“All that lives, lives not alone, nor for itself”
William Blake, 1789
LOCALISM BILL
‘Eric Pickles’s bill is a farrago’
This cant about localism is a cover for eroding the local state and cutting from its soft underbelly.
Eric Pickles had an easy ride yesterday when he unveiled his localism bill. Most of the media dutifully allowed themselves to be deflected from the main event – the funding settlement for councils. Local government is the state’s soft underbelly: home helps, swimming pools, street cleaning and libraries are more vulnerable, because they tend to benefit those without the loudest voices. Cuts are easier to engineer here, and blam e can always be heaped on hapless councillors.
As for localism, this government is no different from its predecessor. It will keep central control of what it cares most about – spending. It is happy to let go of things it considers irrelevant or, in the case of the Tories, that will help them cut the state down to size. As soon as the vaunted new community activists start asking for more or the right to raise revenue, they will be squashed.
A true localist would extend councils’ financial autonomy. Last week Pickles said councils would be allowed to raise taxes over his dead body. High up in the localism bill is a measure designed to intimidate councillors by threatening referendums on plans to raise tax above some centrally specified threshold. The Treasury is vetoing any move to give councils control of the money they collect from business – in case they choose to increase it.
All this is determinedly anti-localist. At this stage in the financial cycle, councils should be looking for other sources of revenue, perhaps from tourist or sales taxes, increased fees for dog licences and so on – just what is happening in Germany, for instance. But from the government there is not a word about freedom of fiscal action in England.
David Walker
guardian.co.uk, Monday 13 December 2010 22.00 GMT
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