Why is Eric Pickles still giving the Local Government Association £25.5 million of our money?

The Municipal Journal reports (£):

"The Local Government Association (LGA) has been dealt a severe blow to its finances in the Budget, with the news its funds will be slashed by £2.2m in less than two weeks' time. The Association’s top-slice cash - the money that comes directly from central government grant - was due to be cut by £1.5m in 2014-15. However, yesterday communities secretary Eric Pickles informed LGA chairman Sir Merrick Cockell of a more severe budget cut - of a further £2.2m - to come into force on 1 April this year."

What they don't tell their readers is that even with this cut there will still be, in the coming financial year of 2013/14, £25.5 million of our money handed over to the LGA from the Department for Communities and Local Government. Then as Council Taxpayers we get clobbered again by the cost of the hefty membership subs paid by each local authority (except Bromley.)

Under the Labour Government even more was wasted - around £35 million a year went to the LGA "family" of various offshoots that have now been consolidated.

But how can Mr Pickles possibly justify continuing any funding at all? £25 million is certainly a modest amount compared to the central Government grant to local authorities - which is about £24 billion. So 0.1% might not seem much - but it might make the difference between Council Tax being put up or not. It might make the difference between the grants budget to voluntary groups going up or down, or whether a library or children's centre stays open or closes.

Pickles attacks LGA

Eric Pickles is interviewed for the House magazine's latest issue and offers the sharpest criticism I have yet seen from him of the Local Government Association.

Rejecting their claims that spending cuts are "unsustainable", he says:

"I kind of understand that the LGA are sort of a trade union organisation..They are the voice of the officer class with the odd politician thrown in as a hostage handcuffed to the radiator and they
occasionally speak.

“The problem is that we’ve had the various stories people crying ‘wolf!’, saying it’s all going to be a disaster. Well actually with two and a half years on local government seems to be coping very well. Satisfaction with local government has actually gone up. It’s a quarter of public expenditure, they’ve managed very well they’ve been very adaptable despite the rhetoric.”

“What they’ve got to do is produce more for less, what they’ve got to do is to address all of the hidden Spanish practices that exist. It is utterly ludicrous that within a few miles of one another there are organisations doing their own payroll, doing their own legal services, having their own planners.”

LGA tells councils to be sex snoopers

One of the welcome aspects of the demise of the Audit Commission was the scrapping of the requirement for councils to ask intrusive, irrelevant questions about our sex lives. The Government has confirmed to councils that there is no longer any excuse to carry out this offensive exercise.

Soon after we took control of Hammersmoth and Fulham Council a resident in my ward emailed to say:

Speaking as someone who often makes Planning applications to Hammersmith on behalf of clients, I very much resent being interrogated about my age, race, religion and sexual orientation on each occasion.  None of these matters is the business of the Local Authority, and none has the slightest bearing on a planning application.

The questions about sexual orientation in particular are quite ludicrous.  I am repeatedly asked whether I am heterosexual, gay/lesbian, transsexual, or “Other – please state”.  I cannot think what that “other” could be, unless it were so perverse that it would justify putting someone behind bars.  And who on earth would voluntarily admit to such proclivities on a planning application?

A council tenant complaining about the lift not working asked why we spent such a lot of time asking him about his religion. We shortened our forms to get rid of such questions.

EU rules are obstructing councils from saving money

The cost of our EU membership in terms of our basic membership sub is £14 billion a year.  However, the true cost, including the cost of complying with all the red tape, is much higher. Both our contribution to the EU budget and the burden of regulation are going up. One example of the hidden cost is the way EU procurement rules thwart efforts by local councils to get value for money. The Local Government Association is not the most obvious Eurosceptic. Yet even it is becoming exasperated. This is a straw in the wind. The LGA's instinct will have been to schmooze with the EU, not to pick a fight.

"EU rules choking off councils' money saving efforts," is the headline of the LGA press release.

It reports:

Tortuous EU procurement rules, which are choking off opportunities to save taxpayers' money and promote local growth, are in danger of becoming even more convoluted and costly, council leaders warn today.

The Local Government Association, which has produced a Procurement Pledge which commits local and central government to work more closely on these issues, is concerned that moves are afoot which could make it virtually impossible for councils to give preference to local suppliers, and will force those wishing to pool services with neighbouring local authorities into an unnecessarily lengthy and costly EU-wide tendering process.

The LGA is concerned that instead of addressing the problems inherent in the current system an up-coming revision of procurement regulations is in danger of making them worse. It is calling on the Government to go into battle for the UK and ensure the re-write of the European directives delivers for British council taxpayers.

Sir Merrick Cockell's inaugural speech as LGA Chairman

Conference – it is with a deep sense of responsibility, humility and, of course, pleasure that I accept your nomination to serve as Chairman of the Local Government Association.

Thank you for the support you have given me and for the trust you have placed in me.

I succeed some distinguished predecessors. I will speak about Margaret shortly but before her, Lord Beecham and Lord Bruce-Lockhart. And then my friend and neighbour Sir Simon Milton who died so young but having achieved so much, only a few months ago. I know our thoughts are with Robert and their families in their great loss.

As your Chairman, it is my job to stand up for, fight for and advocate for all of local government. In accepting your nomination today, I place myself at the service of the entire sector – councils and councillors of all political traditions, authorities of all types and from all parts of the country.

So, at this beginning let me make a personal pledge to you.

Prime Minister's speech to the Local Government Association Conference

It’s great to be back at the LGA conference.

And I want to congratulate Sir Merrick Cockell on his appointment as Chairman of the Local Government Association.

Today, I want to talk about the big issue of the week – the reform of public service pensions.

But before I do that, let me say something about local government.

I want it put on record: I think you are doing a brilliant job in challenging circumstances.

I know it was a tough financial settlement.

And I know you are all grappling with some really difficult decisions.

When your budget is being cut, freezing council tax isn’t easy.

But because of the action that’s been taken, by everyone in this room, a typical family in a Band D home will save up to £72 over the next year.

Councils should check their membership subs

On Friday I mentioned the challenge that Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell will face at the Local Government Association. To prevent an exodus of members and a collapse of their organisation there needs to be a slashing of costs (by which I mean well over 50%.) There also needs to be some tangible achievements - for example in working with the Government to deliver further localism.

But it is not just the LGA that individual local councils pay hefty subs to. The full list of organisations signed up to should be looked at. Joining the "Association for Public Service Excellence" strikes me as the most desperate box ticking. Those councils that can provide excellence do so - those that can't join APSE. They claim to have over 250 councils as members although this figure may include police authorities, almos, etc. They certainly include several of the worst councils in the land - Haringey, Manchester, Nottingham, Knowsley, South Tyneside. All hand over a fee to be assured of how excellent they are.

Apart from the membership sub there is the opportunity to hand over extra Council Taxpayers money to celebrate "excellence" with awards ceremonies sponsored by Unison!

The group's policy statements are pretty banal but lest there was doubt as to its left wing allegiances here is a tweet to Alastair Campbell from APSE Chief Executive Paul O'Brien:

Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell to be new LGA Chairman

Congratulations to Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, who is to become the new Chairman of the Local Government Association. I gather he defeated his rival for the Conservative nomination, Leicestershire County Council leader Cllr David Parsons, by a clear margin. As the Conservatives are the largest group in the LGA he will take over as Chairman from Baroness Eaton.

Merrick has pledged to make the LGA more transparent and to provide better value for money. His arrival should also herald a more constructive relationship with the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

South Holland Council leader Cllr Gary Porter takes over from Cllr David Shakespeare as Leader of the Conservative Group on the LGA. The new Deputy Group Leader is Cllr Andrew Lewer

As leader of K&C, Merrick presides over a Council with the third lowest Council Tax in the country. He will face a big challenge at the LGA with a large numeer of councils having put in their notice - or considering doing so.

"I was delighted by such widespread support from all tiers and all regions," he tells me.

The full list of Conservative candidates is here.

Cllr Robert Light: Why I'm standing for Chairman of the LGA Conservative Group

Cllr Robert Light, the leader of the Conservative Group on Kirklees Council, sets out his stall

For years the LGA has seen Conservatives come together, do their bit as individuals, and return to their Councils without there being any clear LGA Conservative agenda.

This must change. We need to have a clear Conservative programme across all the LGA Boards and areas of policy. It is my intention to ensure the Conservative team develops a policy manifesto that is relevant to Conservative leaders and their groups across the country.

Many fellow leaders rightly complain that the LGA, and for that matter the LGA Conservative Group, bares no relevance to them in their Councils.

This we must change too. The Conservative Group needs to improve communication and support to all Conservative leaders so that we have the national information to be more effective locally.

My local government experience is in the highly politicised environment of West Yorkshire where Kirklees has been in no overall control for 11 years. Understanding how to deliver a Conservative agenda without a majority is a key area of expertise. I believe this experience is what the LGA Conservative Group needs to ensure the organisation radiates more Conservative ideas.

LGA told to suspend recruitment of Chief Exec

Cllr David Parsons, a candidate for Chairman of the Local Government Association, has called on the LGA to withdraw an advertisement for a new Chief Executive.

In a statement Cllr Parsons says:

“I was very disappointed to hear from John Ransford that the LGA is about to go to the expense of placing advertisements for a chief executive. Having decided to employ recruitment consultants, the current leadership is continuing to fly in the face of political reality and waste more public money. No Council would seriously look to progress the recruitment of a permanent chief executive immediately prior to a change of political leadership.

“I call for the advertisements to be withdrawn and for the LGA to wait for the arrival of the new leadership before taking any further steps. My first move if elected as LGA Chairman will be to stop the recruitment process formally and appoint an interim director for a transition period.

“The LGA’s members tell me they want to break with the past and a fresh approach to the way the organisation is run. They want a different form of leadership who will engage them in deciding the shape and style of a new LGA. Only then should the LGA move to recruit its most senior officer.”