NEW LOCALISM

New localism
New localism is a concept associated with Tony Blair's Labour government in the United Kingdom. It is intended to indicate a cautious devolution of power to the local level in an attempt to better implement national goals.

New localism and 'old localism'New localism is therefore characterised by a cautious devolution of power to the local level in an attempt to better implement national goals.

It emphasises the devolution of managerial over political power - the aim is generally to allow local managers to meet national priorities more effectively, rather than to allow local politicians to derogate from national goals.

New localism differs from the implicit 'old localism' in two important senses. First, it accepts the role of central government in driving change at the local level, something that the localists of the 1980s strongly resisted. Second, it does not centre on the role of the local authority, but takes a wider view of the locality that includes communities and other public service organisations such as health and police services.

New localism in practiceNew localism has been most strongly advocated by the New Local Government Network think tank. Nick Raynsford, the local government minister from 2001-2005, used his tenure to launch a process called Local:Vision, which aimed at creating a 10-year strategy for local government policy and took a distinctively new localist perspective.

Key new localist policies include:Foundation hospitals - the granting of more autonomy to NHS hospital trusts that score the highest marks in their inspections, including freedom to borrow money on the markets and adjust staff pay levels. The foundation trusts must create an elected board including representatives from the local community to oversee their work.

Freedoms for local government - Labour has granted a number of new freedoms to councils, including the right to freely borrow capital on the financial markets and a general reduction in the number of plans that must be submitted for central government approval. Further freedoms are promised to those councils that score the top 'excellent' grade in the key Comprehensive Performance Assessment inspection process. These include freedom from council tax capping and a three year holiday from inspection. The local government community has complained that these freedoms are not always granted in practice.

Neighbourhoods - Labour has shown a growing interest in creating new forms of more direct neighbourhood governance in the hope of improving the responsiveness of public services and engaging local people in both local democracy and the delivery of their own services through service level contracts and co-production. The policy is in its infancy, but is being pursued enthusiastically by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Education reform - it might also be argued that the government's policy of transferring power to school headteachers from local education authorities represent a new localist approach to devolving beyond the council to local communities.

New localismNew localism is a concept associated with Tony Blair's Labour government in the United Kingdom. It is intended to indicate a cautious devolution of power to the local level in an attempt to better implement national goals.

[edit] New localism and 'old localism'

New localism is therefore characterised by a cautious devolution of power to the local level in an attempt to better implement national goals.

It emphasises the devolution of managerial over political power - the aim is generally to allow local managers to meet national priorities more effectively, rather than to allow local politicians to derogate from national goals.

New localism differs from the implicit 'old localism' in two important senses. First, it accepts the role of central government in driving change at the local level, something that the localists of the 1980s strongly resisted. Second, it does not centre on the role of the local authority, but takes a wider view of the locality that includes communities and other public service organisations such as health and police services.

[edit]New localism in practice

New localism has been most strongly advocated by the New Local Government Network think tank. Nick Raynsford, the local government minister from 2001-2005, used his tenure to launch a process called Local:Vision, which aimed at creating a 10-year strategy for local government policy and took a distinctively new localist perspective.

Key new localist policies include:

Foundation hospitals - the granting of more autonomy to NHS hospital trusts that score the highest marks in their inspections, including freedom to borrow money on the markets and adjust staff pay levels. The foundation trusts must create an elected board including representatives from the local community to oversee their work.

Freedoms for local government - Labour has granted a number of new freedoms to councils, including the right to freely borrow capital on the financial markets and a general reduction in the number of plans that must be submitted for central government approval. Further freedoms are promised to those councils that score the top 'excellent' grade in the key Comprehensive Performance Assessment inspection process. These include freedom from council tax capping and a three year holiday from inspection. The local government community has complained that these freedoms are not always granted in practice.

Neighbourhoods - Labour has shown a growing interest in creating new forms of more direct neighbourhood governance in the hope of improving the responsiveness of public services and engaging local people in both local democracy and the delivery of their own services through service level contracts and co-production. The policy is in its infancy, but is being pursued enthusiastically by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Education reform - it might also be argued that the government's policy of transferring power to school headteachers from local education authorities represent a new localist approach to devolving beyond the council to local communities.