Response to Commission on Local Governance Appendix 4

Strong Leadership - Quality Public Services

White Paper on Local Government: December 2001

Hampshire County Council has broadly welcomed many of the aspirations of the White Paper, particularly where they relate to minimising bureaucracy and to differentiating approaches to regulation and freedoms, in relation to performance. However, you have particularly asked for a response in respect of the impact on local governance and I offer a set of principles which if adhered to would enhance central / local government relations and the success of new initiatives.

Community leadership

The waning community interest in local government is evident in the falling turnout at local elections. While considerable effort is being expended in engaging the public in local projects and consulting on key issues, the perception remains that a local vote carries little weight in changing fundamental policies. This has led to a rise in single issue pressure groups, to the even greater disillusionment of the community overall. This perception will not change until the link between taxation and local services is direct, making local government truly accountable.

Customer focus

The value of local government has always been that it is best placed to respond to local community needs and priorities. Economic, demographic and geographic factors introduce significant variations across the country, which are not recognised by nationally set standards or targets. The current central prescription and ring-fencing of funds discounts local circumstances and ignores the priorities of local citizens.

Flexible frameworks

In these times of rapid change, new initiatives are based on the introduction of new frameworks to support them, most of which are based on either a London or unitary form of local government. As a shire county council with 11 district councils and a complex array of partnerships within our wider community, we have found many of these frameworks unsuitable to our model of local government. This is further exacerbated by differences in scale of operations. The development of frameworks should avoid the use of a `one size fits all' approach and be researched with all models of local government. This would not only ensure they are practical but would go a long way to ensuring ownership and their ultimate success in delivering the desired outcome.