A report made the case for putting local government at the heart of civil renewal. It showed what councils were doing, both to build stronger communities better able to look after themselves, and to strengthen their capacity to participate in local governance. It also identified where councils could do more.
Source: Towards Self-governing Communities: The role of local government in civil renewal, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | LGA press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A think-tank report called for greater clarity in the roles of regional and local bodies to ensure success of the housing and sustainable communities agenda.
Source: Ian Parker and Natalie Tarry (eds.), New Localism in Action: Housing and Sustainable Communities, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report (pdf) | NLGN press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A new book proposed a radical decentralization of government. It called for a re-empowerment of the counties and cities to which people felt loyalty, with many services delegated further to municipalities and parishes.
Source: Simon Jenkins, Big Bang Localism: A rescue plan for British democracy, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Times report
Date: 2004-Nov
Local government leaders published a manifesto which called for a radical devolution of power to local councils, the reform of local taxation, and the streamlining of inspection of services. It also pledged to ensure that no council was rated poor or weak by 2008.
Source: Independence, Opportunity, Trust: A manifesto for local communities, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | LGA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
A new book examined the inter-relationship between local government and political parties. It examined the impact of parties on council business, decision-making, policy development and local representation; and the fundamental questions of who councillors represented, and whether councillors were elected to govern or to serve.
Source: Colin Copus, Party Politics and Local Government,Manchester University Press (0161 275 2310)
Links: Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Sep
The government launched the Civic Pioneers Network, a group of cities and towns who were championing 'new methods of governance' - for example, introducing more user-friendly ways for local people to participate in local decisions, and ensuring more effective consultation between public bodies and local people.
Source: Press release 9 September 2004, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2004-Sep
The Welsh Assembly Government said (following consultation) that community and town councils played an important role in the creation of strong and active communities. It accepted recommendations in an earlier report to encourage the establishment of community councils in areas where they did not already exist; joint working arrangements between local councils and other organizations; and a wider range of services provided by local councils. It also proposed to amend primary legislation to make it more difficult for a community or town council to be disbanded.
Source: Press release 31 August 2004, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: WAG press release | Text of WAG response (pdf) | Consultation responses (pdf)
Date: 2004-Aug
A government policy statement emphasised the value of 'a more coherent approach' to local government across central government. There would be new budget freedoms for councils; further devolution of power beyond the town hall; and fewer, better-paid councillors. Under a pilot scheme, nine councils would be given new funding freedoms covering the areas of children and young people, crime and health - subject to negotiating targets with central government.
Source: The Future of Local Government: Developing a 10 year vision, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Statement (pdf) | ODPM press release | LGA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
A paper summarised research evidence on new local council constitutions after the Local Government Act 2000. Leadership was more visible, and decision-making was quicker and clearer. But there were weaknesses in overview and scrutiny activity; and executive councillors, officers and stakeholders were more positive than non-executive councillors about the reforms.
Source: Francesca Gains, Stephen Greasley and Gerry Stoker, A Summary of Research Evidence on New Council Constitutions in Local Government, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 4400)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
A paper focused on the experience of local authorities who operated as 'alternative arrangement' authorities following the Local Government Act 2000. (Alternative arrangements were introduced for authorities with populations under 85,000 permitting the maintenance of a streamlined committee system.)
Source: Francesca Gains, The Implementation of New Council Constitutions in Alternative Arrangement Authorities, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 4400)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
Researchers found that the Local Government Act 2000 was seen as having improved the governance of councils by a majority of senior officers, executive councillors, and external stakeholders with a close connection to the working of local government.
Source: Gerry Stoker, Francesca Gains, Stephen Greasley, Peter John and Nirmala Rao, Operating the New Council Constitutions in English Local Authorities: A process evaluation, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 4400)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
A paper explored how the eleven mayoral figures elected in English local government after the Local Government Act 2000 had started to develop their roles. Mayoral authorities were considered to have provided slightly clearer lines of accountability; sharper and less partisan leadership; and, from the perspective of officers, a better functioning overview and scrutiny system.
Source: Gerry Stoker, How Are Mayors Measuring Up? Preliminary findings, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 4400)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
A collection of essays explored the potential future role of choice in the provision of local services. One by the local government minister raised the prospect of local communities being able to decide collectively how their local services were delivered, with streets and neighbourhoods able to call upon an adjacent local authority to do the job.
Source: Nick Raynsford MP, Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, Jan Wilson and Steve Bundred, Choice Cuts : Essays on the improvement of local public services, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Summary (pdf) | NLGN press release
Date: 2004-Jun
The Scottish Parliament approved the Local Governance (Scotland) Bill. The Bill introduced single transferable voting for local government elections; lowered the age at which people could stand as a councillor from 21 to 18; removed certain political restrictions on council employees standing for local authority elections; and established an independent remuneration committee for councillors.
Source: Local Governance (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Text of Bill (pdf) | SE press release
Date: 2004-Jun
A think-tank pamphlet discussed the challenge of connecting the various layers of government together - such that local, regional and national governance were informed by those groups and organisations that were closest to, and best understood, the strengths and the needs of individual communities.
Source: Jo Coles, Yvette Cooper MP and Nick Raynsford MP (eds.), Making Sense of Localism, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A think tank argued that the key to improving public services and re-engaging voters was to build on the strengths of local councils - local knowledge, ability to join up local public services, and accountability. This would require a new settlement in the relationship between central and local government: local authorities should raise at least 50 per cent of their revenue locally by transferring taxes from Whitehall; council tax should be reformed so as to better reflect ability to pay and regional house price variations; and local authorities should have the lead role in co-ordinating local public services.
Source: A Charter for a New Era in Local Governance, Local Government Information Unit (020 7554 2800)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
The government began consultation on the development of a long-term vision for local government in England, and on how central and local government, as well as local communities, could work together to achieve this. It said that a new strategic approach to local government would help to improve local delivery of services, increase citizen engagement and participation, and lead to better outcomes for people and places.
Source: The Future of Local Government, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: Consultation document | ODPM press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2004-Jun
Local authorities called for a new way of funding services to allow communities greater financial independence, with at least 75 per cent of councils income being raised and distributed locally; a reassertion of the importance of local politics, with new opportunities for councillors to represent their electorate on local bodies; and a new process for setting targets and allocating funds in Whitehall which genuinely took account of local priorities and pressures.
Source: Independence, Opportunity, Trust: An agenda for local communities, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | LGA press release
Date: 2004-Apr
The government announced that local authorities would no longer be required to submit asset management plans and capital strategies to the government for assessment.
Source: Press release 19 April 2004, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: ODPM press release
Date: 2004-Apr
A think-tank report argued that local government needed to be more responsive to local communities, less 'in hock' to central regulation, with a more decentralised and progressive tax base. It used six case studies to ask what more could be achieved at the local level if public policy encouraged rather than stifled innovation.
Source: Molly Conisbee, Local Economies for Local Communities, Centre for Reform (020 7222 5121)
Links: Centre for Reform press release (Word file)
Date: 2004-Mar
A report by a committee of MSPs endorsed a Bill to introduce proportional representation in local government elections in Scotland. The Bill was subsequently endorsed by the full Parliament. Scottish local authorities expressed 'extreme disappointment'.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Local Governance (Scotland) Bill, 2nd Report 2004, SP Paper 110, Scottish Parliament Local Government and Transport Committee, TSO (0870 606 5566) | Press release 24 March 2004, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (0131 474 9200)
Links: Report | Evidence | Guardian report | COSLA press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A report said that the experience of the first 11 mayoral authorities at the mid-term stage was a broadly positive one. It recommended that the government should consider widening an experiment that had made local political leadership more visible and more attributable.
Source: Anna Randle, Mayors Mid-term: Lessons from the first eighteen months of directly elected mayors, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: NLGN press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
A report restated the case for a new localism . It argued that the complexity of modern society demanded a pluralist approach to local governance with a strong but by no means exclusive role for local government.
Source: Dan Corry, Gerry Stoker, Warren Hatter, Ian Parker and Anna Randle, Joining-Up Local Democracy: Governance systems for New Localism, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: NLGN press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
A think-tank report called on local authorities to address the extent to which overview and scrutiny was not yet embedded in the culture of their organisation. It said that even where a council was positive about the new decision-making structures, the overview and scrutiny function could still lack the backing needed to make the new system effective.
Source: Katy Johnson and Warren Hatter, Realising the Potential of Scrutiny: Research and recommendations on the overview and scrutiny function in local government, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051)
Links: Report (pdf) | NLGN press release
Date: 2004-Jan
The Electoral Commission said that the pattern of local government elections in England should be more consistent, to help voters understand and participate more effectively in local democracy. It proposed that all local authorities in England should hold whole-council elections once every four years, and that county councils and the Greater London Authority should hold elections in different years to districts, metropolitan and London boroughs. But local authorities said that imposing uniform electoral cycles would fail to tackle the root cause of disengagement with local politics.
Source: The Cycle of Local Government Elections in England, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500) | Press release 29 January 2004, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Electoral Commission press release | LGA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan