Hale Central Lunch – Sunday 15th March 2009

Address by Cllr John Lamb

Mr Chairman, Councillors, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Firstly it is a great honour to have been asked to say a few words. And I will certainly do
my best not to disappoint those who thought this would be a good idea !!

In the short time that I have to address you this afternoon I want to say a few things about
the future of local government. For those of you feeling the need to enjoy a nice
afternoon doze after such a splendid lunch then this should do the trick! But you only
have ten minutes!!

The government is busy publishing paper after paper, Act after Act on the future of local
government. The focus is on empowering local communities, the suggestion being that
we as councillors don’t listen enough to what you have to say, what your views are and
what you would like to see changed. There are of course notable exceptions to this
general position and I for one would not dare to suggest that your three councillors for
Hale Central fall into this description!! But I think it is true that councillors need to think
about how they engage effectively with the people they represent.

The Conservative party also has now published a discussion document called ‘ Control
Shift – Returning Power to Local Communities’ and it sets out the problem in these
terms:

“by making local government more accountable and bringing people closer to the
levers of power we can start to restore the trust that’s been lost in our political
system. If voters want to see something done in their area, they’ll be able to force
it on to the agenda. If people are unhappy about council tax increases, they can
club together and vote them down”

The report mentions the pitifully low voter turnout at local elections, across the country
about 35% although in Trafford it is higher at some 38% in the 2008 local elections..

However for Westminster elections the figure is not much better, across the country in
2005 60% and in some constituencies as low as 42% (Salford).

So, there is political apathy out there but people do know that by changing the
government at Westminster then there is likely to be change in policy in areas that affect
them most, taxation, the health service, education, law and order (an old fashioned term
now but most of us here know what this means) and of course the general running of the
economy.
We also know that local politicians are willing to play a greater role. Through a national
survey during 2008, councillors were asked about the importance of a greater role for
councils in the accountability of key local services such as health and police - 63% or
nearly two thirds said this was very important. Actually this shouldn’t come as a surprise
since in the same survey 88% of councillors became councillors to “serve the
community” and just over half said they came into local politics “to change things”

However when 70% of local government funding comes straight from central
government, which is a far and distant cry from the heyday of the great Victorian
municipal corporations such as Manchester that brought water for its growing population
from the Lake district some 70 miles north of the city and built a ship canal which
established Manchester as an international inland port and yet today cannot even get hold
of the funds to complete the building of a tram system! Is it any wonder that we have to
twist the arms of people to stand as a councillor and any wonder that voter turn out is so
low?

But if we look at the proposals our own party has come up I have to say that I for one am
disappointed:

1. On the setting of above inflation Council Tax bills the paper suggests ending
Whitehall capping and giving local residents the power to veto high council tax
rises via a local referendum. To many voters maybe this is initially enticing but
wait a moment I thought that was why you elected people like me and Alan
Mitchell and Chris Candish and Pat Young into office in the first place? Surely the
way the system is supposed to work is councillors are accountable for the setting
of the Council Tax and if its too high and we re not able to convince you of the
need for it then you vote us out, don’t you?

2. On the matter of the Police becoming more accountable the paper suggests
directly elected police commissioners to oversee the work of the police and be
accountable to the voters. To many voters maybe this is initially enticing but
wait a moment I thought that was why you elected me and my ward colleagues
into office in the first place? Surely the way the system is supposed to work is that
councillors are responsible for and accountable for the running of local
government services such as police, fire and waste disposal. Do we really need
more elected representatives to oversee these services? What is wrong with
making Councillors responsible and accountable through the ballot box?

3. On the matter of Health services – ah! now in the discussion paper there is, as far
as I can see, not a single mention of health services – the paper is silent but wait a
minute isn’t this one of the areas that really impacts upon people lives, here in this
locality, here in Hale Central? A service about which many people have
something to say? A service that is run by boards made up of unelected non
executive members? So if we are serious about decentralisation of public services
what about the role of locally elected, locally accountable councillors in the
governance of health services?
These aren’t the only proposals. There are some good ideas in the report which need
supporting but the examples I have chosen are, for me, symptomatic of the problem.

I believe that the central principle of both the governments approach and that of the
policy developers within our own party is off beam.

Local government does need to be more accountable to its people, but this will not be
achieved by centrally dictating how the relationship between the town hall and local
government voters will be conducted…

The way you return power to local communities is by returning powers to the town hall!
Exercise of local powers by local politicians is what will get noticed by local people and
they will insist on making their views known as local spending and policy decisions hit
their pockets and in a democratic system, that ladies and gentlemen is the ultimate in
accountability.

Thank you!