LOCALISM BILL NOT SO LOCAL

LOCALISM BILL NOT SO LOCAL

Now we have the detail of the Localism Bill, many will ask was it worth the wait?

Much of the Bill is based on the premise that it will serve the interests of local people and where it builds on Labour’s reforms of local government, we will support it. But the truth is, much of it will do little to decentralise power to communities or improve the vital services on which people rely. In fact, the Bill allows the Secretary of State to take numerous powers for himself.

There are also questions about whether the interests of the whole community will be served, rather than a vocal minority of the most powerful.

Plans to give greater freedom to councils and communities ring hollow when at the same time the coalition is making unprecedented cuts to local government budgets. The Localism Bill is supposed to enhance the role of democratic local government, but I worry that the funding cuts will actually diminish its role. Little wonder then that the Bill contains a clause repealing the duty to promote democracy.

Eric Pickles claims the Localism Bill will give people a greater say over the neighbourhoods in which they live. But my concern is it could end up giving more power to the most vocal at the expense of everyone else. Many people for various reasons, from lack of time to lack of experience don’t involve themselves in local decision making. We must therefore resist the Bill becoming a NIMBY's charter by default.

But given the actions and statements of Eric Pickles and his ministerial team, one could be forgiven for thinking that was actually their intention. Indeed, Mr Pickles was so desperate to abolish regional housing targets that he acted unlawfully in prematurely scrapping regional housing plans last July. He must know that in many areas, removing housing targets will effectively act as a veto on desperately needed new housing developments.

This isn’t Labour scaremongering – according to YouGov, support for new housing in people's immediate vicinity is falling, and with half the population antagonistic to new housing, many good schemes will be rejected. Yet the need for new homes is critical and the economic impact of a new house building programme is huge. But the Localism Bill means the prospects for the 4.5 million people on housing waiting lists and the millions living in overcrowded circumstances are bleak. The Government’s ‘New Homes Bonus’, ‘Community Infrastructure Levy’ and ‘Community Right to Build’ schemes will do little to redress the balance.

Behind the rhetoric, the reality is the Localism Bill could actually undermine the viability of local communities by giving a disproportionate influence to those with a vested interest in resisting change. The mechanisms to address the needs of the powerless and disenfranchised are being swept away and the proposed alternatives fall short in comparison. My fear is the ability to take a wider strategic view is being superseded by what could become a tyranny of the now!

Eric Pickles says he wants “...every community to share in the benefits of economic growth”, but he is dismantling many of the tools communities already have to do just that.