Labour’s Modernization of Local Government
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00220 |
| Author | Josie Brooks |
| Date | 01 September 2000 |
| Published date | 01 September 2000 |
LABOUR’S MODERNIZATION OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
JOSIE BROOKS
The modernization of local government is central to the government’s plans to revi-
talize the UK’s constitutional arrangements. Implicitly managerialist, the moderniz-
ing local government project also contains centralist and localist themes. Translated
into policy, these themes are articulated as leadership, community, democracy and
regulation. However, these elements are potentially contradictory and may produce
tensions in the project that may be difficult to resolve. By reviewing the govern-
ment’s aims to promote leadership, community and democracy in local government,
it is also argued that the planned modernization of local government will extend
further and into new areas the regulation of local authorities.
INTRODUCTION
Since the 1997 General Election, local government has experienced a
remarkable renaissance in its fortunes. The Labour government’s commit-
ment to local government is demonstrated by its statements that local auth-
orities will be crucial in making a significant contribution to the delivery
of the domestic policy agenda. Ministers have promised that councils will
be provided with new powers and responsibilities by government. How-
ever, new responsibilities for councils will be conditional on their accept-
ance of the modernizing agenda. A positive response by local authorities
will reassure the government that they are equal to their new role within
the new system of British governance (Blair 1998).
That the government has found a new purpose for local government is
noteworthy, least of all, as an indication of a departure from the policies
pursued by previous Conservative administrations. Advocating the impor-
tance of leadership, community, democracy within local government,
Labour indicates how its policy differs from that of its predecessors. Yet,
Labour’s modernizing local government project chooses to continue policies
from earlier administrations, most notably, the close regulation of local
authorities. Policy continuation is present elsewhere in Labour’s moderniz-
ation project, particularly the emphasis upon centrally instigated mana-
gerial reforms.
Labour’s strategy to reform local government will depend on how effec-
tively local authorities implement the project. However, there are significant
pressures and tensions which challenge the project that unless managed
Josie Brooks is a Researcher at the Southampton Institute.
Public Administration Vol. 78 No. 3, 2000 (593–612)
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2000, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street,
Malden, MA 02148, USA.
594 JOSIE BROOKS
successfully may compromise its success. These pressures include the
potential contradictions between the stated objectives of the modernizing
agenda and several of Labour’s other policies. Specifically, Labour has
emphasized its commitment to enhancing community representation and
local government’s democratic practices, yet the government has reiterated
that it will continue to direct the management of local authorities. Further-
more, the demands of territorial equality challenge local difference as coun-
cils continue to provide important public services, set according to national
policy objectives. Despite claims that New Labour policy making and
implementation enjoy greater coherence than previous administrations,
other policies, most notably, devolution and the creation of the Regional
Development Agencies (RDA) bring other tensions as support for decentral-
ized powers to the regions may be incompatible with an expanded role for
local authorities. Even the realization and operation of the modernizing
agenda is not without disagreement. Among the modernizers there are dif-
ferences between those who believe that reform in councils should be
experimental and administered primarily from within the local government
community and those who doubt whether local authorities can be mod-
ernized without central regulation. Lastly, the modernizing agenda faces
other constraints that are beyond the control of government; indeed, it is
uncertain whether Labour’s local government policy is less susceptible than
the previous administration to the influence of international trends to
reduce the scope of the public sector and dissatisfaction with government.
As the modernizing agenda is implemented, the government will face
further challenges. At the time of writing, the government’s proposals are
supported by the local government community. It is uncertain, however,
that the government will enjoy indefinitely such minimal opposition from
the local government community. As Labour’s dominant position in local
government is reduced, opposition parties will undoubtedly employ local
electoral gains to challenge the government by exploiting weaknesses and
implementation gaps within the modernization project.
However, the modernizing local government project contains within
itself the most significant pressures. By advocating new political decision-
making structures, the modernizers expect improvements in the
accountability of local government. Other reforms will seek to improve
local participation and to encourage councils to provide community leader-
ship. However, while the modernizing agenda promises greater local auto-
nomy, it is in the context of a highly coherent strategy which continues the
trend of a government-led reform agenda that extends the central regulat-
ory framework that manages local government. In this context, it is ques-
tionable whether the government’s actions will be of lasting benefit to local
government; or whether it continues, albeit with different policy objectives,
the trend of reducing self-government in the localities to a system which
merely administers nationally decided policies.
Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 2000
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