Government accused of using local councils as ‘scapegoat’ in plea to new PM

The council leader argued that “the people of Fenland should have as much of a voice in change as the people of Makerfield”

Fenland District Council has accused the government of using local councils as a “scapegoat” for failing to deliver on their housing target. Council leader Chris Boden brought forward a motion asking the government to change course on three “particularly egregious” decisions.

He said: “We are all told that we’re about to have a significant change in leadership in the country and we’re about to have a new prime minister. A person who is all things to all men and all women it appears and who is going to solve many of the problems which we have in this country.

“We all look forward to that being successful but when that actually conflicts against the need to make hard decisions I fear that some people may be disappointed.” Cllr Boden said the leadership of Andy Burnham, widely expected to become prime minister on Monday (July 20), could be a “new start” for the government.

He asked the former Manchester mayor to stop local government reorganisation in its current form, reverse the decision to take some planning decisions away from local councils, and reconsider abolishing care partnerships between the NHS and local authorities.

The Conservative councillor said 80 per cent of local government finances go to county council responsibilities such as social services and SEND provision. He said Cambridgeshire County Council is able to achieve “a lot of efficiencies” through “economies of scale” and abolishing the higher-level council makes “no economic sense” and “no democratic sense”.

Cllr Boden said delegating planning decisions to council officers “removes the democratic accountability that is required as part of the planning process”.

He said: “I believe the government is looking to local government as a scapegoat for its own failure to build the 1.5 million houses they said they would in this Parliament. The problem doesn’t lie with local authorities – the problem overwhelmingly lies with developers and the way in which they do business.”

Cllr Dr Haq Nawaz said: “The government appears to have a severe linguistic or conceptual difficulty with the word devolution. Devolution to most people is the transfer of power, of funding, of decision making and of governance from central government to local communities.

“And that the communities are best placed to make decisions tailor-made to their needs in health, education or social services because they know what they need.”

The Conservative councillor said Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) proposals would reduce the number of councillors and wards in Fenland making communication “more difficult”.

He said: “This, chairman, I believe is a missed golden opportunity – an opportunity to address the issues of Fenland, an opportunity to level up Fenland. Fenland is currently 80th most deprived of the 317 local authority districts – the bottom 25%.

“Fenland as it exists should be given more powers to address their particular issues than be drowned into a much bigger authority.”

Cllr Matthew Summers said: “It won’t surprise Cllr Boden that I don’t think this is the right thing to do.” The independent councillor continued: “Mr Burnham, let’s assume he does become Prime Minister – I don’t think this is going to be high on his agenda if I’m honest.

“I think we should spend our time focusing on what we can do to make the best of the situation. The tone just feels a little bit, almost desperate, to try and stop the freight train if you like.”

Cllr Steve Tierney said: “I’d rather try and stop it than just ignore it – if a freight train is coming for your constituents you should try to stop it.”

The Conservative councillor continued: “What we are about to face is the most destructive thing that’s happened to local government in 50 years. It’s going to lead to a much worse, much more expensive, much slower and much less responsive council in every place it’s done. That’s because bigger councils are more remote and less responsive, and that’s just fact.”

Cllr Boden said: “We’re promised there’s going to be change and it is entirely appropriate that the people of Fenland have as much of a voice in that change as the people of Makerfield.”

The council voted to support the motion with 28 votes in favour, five against, and two abstentions.