In the run in to local council elections, the CP is to stand candidates, issue a new pamphlet and a book on the State and Local Government, writes Dr Peter Latham. The Local Government Association Labour Group’s timid manifesto Putting fairness first[PFF] published in October 2009 states that: ‘By the time we won in 1997 Labour was in an unprecedently strong position in local government, with record numbers of councillors and record numbers of councils enjoying Labour control.’  However, PFF fails to acknowledge that the situation is now completely reversed due to New Labour’s neoliberal policies. That is, New Labour’s 22 per cent share of the vote in the June 2009 local elections was the lowest ever recorded for either of the two main parties. Only 21 per cent of all the councillors in England, Scotland and Wales are now Labour whereas 46 per cent are Tory and 20 per cent are Liberal Democrat. New Labour only controls 10 per cent of all councils whereas the Tories control 56 per cent and the Liberal Democrats nine per cent. The latter omission, moreover, is compounded by PFF’s failure to discuss the privatisation of local government services and uncritical support for the Total Place ‘more for less’ strategy, which it states could save ‘billions of pounds’ and ‘radically recast local public services’.

In June 2009 Tory controlled Essex County Council indicated that IBM was their preferred partner to run ‘any or all’ of its services for a period of eight to 12 years at a total cost of £5.4 billion (UNISON Essex County Branch, 23 June 2009). Then in August 2009 ECC proposed that councils be given powers to set eligibility criteria and payment rates for income support, jobseeker’s allowance and employment support allowance (The Sunday Times, 9 August 2009). This would lead to a United States-style welfare system with deeply entrenched poverty in the areas paying lower rates; the loss of economies of scale; and struggles similar to those in twentieth century inter-war Britain under the Poor Law.

The London Borough of Barnet in October 2008 lost £27.4 million when the Icelandic banks collapsed - 25 per cent more than its £22 million reserves. On the 21 October 2009, Barnet’s Cabinet approved its Future Shape strategy to shrink the council to a ‘strategic hub’ that will commission services from a joint venture vehicle. The national significance of Barnet’s approach is that a leading Conservative council is using the business model of budget airlines to inspire a radical reform of public service provision, which is being seen as a blueprint for Tory government. Barnet's leader Cllr Mike Freer said the plans will allow the council to make savings of up to £25 million a year (LocalGov.co.uk, 22 October 2009).

Leaders of Tory local government - who are even more explicit about cuts than David Cameron - are preparing radical proposals for a minimum 10 per cent cut in spending. Council officers think the drop is likely to be 10-15 per cent and are making contingency plans for a decrease of 30 per cent. This could means cuts of 40 per cent for some services because of the need to protect others. Hence, as Professor Tony Travers at the London School of Economics states: ‘It is a very daunting picture. Services will certainly fall in real terms and it is a situation which will continue for at least seven or eight years’ (The Sunday Times, 9 August 2009).

*This article is the first of a regular series on local government in the run up to the local elections. My pamphlet entitled Local Democracy versus ‘Local Governance’ is to be published by the Communist Party’s Economic Committee in January 2010. The methodological and theoretical assumptions on which this pamphlet is based are discussed in my recent three part article in Communist Review (see Number 53, 54 and 55). Manifesto Press will also publish my book on The State and Local Government in 2010.