“IT’S local government Jim, but not as we know it.” There you go, Professor Gerry Stoker, someone has said it.

Stoker, an academic and a trustee of the New Local Government Network think-tank, wants to see local government radically reformed, reports The MJ (March 10). He believes that the current system should be replaced with a mixture of super-sized and neighbourhood councils that raises all its own funds and has no responsibility for education or social services. Libraries, health centres and housing would also leave local government’s grip. In the future, councils would focus on transport, street cleaning, the environment and community safety. They would also retain a scrutiny role with respect to education and social services.

Stoker’s pamphlet, What is local government for?, says that most people see local government as dull but worthy. He argues that the concept of community leadership, while partially endorsed by the Government, hasn’t been given a chance. The answer for England, he believes, is greater devolution in a form that suits its circumstances.

And if local government is going to answer the devolution question, its role needs to be fully re-thought: “If people are going to believe in the idea of power being devolved to their communities, they need to be offered something fundamentally different.” This is where Stoker’s wish for spontaneous mangled quotations of Star Trek comes into it.

Stoker’s other proposals for the local governments of our Lycra-clad future include returning business rates to council control and allowing councils to raise funds on the capital markets. Local taxes, such as congestion charging and a bed tax or meal tax in tourist areas, should be considered.

In the short term, extra joint bodies could be estab- lished to bring existing councils together at a strategic level, he says. “In the long run, a full-scale reorganisation could be attempted.”

www.nlgn.org.uk

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