CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONFERENCE: Local government needs to stop asking for hand-outs and show what it can do, according to Westminster council leader Nickie Aiken and Bristol mayor Marvin Rees.
The pair were speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Conference looking at the role of local authorities.
Aiken said that local authorities needed to stop asking for more money – which would not be forthcoming with government cuts – and show what they can do.
“Let’s stop asking what central government can do. Why don’t we ask what we can do?” she said.
“Why don’t we ask the people we represent what they want to do and how they want to resolve issues. Central government does not have all the answers.”
Rees says he wants people to come to him with proactive ideas.
The relationship we should be offering is one of partnership. We should be offering collective responsibility for a place
“Come and tell me what you are offering for the city, and tell me what you need to deliver that,” he said.
“The relationship we should be offering is one of partnership. We should be offering collective responsibility for a place.”
Aiken said that devolution needed to continue.
“That’s why we have Brexit and Trump, because people don’t think that have any ownership of the issues.
“There is an opportunity for local authorities to generate confidence, trust and flexibility. They know what they are doing because they represent the people who live in their areas. We need to have a lot more trust in that, a lot more devolution.”
Control
Rees said devolution was not merely giving control to people. “It is more having the control of that context in which they work,” he said.
He said the government needed to give stability to local authorities so they know what is in their budgets.
“You cannot lead a place if you do not know what is coming,” he said. “[We want] greater consultation with us on what national policy is essential to us.”
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