a change in attitude is needed from departments, from Ministers—the noble Baroness gave an example of not all Ministers singing from the same hymn sheet, at least before the publication of the White Paper—and from civil servants. This week I received a letter from the Government Office for the North-West about a lighter touch approach to the accreditation of local strategic partnerships. The guidance says that it should not be too time-consuming or paper-based. We were then invited to give a submission on 20 pages of A4 for our local strategic partnership plan. We need to get through to civil servants that we can be judged in other ways than on the volume of paper that we produce.
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I thank my noble Friend for his welcome for the White Paper. I thoroughly endorse his comments about the need for a new culture involving a genuine partnership between local and central government. I also thoroughly endorse his call for a much reduced burden of bureaucracy, not just on identifiable issues such as the consents regime, but in the ongoing, day-to-day relationship between central and local government. We do not want too much paper. We want outcomes that central and local government both aspire to in public services.
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville: My Lords, into which of the interesting new performance categories for local authorities would the Government put their own performance? Secondly, while I appreciate that it would not be a new Labour Statement if it did not claim to represent a new basis for local government, given recent history, on what does the Minister found his confidence that the White Paper will provide a lasting basis? Finally, how does the Minister justify contingent intervention as a move away from centralisation?
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, on the noble Lord's first question, it would be wrong for me to say in which category I should place the Government until the Audit Commission has gone through the process that I described earlier.
Secondly, the noble Lord asked about the confidence that we have that the arrangement will deliver a new culture and vision for local authorities. One does not get anywhere without first setting out a new policy framework. The way in which one changes policy and achieves new delivery is by setting out what one thinks the function and structure should be. That is what we have done in the White Paper. There is a real and genuine commitment on the part of central government to deliver that. The feeling that one gets from local government is that it is very much Xup for" this relationship with central government. It wants to make that relationship work because people—the electorate—are keen to see delivery, which will occur only with a genuine partnership between central and local government.
Thirdly, the noble Lord asked how one justifies contingent intervention as being not too centralised. That is a slight re-phrasing of his question. The purpose of contingent intervention is that one in effect lays down the outcomes that one wishes. Local authorities then have the discretion to deliver them, having agreed the priorities with central government, and to decide on the way in which they are delivered. If they are not delivered, the people in the district who are covered by the local authority area are entitled to have steps taken to ensure that the services that they get are as high as those that are delivered by better-performing councils.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, I want to press the Minister a little further on that point. If he is genuine about wanting to create a partnership between local authorities and central government and if he is saying that he wants proper local accountability, can he explain why he thinks that it is necessary to have intervention between elections? Such intervention is not available in relation to central government. If there are to be elections annually in any case, why are the electorate not being trusted in such cases?
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, because without intervention one has not got the means of ensuring that the basic outcomes, standards or performance targets that one sets will be delivered.
Baroness Sharp of Guildford: My Lords, who sets the outcomes? Why should central government do so when we want the electorate to judge the matter?
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, as the local government White Paper makes clear—this was strongly supported by the Local Government Association—those targets and outcomes will be set through consultation between central and local government. At the local level, they will be reflected in local PSAs. Local government has warmly welcomed such an intervention and process and it is in practice keen for that partnership to be set up.
Baroness Billingham: My Lords, I warmly welcome the White Paper and I stress how important it will be. My involvement in local government goes back some 10 years. I now have a new role—I chair an urban regeneration company—which makes it clear that local government is one of the most important parts of local democracy. In relation to urban regeneration, I cannot stress how important it is to have a partnership with local councils that are confident, capable and vibrant. Since taking up that new role, it has deeply depressed me during the past year to find out how much of that has been lacking. Much has been lost from local government's previous performance.
A spin off from the proposals is that there will be a regeneration of local democracy—getting more people out to vote—and, if we give local councillors more responsibilities, as the White Paper suggests, we will get a better calibre of person. Such people will put themselves forward for a very demanding role. Local councillors receive little thanks but plenty of kicks, and shouts from the doorstep of, Xwhy haven't we seen you since last year?" It is a thankless task. I want local councillors to be given credit where it is due and for the fine job that they do. I hope that the White Paper will enhance their reputation and help them to deliver services where they are most properly delivered; namely, at local level.
Lord Falconer of Thoroton: My Lords, I thank my noble friend for the welcome that she gave to the White Paper. I know that she is the chairman of an urban regeneration company in Corby and I pay tribute to her for the work that she has done over a long period in that regard. I agree enthusiastically with her that when a local authority is engaged with partners such as urban regeneration companies, which bring people together, results are delivered on the ground. I also agree with her that one of the aims of the White Paper—one of its visions for local government—is to encourage more people to become engaged in local government because of the huge importance that it plays in people's lives. Involving people of calibre in local government is vital to the nation's well-being.
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