Councils in Wales should have freedom of worship too

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has speeded along implementation of the Localism Act to ensure that councils in England are allowed to say prayers at the  start of their meetings. But Eric's writ does not run in Wales. So we are in the situation where councils hold prayers at the start of their meetings in England, but not in Wales.

The High Court judgment banning council prayers related to Section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972 which applies to England and Wales. Post-devolution, the Welsh Assembly has the competence to legislate in this area. The Localism Act 2011 which has introduced the general power of competence in England could have been applied to Wales, yet the Labour-run Welsh Assembly Government refused the Coalition Government’s offer for the Act to include Wales (because, I suspect, the Welsh Assembly Government doesn’t really like devolving power to councils…).

But the National Assembly for Wales does have the power to legislate in this area. The ban of prayers can be stopped if the National Assembly wish it.

Janet Finch-Saunders AM, The Conservatives Shadow Minister for Local Government, said:

Christina Dykes: Councillors deserve more help to become leaders of the Big Society and Localism

Christina Dykes is working on a report, Tomorrow’s Councillors, which is investigating how Big Society and localism is impacting on the role of councillors.

Two remarkable points about the Public Administration Select Committee’s recent report Big Society: One, it is concerned with implementation; Two, the term councillor is not mentioned in the main text.

A small forest has been chopped down to produce literature on the Big Society and its bedfellow localism. There has been comparatively little concentration on the part that local government plays in the implementation of Big Society and localism.

Although the Government will need many different implementation methods if it wants to ensure that Big Society succeeds, the involvement of councillors is fundamental.  Councillors have a legitimate vox publicus through being elected. They also overwhelmingly live and work within their neighbourhoods. Crucially they hold local purse-strings and historically they have been the arbiter of who get what in local services.

Many councillors can already argue with justification that community leadership is in their DNA.   The problem is that the sort of community leadership that they have come to practise is essentially paternal.  Councillors have been schooled into thinking they are the community voice.  Now, there is an expectation that communities will be their own voice and for councillors to help them make it happen.   It is a change from controlling and distributing money and to one of enabling, brokering, facilitating and arbitrating.  If communities are to have a greater determining role, then elected officers and their officials have to change their way of operating.  It is a profound change in the relationship between elected and elector and it will not happen overnight.

In organisational theory profound change requires a ‘change management programme’ to be agreed and enacted systematically.  There is no time, perhaps no understanding and apparently no will for such niceties and so councillors are left to deliver change on a wing and a prayer.

Eric Pickles MP: The Localism Bill reverses a century of centralisation

By Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles

Since ancient times governments and politicians have sought to weld power, which has always been about command and control. So it may be surprising to some that this Government is leading the clarion call for more people power. It was the American politician Tip O'Neill who famously declared that all politics is local. For years communities and councils have been crying out for a greater say in local life. For years they have been bystanders as decisions about their lives have been taken in a monolithic way by central government. And finally politicians and people see eye to eye on this one - power should be at the lowest possible level.

It was Victor Hugo who said all the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come. Localism Localism Localism has been our mantra for some time now. We entered Government listening to the people and we were clear localising power and information would be a priority. Even as global problems mounted and dominated public attention, we remained steadfast in our pursuit of localism.

And this week localism officially becomes a reality. Our flagship Localism Bill, has been passed and given the Royal Seal of approval. It marks the biggest shift in power since Victorian age - reversing 100 years of creeping centralisation and it restores a gapping local democratic deficit. As an Act of Parliament it will halt Whitehall's policy monoply and hold over the levers of power, deliver more than 30 of our coalition agreement promises and give local people that raft of new rights and powers that they wanted for too long.

It's the greatest decentralisation of power in a generation, claim Eric Pickles and Greg Clark, as Localism Bill becomes law

By Tim Montgomerie
Follow Tim on Twitter

Yesterday the Localism Bill gained royal assent and the Department of Communities and Local Government issued a press release to remind us of what it represents.

Conmmenting Eric Pickles said:

“Today marks the beginning of an historic shift of power from Whitehall to every community to take back control of their lives. The Localism Act pulls down the Whitehall barricades so it will no longer call the shots over communities - bug bears like housing targets and bin taxes are gone. For too long, local people were held back and ignored because Whitehall thought it knew best.  That is changing for good.  Councils have their General Power of Competence and residents have a real power over decisions like council tax, town hall pay, planning, community buildings or local services."

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark added:

"For the best part of a hundred years Parliament has been passing laws that increase the Government's powers at the expense of people and communities. This historic Act begins to reverse a hundred years of centralisation. It puts power into the hands of citizens, community groups and local councils. It breaks the monopoly on all new policy initiatives having to come from Whitehall by giving a new right of initiative to people in their local areas. The Localism Act is not the end of the journey towards a more permissive, flexible Britain but it makes a great stride in a direction that the Government will continue to travel."

Why I’m backing Murdo Fraser

Cllr David Meikle of Glasgow City Council says real change is required

As you know I’m Glasgow’s only Conservative councillor and was elected in 2007.

I have therefore been taking an active interest in the contest to be the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives. We have four excellent candidates standing to be leader but I’m backing Murdo Fraser and want to set out why I believe members of the Scottish Conservatives should also support Murdo.

To begin with Murdo has the experience. Secondly, he has the vision we need in a new leader. And, thirdly, and most importantly, Murdo will deliver the real change which the party in Scotland requires.

As an elected Conservative councillor I believe that we need to transform our party into a new, winning force in Scottish politics and it should have a progressive, centre-right vision.

This new party with localism and a Scottish identity at the heart of its approach will also be well placed to attract people who share our values but don’t currently vote Conservative because it is clear that there are many people in Scotland who share our values but cannot vote for a party which they feel is run from England and isn’t Scottish.

Magna Carta - The Sequel

Cllr Colin Barrow, Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh and Edward Lister chart the next stage of the localism journey

Later today we will be launching Magna Carta 2, a follow-up to the first Magna Carta that we published last year.

The paper argues that almost of all of the political and administrative actions necessary to achieve an ideal society are best determined by local, and not central government.

In doing so, it calls for the Government to embrace and implement the next stage in the localism journey, one that is focused around giving local communities and their locally elected representatives far greater ability and powers to raise and spend the resources available to them.

It believes the government should set the conditions to allow as many Free Councils as possible - no longer dependent on hand outs from the Treasury.

Localis events at the Conservative conference 2011

Alex Thomson, the Chief Executive of Localis, on the themes his think tank will be raising in Manchester

For the many thousands headed to Manchester in the next few days by plane, train and automobile, two questions are uppermost in their minds – how can I avoid the annual Conference mega- hangover? And what fringe events should I be putting my Conference diary?

Despite the best efforts of science, I’m afraid that there is no failsafe solution to the first question (unless you opt for temporary teetotalism, and where would the fun be in that). But the good news is that I can help with the second question – Localis is hosting four excellent events on Monday and Tuesday, all of which, I would humbly suggest, are well worth a visit.

Firstly we look at the role of the countryside in the economy. With the national (and global) economy teetering on the brink, working out how we can kick-start growth is particularly topical, but discussion often seems to begin and end with the role of cities. Our first event, entitled ‘Beyond the City Limits: Are counties the engine for growth?’, and kindly sponsored by Action for Market Towns, will attempt to redress the balance. This lunchtime panel debate will take place at 12.45pm on Monday in the Rochdale Suite of the Jury’s Inn (click here for a map). A top notch panel is headed by Tony Travers, local government’s very own academic guru, and also includes Andew Lewer, the leader of Derbyshire CC and Mike Jones, the leader of Cheshire West and Chester.

Localism Bill will not allow councils to ban smoking in open spaces

Further to this post about some councils, such as Warrington and Stony Stratford, hoping the Localism Bill will give them the power to ban smoking in parks or streets I have been assured this is not  the case.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill says:

Reports suggesting that the Localism Bill will allow the introduction of smoking bans in public places are wide off the mark. There is nothing in this Bill that provides additional powers to prohibit smoking in open spaces or in private cars.

We are giving councils a general power of competence - this will allow them to do the things that any individual generally could. It will particularly help councils find new ways to work to save money and protect frontline services. But that does not permit the introduction of new regulation on the broader public.

Will "Locality Boards" be expensive talking shops?

John O'Connell, Research Director of the Taxpayers Alliance, is doubtful  if the Locality Boards in Kent will prove effective

In Kent, public sector bodies are working together to map out their public service priorities. They are setting up Locality Boards for each district, where fund holding bodies like the councils, fire chiefs and staff from the Primary Care Trusts – and soon elected police commissioners – work out how best to spend their money properly and eradicate duplication. It sounds like a good idea. They are mostly democratically accountable – albeit not the Locality Board directly itself – and working out the priorities for the county and districts collectively may cut out a lot of crossed-wires and miscommunication. A Locality Board has three 'ambitions': to grow the economy of Kent; to reduce disadvantage; and to empower citizens.

On paper, one can see how this is a decent concept, and localist in nature. What's better than bodies working together to spend money efficiently, in the best interests of the area and saving taxpayers' money?

They don't hold any money of their own, spending within an overarching corporate plan. Money is power – just ask those who have their own care budgets and can decide who the provider is – but a Locality Board doesn't have any. The money still stays with the bodies that are sitting round the table. That could render these meetings as little more than talking shops, with attendant expense claims to boot.

Greg Clark MP: We need a new generation of leaders in local and national government with the courage to face up to our deepest problems

This is an edited extract from the inaugural Bruce-Lockhart Lecture by Greg Clark MP, published this week by Localis. Greg Clark is Minister for Decentralisation and also the Coalition's new Minister for Cities. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregclarkmp.

Winning the peace

Last year saw the formation of the first new coalition government for seventy years. As we look ahead to the next election what are the lessons we can learn from the previous coalition – the wartime government of 1940 to 1945?

Of course, there can be no exact parallels with the Second World War. No challenge we face today matches those faced by Churchill’s administration. But what we can say is that Britain faces its greatest fiscal crisis since the war; and that while our struggle is not for national survival, it is at least for national solvency, which in peacetime is about as serious as it gets.