National context - the changing face of local government
Last updated: 09/01/2012
Add to My Bookmarks
Subscribe
Local government faces a period of
significant change driven by budget cuts and rising demand for
public services. By 2020, councils are likely to be very
different.
The Government’s plans to reform public
services, as set out in the
Open Public Services White Paper, are likely to bring further
changes as councils move towards a smaller strategic core with more
services delivered at arm’s length through a wide variety of
delivery bodies.
The White Paper sets a vision where
individuals and communities have much greater choice and control
and public sector organisations are the commissioners of services
rather than direct providers. The aim is to decentralise power and
control to the lowest appropriate level whilst increasing the range
of suppliers. For services provided to individuals, this means that
the power to choose and commission services will be provided
through mechanisms such as direct payments. For services used
collectively by communities, local people will be given
opportunities to run services themselves. In other areas services
will be subject to open commissioning with the intention of opening
up public services to other sectors and to create competing
businesses out of public sector organisations.
The White Paper sets the context for many
of the other emerging national policies and agendas. The
Localism Act, which became law in November 2011, reinforces the
Government’s commitment to decentralisation with measures that
shift power from central government back to individuals,
communities and councils. The Act includes measures to reform the
planning system, change social housing policies, improve community
empowerment through rights to bid to buy local assets and run local
services. It is also about decentralisation and strengthening local
democracy.
Other key policies and new legislation
follow a similar theme. The Public
Bodies Bill provides ministers powers to abolish or reform
public bodies and has led to demise of the Regional Development
Agencies and the creation of Local Enterprise Partnerships. The
Education Bill and the
Academies Act provide wider choice and decentralised powers
through enabling schools to become academies, free from local
authority and national government control, and opportunities for
groups to set up new free schools in areas where there is parental
demand.
Similarly the Police
Reform and Social Responsibility Act makes provision for
greater accountability through police commissioners and local
Police and Crime Panels. We are lobbying hard to ensure that
Cornwall is given fair representation on the local Police and Crime
Panel for Devon and Cornwall because initial plans show that Devon
has unduly large membership. The
Protection of Freedoms Bill is intended to protect people “from
unwarranted state intrusion in their private lives” and to revoke
previous legislation seen as damaging civil liberties. The
Health and Social Care Bill passes commissioning powers to GPs
and abolishes Primary Care Trusts. New local Healthwatch
organisations will speak out on consumers’ behalf and act as
agitators for choice. Cornwall has been selected as a Healthwatch
pathfinder to test out how best this new organisation will
operate.
National public policy will influence the
future shape and operation of all councils and public services. We
are already developing initiatives to meet the Government’s
determination to:
- Lift the burden of
bureaucracy – by removing the cost and control of
unnecessary red tape and regulation that restricts local
action
- Empower communities to do things
their way – by creating rights for people to get involved
with, and direct the development of, their communities
- Increase local control of public
finance – so that more of the decisions over how public
money is spent and raised can be taken within communities
- Diversify the supply of public
services – by ending public sector monopolies, ensuring a
level playing field for all suppliers, giving people more choice
and a better standard of service
- Open up government to public
scrutiny – by releasing information into the public
domain, so that people can know how their money is spent, how it is
used and to what effect
- Strengthen accountability to
local people – by giving every citizen the power to change
the services provided to them through participation, choice or the
ballot box
Back to Business plan update 2012-2013
contents
Next section - Understanding Cornwall - the evidence we need
for good decision-making