1. Central : Local Relations in 2011
• Economic Geography & Local Enterprise Partnerships
• The Localism Bill
Kevin Richardson
www.slideshare.net/30088

2. Economic Geography:
Localism or Renationalisation?
• ‘Rebalancing’ of economy (by sector, public / private and local place)
• Abolition of RDAs, Integrated Regional Strategies, Regional Funding
Allocations, Business Link, Primary Care Trusts, Audit Commission,
Regional Tourism, Government Offices
• New Forms of local finance: New Homes Bonus, Business Rates Bonus,
Local Government Finance Review and ‘free’ councils, Tax Increment
Financing & Enterprise Zones
• But effective renationalisation of: Single Programme to (national) Regional
Growth Fund, venture capital, (e.g. Jeremie), business support, tourism,
inward investment, international trade, technology & sector policy, transport
investments, employment programmes, EU funding etc
• Local Enterprise Partnerships

5. LEPS: An early critique
• Assessed by the centre against which criteria?
• ‘Functional economic areas’ or numerical /
administrative simplicity?
• Economic growth or sustainable development?
• Doing or thinking? Making difficult strategic choices?
• Accountable? To whom? Managing probity? FOI?
• Maintaining interest with no dedicated money, powers,
functions, or hard status

7. “So I can announce today that we are
taking on the enemies of enterprise.
The bureaucrats in government
departments who concoct those
ridiculous rules and regulations that
make life impossible, particularly for
small firms.
The town hall officials who take forever
with those planning decisions that can
be make or break for a business - and
the investment and jobs that go with it.
The public sector procurement
managers who think that the answer to
everything is a big contract with a big
business and who shut out millions of
Britain's small and medium sized
companies from a massive potential
market”

8. Localism Bill
• General Power of Competence ‘so that (Councils) may do anything that
an individual generally may do, other than that which is specifically
prohibited’
• Abolition of Standards Board
• Localisation of (90% of) Council Tax Benefit
• Directly (imposed) Elected Mayors
• Local (non binding) referendums
• Neighbourhood Planning
• Community Assets
• Community Right to Challenge

9. Localism Bill: An early critique
•Financial cuts as driver but not the primary objective
•Most proposals well trailored over recent months. Forthcoming further
legislation / guidance needed to complete picture e.g. Modernising
Commissioning.
•Setting councils free? Cutting red tape? Over 140 proposals for new
regulations, order making powers, duties, statutory guidance and
requirements on local authorities.
•Continuation / escalation of longer term bipartisan broad trend; CCT, Best
Value, Elected Mayors, Double Devolution, duty to cooperate, financial
reform, supplementary business rates, Community Infrastructure Levy, Lyons
Review, Participatory Democracy, end of regionalism, Total Place etc
•Bill going through Committee Stage very quickly.
•Scale & scope of short run impacts probably highly dependent upon place
(N/S, rich/poor etc) and existence of single controversial issues
•More fundamental challenges for local authorities in the medium / longer term

10. Ongoing Challenges (Local / Sub National)
• Councils as enablers or direct actors? Active or passive support / opposition?
• How to develop sufficient social / cultural capital in all parts of the city and across
communities identity / interest. Ensuring Neighbourhood Plans are not just about
land use
• Dealing with huge cuts / Big Society / privatisation.
• Dealing directly with central government – with far fewer intermediaries. As seen
from the centre – (variably) risk averse local government; of limited & reduced
capacity, leverage, freedoms and leadership(?)
• From grants to transfer of risked based investment e.g. Tax Increment Financing?
• From fuzzy boundaries of city-regions to confused boundaries; what relationships
between Elected Mayors, LEPs, Police Commissioners, Transport Authorities,
GP Commissioning Consortia, Work Programme, EU Programmes – each with a
different boundary. In absence of sub national spatial strategies, what future for
cross boundary working e.g. housing, transport etc?
• Dealing with the inevitable spatial implications of (national) space neutral sector
policies. Will the private sector save us?

11. Ongoing Challenges (National)
• Monetary policy: by definition global/ (inter) national; and effectively suspended
• Fiscal policy historically severe: no spatial element and/or Keynesian interventionism
• Unresolved reconciliation of (neo-liberal) supply side ‘people’ & firm economics with
economic importance and political transparency of ‘place’ economics
• Investing in places of growth and opportunity; or in places of need regardless of
opportunity; in places where people want growth or where growth is not wanted?
Jobs to people? Or people to jobs?
• Much local delivery through agents of national government (universities, colleges,
highways, Job Centre Plus, Skills Funding Agency etc) all driven by central
demands; lacking legitimacy to make difficult spatial decisions
• Departmentalism: what real traction from depleted departments of central
government; of CLG compared to HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, DWP.
• Anyway around TUPE? EU Procurement Regulations etc?
• Who is responsible / accountable for the next ‘Baby P’?