Leadership desperately needed as local government faces great uncertainty
0I am avoiding any comment on the election. Whatever will be ,will be and whatever will be will not help local government over much.
There are however an interesting number of large chickens coming home to roost and I am at a loss to see how the circle can be squared, so to speak.
I am writing this in the aftermath of the London Bridge terrorist episode. It must be obvious to everyone that no government in their right minds is not going to put very considerable resources into dealing with the current situation. Even just watching the television footage makes it apparent how resource intensive these episodes are not only in manpower but also in equipment and training. There will also have to be a greater investment in cyber defence.
Room151’s Annual Conference: 9th Local Authority Treasurers Investment Forum & FD’s Summit September 14th, London Stock Exchange
Whatever happens the National Health Service will take further investment. It is a central pillar to lives in this country and regardless of the fact that it can consume almost any resource thrown its way, additional support is inevitable.
The issue of the financing of social care is far from resolved. I wonder how long it will be before we return wholeheartedly to the Dilnot Report. Remember that at the time it received a broad level of support but was considered too expensive to implement by the Treasury. However the current suggestions made in the course of the election campaign would cost the country more and were not universally welcomed.
The other area of interest to local authorities is the children’s service. There will be few authorities without an overspend last year. The twin involvement of the courts and Ofsted make it a very difficult service to manage within budget. Yet next to social care it receives very little attention. I suspect this is down to the communication abilities of the respective client groups.
Local authorities can forget the localisation agenda and the provision of community services outside the statutory services. In itself a sad state of affairs.
There is, of course, at least a partial solution to all this. It is called Income Tax. The very large amount raised by relatively small increases could help deal with some of these problems and it would be difficult to oppose a small increase to cover, for instance counter-terrorism costs. There is however a great fear of tax rising by politicians which is difficult to rationalise.
It is unfortunate that the election interrupted the changes to business rates. Remember that the changes proposed here are fiscally neutral and therefore solve none of the big problems. I fear the pause and the promise of another review will delay implementation and cause greater uncertainty.
The great problem over the next two years and beyond is Europe and that could consume all available time. On Europe I am disappointed that there seems to be no formal move to involve a strong local government voice in the discussions. Local government is not just affected by regional funds but also by the labour market and, critically, inward investment or the lack of it and major companies seeking haven elsewhere. At the moment CIPFA is the strongest voice but there has been little from DCLG or LGA.
On all these issues there is a real need for a strong, unified local government voice. That is difficult with the various sectional interests. The LGA is not always a popular organisation and it has a very difficult balancing act to produce but it does exist and perhaps it is time we gave more thought to the survival of local government as a whole and to forging a collective voice.
Many have said that the events of the recent past have shaken their faith in democracy and I see where they are coming from but is seems to me we desperately lack is strong leadership. In many ways that is a world deficit not just a UK one but it is a void that needs filling for all our sakes.
