Working Group Remit
The Liberal Democrats are committed to a democratic and devolved political system where decisions are made at the lowest appropriate level. We believe that not only is it better for decisions to be made locally, but that better decisions are made locally. Every community is different with different problems, priorities and solutions and so centrally imposed ‘one size fits all’ measures not only reduce the autonomy of a community but will often fail to achieve the hoped for outcome.
The last local government policy paper was, The Power to be Different which was approved at autumn 2007 Party Conference and which focused on government structures. This new working group has the task of setting out the broad principles for the party’s commitment to devolution and articulating the benefits of devolution for citizens and service users. This paper should not assume that these benefits are self-evident but should seek to explain them, making use of best practice examples from Liberal Democrat controlled local authorities.
With trust in politics, and politicians, at extremely low ebb, this working group should see its aim as reconnecting people with politics and with their local services, seeking to rebuild faith in politics through a reinvigoration at the grassroots of local politics. In all its work this group should take into account the overall political direction set out in Make it Happen. All political parties have now begun to talk about reversing the centralisation of government in England, but neither the Labour government nor the Conservatives have spelled out how they would put this into practice. This group aims to develop and set out the principles Liberal Democrats would following in decentralising public services and reviving local autonomy and accountability.
The specific issues the group will cover include:
Principles of devolution from Westminster and the regions
• How to create a Liberal Democrat vision of localism
• How to create the benefits of localism for citizens and service users
Devolution beyond local authorities
• How Liberal Democrat councils are devolving funding and decision-making to local areas
• How to ensure that devolution to local communities remains representative of that community
Improving service provision
• How to measure value for money in terms of the service user
• How to build responsive local services
The working group should seek to outline the principles that Liberal Democrats should follow in determining how delivery, accountability and resources should be devolved from national and regional bodies, including currently unelected bodies, to local authorities and the communities they serve. It will consider the implications that these principles may have for local structures of government. It is not expected that these principles will have uniform implications for all areas of England and the group should avoid imposing a single solution for local, sub-regional and regional government in England. However, it will set out a clear process which empowers local people to determine at which level and scope of local government key decisions will be made.
The group will report to the autumn 2010 Party Conference in the form of an England only policy paper of no more than 10,000 words.
The group will take evidence and consult widely both inside and outside the party. A short consultation paper will be produced early in the group’s work to use in web-based consultation. The group will have to produce a draft policy paper for FPC consideration in June 2010.