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Daily Archives: 5 Oct 2015
The (huge, extra) cost of one party councils
A report from the Electoral Commission states:
Study shows ‘one-party councils’ could be wasting £2.6bn a year in lost procurement savings
University of Cambridge research analyses 132,000 public procurement contracts between 2009 and 2013 to identify ‘red flags’ for corruption
One-party councils have on average 50% higher ‘risk of corruption’ than politically competitive councils
First report to use ‘Big Data’ to look at the financial dangers of single-party authorities
Click to access THE%20COST%20OF%20ONE-PARTY%20COUNCILS.pdf
The lead researcher reports:
“Fazekas said: “The persistence of uncontested seats and one-party dominated councils at the local level is a cause for concern across England in terms of quality of public services, value for money, and government responsiveness to citizen needs. One particular high-risk area is the integrity of government contracting when controls of corruption are weak.
“In modern democracies, one of the main pillars of good government and control of corruption is elections and electoral accountability. The change of political leadership or the risk of such change is expected to discipline holders of political power to use it for the public good rather than their own private benefit.”
And ERS chief executive, Katie Ghose, said: “It’s not true of all one-party councils, but it’s bound to be true of some – and this new research suggests that lack of scrutiny could be costing us dear.
“The fact that taxpayers in England could be losing out on £2.6bn a year in potential savings is a damning indictment of an electoral system that gives huge artificial majorities to parties and undermines scrutiny. This kind of waste would be unjustifiable at the best of times, let alone during a period of austerity.
“The risk of corruption at the local level should set off alarm bells in Whitehall. The public are getting a poor deal through our voting system.”
Josiah Mortimer, communications officer at the ERS, said that a fairer and more proportional electoral system – “such as the one used in Scotland for local elections” – would make one-party councils “a thing of the past”.
The problem is, of course, that one-party councils keep much secret because they are afraid that if we knew what is really going on, they would lose power. Holding on to power (and the inherent or perceived or real risk of corruption is seemingly much more important than governing ethically.
We wonder how many majority party councillors prefer silence about corruption to whistleblowing – too many we suspect.
We also have to question the role of the police in council corruption issues – where often they seem to lack the desire, the will and/ or the resources to make investigations – perhaps wary of covering up their own inadequacies in this area and the disruption of cosy cross- interest relationships which keep the wheels of power oiled.
Osborne to allow local councils to keep £26bn raised from business rates
Just watch that Business Rate Relief disappear for small, struggling businesses once the money doesn’t go to central government!
Ah, but wait: they can only raise them by a maximum of 2p in the pound and the view is that many councils will engage in a “race to the bottom” to attract new businesses.
Rather a dilemma there, then! And much worry about the north/south divide where, currently, richer councils with high value ratings subsidise poorer councils.
Chameleon Lord Adonis and his East Devon counterparts
The Labour peer, appointed by the Conservative Party to lead a new infrastructure commission, will now sit as an Independent in the House of Lords after having been a Social Democrat councillor and Liberal Democrat election candidate before joining Labour.
Reminds me of one or two people in East Devon … REAL independents start that way and end that way and as a result are not trusted with majority party committee Chairmanships where a rogue vote could change policy nor are they admitted into their inner sanctums …
Osborne to cut planning rules yet again
“… Mr Osborne will today ‘sweep away’ planning rules on so-called ‘brownfield’ sites that have been developed before. A source said ripping up the rules would ‘increase the supply of homes for sale’.
The Chancellor will also announce an extra £5 billion for infrastructure spending from the proceeds of government asset sales. Mr Osborne is privately furious with the attitude of some local authorities who have frustrated progress on major infrastructure projects for years. Critics point to the example of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 which took almost 20 years to get off the drawing board.
He will tell activists: ‘Where would Britain be if we had never built railways or runways, power stations or new homes? Where will we be in the future if we stop building them now? …
… “The move will revive grassroots Tory fears that the Chancellor is plotting a fresh assault on the planning system, just three years after a bitter battle with the National Trust and other campaigners. The new National Planning Policy Framework was meant to be the final word on reform when it was introduced in 2012, but ministers have been dismayed by continuing delays in the system.
The Chancellor has said previously that Britain’s Green Belt will be protected in the push for new housing and infrastructure.
But new figures revealed last week that almost 5,000 acres of Green Belt land were lost to the bulldozer last year – the largest amount for five years. The Campaign to Protect Rural England described the figures as ‘the tip of the iceberg’.
In a separate warning, the National Trust said much of the country’s most beautiful scenery was threatened by inappropriate development, as planning rules were not being applied properly.” …
Extended right-to-buy will harm rural communities say CPRE and housing associations
Organisations across the South West are today urging the Government to protect affordable homes in rural areas from new plans that would worsen the countryside ‘housing crisis’.
They say extending the right-to-buy to cover social housing will hit the countryside disproportionately hard.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the County Land and Business Association (CLA) and the National Parks Association are among those calling for a complete exemption for countryside areas.
“We are very concerned that the stock of affordable housing, built up over many years, will be lost,” said Dr Nigel Stone chief executive of Exmoor National Park Authority.
The policy looks set to be implemented voluntarily by housing associations under a proposal put forward by the National Housing Federation.
The plan would mean that there would be a presumption in favour of sale in most circumstances but housing associations would retain some discretion.
But the rural groups have now called for a total exemption for countryside areas.
The organisations, also including the Hastoe Housing Group, National Association of Local Councils, Action with Communities in Rural England, and the Rural Services Network, said a “portable discount” offered to tenants would not help rural areas.
They also warned landowners would be reluctant to offer land for social housing if there are no guarantees it will remain affordable and not be sold on within a few years. The groups said that 8% of rural housing was classed as affordable, compared with 20% in towns and cities.
Without a comprehensive rural exemption, this measure will make it harder to sustain mixed communities and local services such as shops and pubs, they said. …”
Taxpayers Alliance: Cut pensioners benefits – “many will be dead or have forgotten who did it by the next election”
Ministers should waste no time to make unpopular cuts to pensioner benefits, a think tank director has said.
Many of those hit by a cut to the winter fuel allowance might “not be around” at the next election, said Alex Wild of the Taxpayers’ Alliance.
And others would forget which party had done it, he added.
At the group’s meeting at the Conservative conference in Manchester, former defence secretary Liam Fox said spending cuts must be “for keeps”.
Mr Wild said the Tories could not wait until a year before the next election to make the necessary cuts to the winter fuel allowance, free bus passes, the Christmas bonus and other pensioner benefits.
East Devon Watch 