We’ve come to the end of the road in terms of Britain’s tendency to centralise power. Devolution has already transformed the political landscape, while in England many of the big trends of the next few decades, from climate change to ageing, are likely to make people more engaged in their local communities.
The time is ripe for power to be passed from national government to local authorities and from local councils down to neighbourhoods. For democracy to remain alive and relevant it needs to start with directly elected neighbourhood councils, a modernised version of existing parish councils, which should be responsible for local issues such as public spaces. We then need to empower local government itself. There can be no quick fix here. Not surprisingly, fewer voters can be bothered to vote for disempowered councils and fewer of the most able want to stand for local office. But if councils steadily regain the power to make real decisions, they will also attract more (and better) people to stand for office.
The cynics doubt that Whitehall will ever devolve. Why would any elected government give away the power it has fought so hard to win? But many other countries have devolved power, and sometimes tides of opinion push aside vested interests. There is still time for Gordon Brown to make this a defining theme for his administration. He’s spoken of the need for a new constitutional settlement, while David Cameron is on the record with plans to give local councils more freedom to raise and spend money – one aspect of his growing confidence in combining canny gesture politics with serious policy-making that’s covered in Irwin Stelzer’s assessment of Cameron’s time as leader.
Also tackling the localism theme, David Allaby, Editor of Public Servant, considers why only a third of councils currently share back-office functions and Professor Michael Parkinson reports on what modern cities must do to meet the needs of growing populations. Focusing on other topics, Chris Ham writes about what the NHS needs to do to make the leap from good to great, while the Director of the Serco Institute, Gary Sturgess, reveals the positive impact of competition on performance. I hope that you enjoy the issue.
Geoff Mulgan | Guest Editor
