New models for local government are lacking (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

New models for local government are lacking

10:06am Thursday 24th September 2009 in Waltham Forest

The government is forcing our council to choose between two new models of organising in order to provide ‘strong, visible leadership’.

But the white paper on which this is based says it wants to give citizens and communities a bigger say and to reduce the amount of top-down control from central government.

What arrogance! Do they not see the contradiction?

If the Government really wanted to give communities more power, they would be giving local authorities greater powers to raise their own income and changing the electoral system for local government so that the results of elections better reflected how people actually vote (as they have in Scotland). But there is no mention of these things in the white paper.

The council should tell the Government that its limited options are not enough and it should come back when it has proposals that will really offer a fundamental improvement in the status of local government.

Steve Lambert,

Waltham Forest & Redbridge Green Party.