Councils should be ‘ambitious and radical’ in making cuts, says Pickles Minister urges local government to be transparent and accountable
Publication date: 27 July 2010
Source: PM Online
Local authorities should be bold in their approach to budget cuts and will be given the opportunity to “change the balance of power in this country”, Eric Pickles has said.
“Be as ambitious as you can, be as radical as you like and as bold as you want,” the communities and local government secretary told a Local Government Association (LGA) conference today.
Speaking in response to the LGA’s five-year plan to “fundamentally reform the system” and save the public purse £100 billion, Pickles said he would “champion” the escalation of powers and freedoms of local authorities to make such savings.
“If you’ve got genuinely promising and radical ideas, I will be your champion in cabinet,” he told delegates. “I absolutely trust local government to deliver. We’re going to change the balance of power that exists in this country.”
“The LGA knows better than anyone else where the challenges lie and how to overcome them,” he continued. “We can deliver more for less, and you said you can achieve better outcomes or faster improvements for less money. I want to put you in charge of that money as soon as possible and to make rapid progress in the next few weeks.”
But Pickles said he was “disappointed with the ambition of some councils”, and criticised the failure of local authorities to utilise their existing abilities to tackle the well-being agenda.
“Why is it only a measly 15 per cent of councils have used the power of promoting well-being?” he said in his address. “I want to give you the power and freedom that you want, but not the power to sit on your hands and the freedom to twiddle your thumbs.”
Pickles also said he was asking councils and organisations such as the LGA to “embrace the spirit of openness, transparency and accountability”.
“I need your commitment to the same standards we’re asking of everyone else who receives public money,” he said. “It’s only right you are subject to the same freedom of information rules as central government, so the public can ask questions about where money goes.”
Government departments currently publish any expenditure surpassing £500 online, along with certain job titles and salary details. There will not be any mandatory code of practice for councils to expand on these requirements, the conference heard.
“There is not going to be a code of practice locally,” confirmed Andrew Stunell, the communities and local government under-secretary. “Local government has the power and the decision-making, and you must move to be accountable to the local community that elected you,” he told delegates.
Councillor Jonathan Ash-Edwards of Mid-Sussex District Council also told the conference that the cost of breaking out such figures from existing reporting systems and publishing data and job titles online was minimal. “It lets the public hold us to account,” he added. “And if there are any ‘non-jobs’, why not let them be pointed out?”