Local governance under the Conservatives: super-austerity, devolution and the ‘smarter state’

Question

1. What are the contributions in this paper?

2. What are the future works in this paper?

3. What is the role of mayors in the UK?

4. What is the risk of economic development?

Accepted Answer

Hammond et al. this paper argued that the emerging political agenda shows a new assertiveness in relation to restructuring the local state in contrast to the laissez faire approach of the previous Coalition government.

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The promise of future powers, linked to performance against centrally agreed targets, may serve to rehabilitate the phenomenon of ‘ earned autonomy ’ established under New Labour ( Lowndes, 2002 ).. At the same time, the sector could be further fragmented by a differentiated patchwork of governance and service delivery accountabilities.. There is a danger that local elites ( from business and civic life as well as local government ) are turning like moths towards the bright light of devolution, and away from the ‘ too hard ’ box of delivering day-to-day local services, as the compound and escalating effects of a further round of austerity start to hit.. Local authorities have enabled their in-house services to take in business from the private sector ( vehicle maintenance in municipal bus garages, for instance ), whilst also developing their investment role in local infrastructure ( like new city tramlines ), their potential as commissioners or providers of lower-cost utilities ( notably energy and broadband ), and even their scope for bypassing banks through support to peerto-peer lending schemes.

Accepted Answer

The installation of mayors also challenges long-standing party dominance and, with it, a crucial power base for Labour (especially after Labour’s decimation in post-referendum Scotland).

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the risk is that economic development develops a privileged status (in terms of access to funds and policy influence) to the disadvantage of other local services including social care, housing, culture and leisure.

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Among economists, Joseph Stieglitz, Paul Krugman and Thomas Piketty have all been vocal opponents of austerity as a response to the international sovereign debt crisis.

Accepted Answer

Even where devolution is occurring, for example in the initiative to localise business rates, the ability to raise the rate (by a centrally-defined limit of 2%) will be dependent on the appointment of a directly elected mayor.

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Some local authorities are now ‘in-sourcing’ (bringing services back in-house) to reduce inflexibilities and cost pressures associated with contracting (NAO, 2014b p.23) and a number of commentators have warned of ‘limits to resilience’ (Fitzgerald & Lupton, 2015 p.582).

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Given that local government experienced the most extensive spending reductions under the Coalition, the new cuts are leading to strong cumulative effects.

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There is a danger that hurried agreements are being negotiated by ‘austerian realists’, to use Jonathan Davies’ term (2016), in an attempt to offset spending cuts.

Accepted Answer

Decentralising moves from central to sub-regional government can also be seen as centralising movements from local government (including districts, counties and city unitaries) to the sub-regional level.

Accepted Answer

The paper starts with a consideration of the Conservative government’s spending plans and goes on to analyse the devolution and smarter state agendas.

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Cameron (2015b) goes on to argue, in his speech to the post-election party conference, that the country ‘doesn’t just need a stronger economy – it needs a stronger society’.

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Further cuts can only be made through what the National Audit Office calls ‘untested service transformation programmes’ (NAO, 2014b p.10), but declining professional capacity, and reducing financial reserves, puts at risk future innovation to plug budget gaps.

Accepted Answer

Officers and local politicians may be pragmatically addressing the challenges of austerity (delivering both efficiencies and innovative local reforms), knowing that their legal and financial room for manoeuvre is minimal, but seeking to expand their capacity for agency by any available means.

Accepted Answer

At first, the process of creating combined authorities was relatively rigorous and slowmoving, involving the following stages: a governance review; a requirement to publish a ‘scheme’ for the authority attracting the consent of all participating authorities; and a consultation by the Secretary of State to ensure that the arrangements would be both efficient and in the interests of communities.

Accepted Answer

negotiations on devolution deals are being completed by elites, in conditions of secrecy, with little or no public consultation.

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Proposals for combined authorities have (to date) mapped on to Local Enterprise Partnership boundaries, which are business not community led and reflect ‘functional economic areas’ (DCLG, 2015) over other understandings of local identity and interests.

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The Coalition government of 2010-2015 undertook a radical programme of public spending cuts, representing the most significant reorganisation of public spending since the second world war (Taylor-Gooby, 2012).

Accepted Answer

This pattern is set to persist under the Conservative government, including a projected rise of £10bn a year (in real terms) in health spending to 2020.

Local governance under the Conservatives: super-austerity, devolution and the ‘smarter state’

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Most frequently asked questions

1. What are the contributions in this paper?

2. What are the future works in this paper?

3. What is the role of mayors in the UK?

4. What is the risk of economic development?

5. Who has been vocal opponents of austerity?

6. What is the role of the mayor in the devolution process?

7. What are the main reasons why local authorities are in-sourcing?

8. What is the effect of the cuts on local government?

9. What is the danger of hurried agreements being negotiated?

10. What is the definition of a decentralising move?

11. What is the main theme of the paper?

12. What is the main argument of Cameron’s speech to the post-election party conference?

13. What is the definition of ‘untested service transformation programmes’?

14. What is the role of the local authorities in tackling the challenges of austerity?

15. What was the first step in the process of creating a combined authority?

16. What is the problem with negotiations on devolution deals?

17. What are the boundaries of the combined authorities?

18. What is the significant reorganisation of public spending since the second world war?

19. What is the pattern of spending cuts under the Conservative government?

Citations

Copyright Page

‘Councillors at the casino’

Local government financial strategies amidst austerity, centralization, and risk

Participatory energy futures as decision support on subnational scales

Local authority austerity and place-based working: a qualitative exploration of a pilot policy implementation in a market town

References

Austerity urbanism: American cities under extreme economy

Local Governance under the Coalition Government: Austerity, Localism and the ‘Big Society’

Local Autonomy, Local Democracy and the ‘New Localism’

The alchemy of austerity

The Coalition Programme: A New Vision for Britain or Politics as Usual?

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