District Matters

New government should look local

August 2024

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is looking forward to working with a new government. Of course, the new government will want to implement its manifesto and make big changes. But it should also remember that local government has the ability to directly affect peoples’ everyday lives. Local government plays an important part in implementing government initiatives.

However, when we talk about devolution of powers, such talk must include devolution to district councils, not just to county councils. Support for local networks and encouragement for local input into economic development, housing and planning are essential.

As we learn about government plans to reform the planning system, it is important to recognise that local councils and communities know their areas best. New planning rules are being drafted by government - but our experience is that recent new housing has not always been built to the highest standards or been affordable for those on lower incomes. We also await details on the necessary infrastructure needed to support communities.

National government can provide useful guidance, but changes to national planning policy should be suitably flexible to allow district councils to make decisions on managing competing demands for houses, jobs and open spaces in their local areas. House building is only one component of creating communities.

For example, here in Stratford, we need to have more local control over properties that have been left derelict for many years. Vacant units affect the vibrancy of high streets and impact on pedestrian footfall, particularly at key gateway points and junctions. Stronger powers and the funding to address these local eyesores would be welcomed from government.

We hope the new government also provides the encouragement for local government to be innovative. District councils know their areas and also have the ability to learn from each other and adopt best practice.

This was a lesson I learnt many years ago when I liaised with local authorities on a government pilot project. I worked with the Department for the Environment and Local Affairs (Defra), the Local Government Association (LGA) and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) to develop best practice to help small businesses recycle and reuse waste materials. Some excellent best practice was developed and then rolled out across the country for other councils and businesses to develop projects that have achieved impressive results in their areas.

What are the challenges to the new government in dealing with local government? Longer-term thinking about public spending – how much money and how it is spent – inevitably heads the list.

But local government should also be allowed more freedom, when delivering government initiatives, to decide what works best in their areas. Too much centralised decision-making has been a drag on delivery in recent years, but worse than that, it has not delivered the outcomes that local people need.

Local government affects directly much of our everyday lives. It is also the most basic level of democracy and representation. District councils can help people live healthier lives by providing healthy environments and leisure services. County councils provide the social care that helps people live independently for longer. The big problems of our age will not be tackled effectively unless local government has the ability to effect real change. But local government cannot deliver unless it is seen as an equal partner. National success must have local foundations.