Local 바카라 사이트 Association conference: 6 July 2010
Draft text of the speech - may differ from the delivered version. Can I start by congratulating Dame Margaret and Sir Jeremy on their elevation바카라 사이트¦
Draft text of the speech - may differ from the delivered version.
Can I start by congratulating Dame Margaret and Sir Jeremy on their elevation to the peerage. Both of them are magnificent ambassadors for local government.
Do you know, public borrowing is more than double the total grant that councils get from the government each year?
That means far more than just trimming a few budgets away.
If we don바카라 사이트™t get it right, Britain will be an economic laughing stock.
Future generations will be paying for our mistakes for decades.
Now, I바카라 사이트™m under absolutely no illusions about the difficult challenges in local government.
But none of us went into public service to smell the roses and bask in perpetual sunshine.
There is a choice.
We can either assume that because government has no money, public services have to get worse. And accept an age of enforced, unthinking, austerity.
Or we can say, hang on a minute.
Did all that big government, all those billions of pounds of unsustainable spending, actually get things done?
Or is there a better way?
We could take this forced opportunity to shake up the way Britain works.
We could replace big government with the Big Society.
And we can make localism a reality.
Not because it바카라 사이트™s an economic necessity. But because it바카라 사이트™s the best way to get things done.
To run services, to build a stronger economy and a stronger society.
We do not need to be less ambitious, or less radical, just because we have less money.
Instead we will put people back in charge of their lives.
Put businesses and councils back in charge of economic growth.
Put town halls back in charge of local affairs.
That바카라 사이트™s what localism means.
For the first time in decades, councillors have the chance to take real decisions.
To get things done.
To genuinely make a difference.
You won바카라 사이트™t be strangled by central government or smothered by regional bureaucracy any more.
It바카라 사이트™s time to put things right.
The previous government did talk a good game.
But their actions spoke louder than words.
In one year, my immediate predecessor, the former Secretary of State managed to publish more than 1200 publications.
Like the 74 page guidance on filling in the 바카라 사이트˜handypersons financial benefits바카라 사이트™ form?
I think if you need 74 pages of guidance to fill in a form, there바카라 사이트™s something fundamentally wrong with the form.
I바카라 사이트™ve got to accept some blame too.
I must admit, while I바카라 사이트™ve been Secretary of State, there have been twenty more publications.
So I want to apologise, here and now, for those. And the extra, unnecessary burdens they바카라 사이트™ve put on you.
That바카라 사이트™s not what I바카라 사이트™m about.
In the past fifty days instead of writing guidance, I바카라 사이트™ve been shredding it.
Instead of creating legislation, I바카라 사이트™ve been dumping it.
You바카라 사이트™ve been a prisoner of regulation, chained to the radiator with red tape, for too long.
I want to liberate you.
Focus on what really matters. Making localism a way of life.
So by the time the localism bill is introduced into Parliament, localism is already a fact. How are we doing it?
By taking powers away from bureaucrats and quangos and from me.
And restoring powers to communities and elected officials.
And I can announce today, as I promised to a fringe meeting here two years ago, we바카라 사이트™re also abolishing the TLA. The three letter abbreviation.
We바카라 사이트™ve already scrapped the IPC, the CAA, the RDAs.
We바카라 사이트™ve put an end to the centrally imposed, unwanted garden grabbing which blights so many communities.
The HIPs which tied up the housing market.
Instead we바카라 사이트™ve given you control of the money.
You are now in charge of something like £38 billion every year, no strings attached.
And put you back in charge of the decisions which matter.
How you get the job done - improving standards and saving money - is down to you and your voters.
I don바카라 사이트™t presume that I know more than you do about how your area should be run.
You and your voters, should decide how you organise yourselves. Whether you want a mayor, a cabinet or a return to the committee system, I don바카라 사이트™t mind. That바카라 사이트™s up to you.
Nor do I believe that targets build homes.
So while I바카라 사이트™ve already written to you to set out my intentions, I바카라 사이트™m pleased to confirm that before I left for Bournemouth today, I laid before Parliament a statement revoking Regional Strategies with immediate effect.
You can finally get on with planning without being held to ransom by top-down targets.
As the Chancellor said last week, as a government;
We want to change the incentives in planning so there are direct economic benefits for local communities.
And my statement today talks about 바카라 사이트˜direct and substantial benefit.바카라 사이트™
So people can say yes to new homes.
And new local housing trusts, with backing from the community, will be able to develop new homes, shops, and businesses themselves.
Those housing incentives are the other side of the ending of the regional spatial strategies.
Ideally, I would have liked to announce them together.
But I inherited a number of pending appeals. Given that I was not elected to implement the previous government바카라 사이트™s failed policy, it was important to announce the change quickly.
If I just wait around, it바카라 사이트™s a bit like saying I바카라 사이트™m going to abolish the death penalty, but then saying, everyone on death row must be executed so that we can have a clean slate.
The country has a housing shortage.
But it바카라 사이트™s time to concentrate on building homes, rather than dreaming up numbers.
I always felt those regional spatial strategies would have fitted in nicely with the old Soviet Union. And the 바카라 사이트˜Nikita Khrushchev바카라 사이트™ style of management.
Back in the USSR, if tractor production fell in the Ukraine, Mr Khruschev would do two things.
First, he would pick up the phone and shout at the tractor producers.
Second, he would increase the target.
As a result, we바카라 사이트™ve ended up with more disputes and fewer homes.
No reason for people to want new housing anywhere near them.
But starting today, power will be handed back to councils and communities.
So they can make their own decisions on planning and housing issues.
These are the sorts of big choices that you need to make. Housing. Planning. Public services.
But you need the time to make them.
So what I want to do is help clear your desks of all the other things that get in your way.
Last week, the Deputy Prime Minister launched his campaign to promote 바카라 사이트˜Your Freedom바카라 사이트™. As Nick said;
For too long new laws and regulations have taken away people바카라 사이트™s freedoms, interfered in everyday life, and made it difficult for businesses to get by.
And I agree with Nick.
So it바카라 사이트™s time to get rid of all the absurdities which are still on the statute book for no reason.
Like the law from 1919 which says that when councils want to buy new land for allotments, I바카라 사이트™m supposed to sign it off.
After all my years in politics, I finally get to choose who gets to grow carrots and who doesn바카라 사이트™t.
But there바카라 사이트™s a problem.
As Mrs Pickles will tell you, I바카라 사이트™m not a dab hand with the trowel.
So what skills am I supposed to bring to this job?
What searching questions can I ask the applicants. How big are your marrows?
And there바카라 사이트™s a lot more where that came from.
We바카라 사이트™ve got three different sets of regulation governing tree protection.
Who knows how many trees have been felled to write these.
Surely one would do.
And as for the guidance on 바카라 사이트˜the duty to carry out an economic assessment.바카라 사이트™
Do you really need twenty pages saying you should know what바카라 사이트™s going on in the local economy?
Today, I바카라 사이트™m saying, it바카라 사이트™s time for a 바카라 사이트˜bonfire of the inanities바카라 사이트™.
Laws are supposed to protect people. Not smother them.
I바카라 사이트™ve got a list of the sorts of things I want to ditch.
But I also want to hear from you. What barmy rules and regulations make your lives a misery?
Where-ever you can find 바카라 사이트˜outmoded, outdated and obsolete secondary legislation바카라 사이트™, just let me know.
We can dump it on the scrap heap together.
In return, I want to make something very clear.
Localism means much more than a tug of war of political power between Whitehall and the Town Halls.
It바카라 사이트™s a fundamental shake up of the balance of power in this country.
So power goes right back to the people who elected us.
People must have a genuine voice. A reason to get involved. A sense of responsibility for their neighbourhood.
They aren바카라 사이트™t going to get that if the only discussion about localism is between you and me.
So the relationship between councils and residents should change as much as the relationship between central and local government.
It바카라 사이트™s quid pro quo.
Instead of reporting to me, on the things I say are important to me: you should report to voters on the things they say are important to them.
For example, we바카라 사이트™re going to scrap the cap on council tax.
But instead, there바카라 사이트™ll be local referendums so people can decide for themselves if their council tax is too high.
We바카라 사이트™ve ditched the CAA.
Because instead of telling me how you are performing, you should be telling voters.
There has got to be a new era of transparency, accountability and openness.
Now a few years ago, when myself and Mrs Pickles came down to Bournemouth, it was raining, so we went to the cinema. And we saw this film: Jerry Maguire, with Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr.
And they had a phrase that stuck.
바카라 사이트˜Show me the money.바카라 사이트™
That바카라 사이트™s what we need to do.
Show the public the money.
That바카라 사이트™s why we바카라 사이트™ve been encouraging you to put your spending online.
It바카라 사이트™s not for my benefit. It바카라 사이트™s so we get the information out there which will let the public make up its own mind.
Like the Prime Minister has said, we need to 바카라 사이트˜rip off that cloak of secrecy and extend transparency as far and as wide as possible바카라 사이트™.
So that people no longer think government has something to hide.
And it바카라 사이트™s not limited to spending.
Putting jobs on the web - in a format anyone can re-use or re-publish - not only shows local people where their money is going.
It means they can question whether those jobs are really needed at all.
We바카라 사이트™ve just heard about that 바카라 사이트˜cheerleading development officer바카라 사이트™ for example.
And really, how many transformation officers and business development directors does one council need?
I saw a council this week that was advertising for a 바카라 사이트˜communications waste strategy officer바카라 사이트™. Well, that바카라 사이트™s someone who spins for bins, isn바카라 사이트™t it?
Do you really want a spin doctor? Or do you want someone to empty those bins? Do you really want somebody to tell the public why it is necessary for their chicken tikka masala to stay rotting in their bin for a fortnight? Or to employ officers who will get rid of it once a week?
But there are bigger questions for councils about justifying how they work to their voters.
In the case of education, is it really necessary to have separate education or separate social services departments.
These sorts of mergers could actually make services work together, across boundaries, much more effectively.
And it will free councillors to be focusing on what바카라 사이트™s happening within neighbourhoods.
Neighbourhoods are going to be key: they are the building blocks of public services society.
Now, over the past few weeks, it바카라 사이트™s been clear that there are various things we can learn from the German nation.
And various phrases have entered our language.
Deutschland vier, Argentinien null.
I want to add another one.
Doppelspitze.
It바카라 사이트™s one they came up with when starting their local government reorganisation.
And a question which we didn바카라 사이트™t address in the move towards executive members.
Doppelspitze means 바카라 사이트˜identical authority바카라 사이트™. Where you have chief executives and elected leaders responsible for the same thing. It바카라 사이트™s both expensive and pointless.
Couldn바카라 사이트™t chief execs bring more to the table by working across boundaries, rather than replicating what the leader should be doing?
But I know, if I바카라 사이트™m going to ask you to be more transparent and careful with money, it바카라 사이트™s only right that I set the pace.
Especially when it comes to procurement. And given what I바카라 사이트™ve told you about sofas and love pods, it바카라 사이트™s clear central government has got a long way to go.
Let me tell you a story. Two major Departments - which I바카라 사이트™ll leave to your imagination - went to market on the same day for new electricity contracts.
They didn바카라 사이트™t speak to each other first.
Instead of combining their purchasing power to drive prices down, suppliers played them off against each other. Prices actually went up.
It바카라 사이트™s no laughing matter when taxpayers바카라 사이트™ money is going down the drain.
So I바카라 사이트™m going to put my own house in order now. I바카라 사이트™m embarrassed to look you in the eye and ask you to put all spending over £500 online if my own department is only putting spending over £25,000 online.
So CLG and its agencies will be putting all spending over £500 online too.
I want to lead from the front. And it might cause me some embarrassment, but it바카라 사이트™s the right thing to do.
I바카라 사이트™ll also be shortly be publishing the plan to shake up my own Department.
Previously it worked to make town halls deliver for Whitehall.
Now we want to free you to deliver for the public.
We바카라 사이트™re not going to be micromanaging, second guessing, and interfering in your affairs any more.
We바카라 사이트™re going to get on and let you get on with it.
What I can tell you is that you can expect to see much more of the same.
The same momentum and pace of change.
The same bold and radical steps.
And it바카라 사이트™s not just from me. My cabinet colleagues and I speak with one voice on this issue.
So you바카라 사이트™ll shortly be hearing more about how we바카라 사이트™ll be taking forward localism in the health service, including the important role for councils.
And about involving the voluntary and community sector too.
Now I have found in my first few weeks that the LGA has been an extremely constructive partner.
And I want to thank you for the comprehensive offer which you have made to the coalition government.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, on behalf of the Cabinet, I바카라 사이트™m delighted to accept your offer to find a better way for us all to do business.
The coalition government has brought about a realignment of UK politics and a new stability.
That stability can be used by you and me. To change the power structure. To change the constitution.
So I don바카라 사이트™t mind whether you are a Conservative councillor, a Labour councillor, a Liberal Democrat councillor, or an Independent councillor.
I want you and me to work together, to ensure that by the time we meet next year, power has shifted to the local base.
Thank you very much.