GOVERNMENTS SHOULD LEARN TO DELEGATE PROPERLY.

All modern governments thrive on reorganisations of just about every public service that exists and the current one is no different. Local Government, the NHS, the welfare system, education and so on are all being turned upside down in a supposed search for efficiency, economy, better outcomes etc, etc. Sadly, none of the changes are likely to achieve anything of lasting value and the next lot, whoever they are, will undoubtedly change everything again, all at the cost of us, the taxpayers of the country.

 

One of the great wheezes used by governments as they try to convince us that their latest scheme will actually work, where the failed schemes of their predecessors didn't, is to establish arms-lengths and supposedly autonomous bodies which take over the responsibility for implementing the latest government policies. Of course, these organisations are actually tied hand-and-foot by their political masters, having their every action determined by central dictat.

 

'Local Enterprise Partnerships' (LEPs), whatever they are, recently caught my eye when reading an accountancy magazine. There are, apparently, 39 of these spread around the country and they are a creation of the curent mob in Westminster. They are "intended to help councils and local businesses work together to stimulate growth across an area", or so it says in my magazine. They are supposed to develop plans for submission to the Treasury; the Treasury is then supposed to assess the plans and decide how much of a central pot of cash to award on the basis of the relative 'quality' of the plans. Unsurprisingly, many in the world of local government are unhappy with the idea of money being allocated on such a basis and simply want to be given a 'wodge' based on population numbers.

 

Why we need these LEPS at all is my first question; if they are any good, why should they have to submit their plans to the Treasury  for approval is my second. Aren't local councils and businesses good and professional enough to know what is right for their areas ? Can't they make such decisions for themselves ? What would be wrong with a 'first come, first served' basis of allocation with subsequent penalties for any council or LEP which is shown to have wasted their funds on poor or worthless schemes ? Why does central government need to be so involved in essentially local matters ?

 

Whenever governments talk about 'regionalism' or 'localism' or, in the case of the EU, 'subsidiarity', you can be sure that this is no more than meaningless rhetoric. The power and purse strings remain held firmly at the centre; perhaps, if they learnt to delegate properly, things would be better, but there's faint hope of that ever happening.