PoliticsUK

Madam Speaker,

Can the Government confirm whether they have any plans to reform to reform local government, and if yes how they will do so?

Madam Speaker,

I thank the Hon. Lady for her question. This Government remains committed to its manifesto commitments to provide more power to local Governments. This Government has committed over the next 10 years to transforming the role of Local Government inside the United Kingdom, and we will be working hard to deliver that in various ways. This will include ensuring that Local Governments have greater autonomy to address their own affairs. So often, Local Governments form the most frequent contact of our citizens, dealing with critical issues facing our communities. We will continue to empower local councils, and provide them with the resources that they need to succeed. This Government is also committed to studying the possibilities of introducing directly-elected mayors of all of our major metropolitan areas, as well as the potential for directly elected regional governments.

(as David Davis)

Madam Speaker,

In answering the last question put to him, the Right Honourable gentleman seemed to indicate that the government will pursue regional devolution in addition to continued reform of local government across the board. With the levels of bureaucracy and inefficiency already extant in our current two-tier approach to local government that exists in most areas, does the Secretary of State not agree that adding another layer of government is counter-productive to the ideal state of local government: that it should serve first and foremost local needs?

Madam Speaker,

I thank the Hon. Gentleman for his question. As I mentioned in my last answer, this Government is committed to studying these issues, and the Member Opposite need not be afraid that I will be overtaken by the spirit of the Leader of the Opposition in rushing into half-baked legislation or proposing shoddy statutes. The Hon. Gentleman is quite right in stating that we must avoid creating inefficient bureaucracy, and we must make sure that any meaningful reform to local government is ultimately a net positive to helping the citizens of our Kingdom. I can assure the House that my department will proceed deliberately on this issue consulting with experts and stakeholders, so that any changes that we do present before this House will address the rightful concerns expressed by the Hon. Member, while also delivering on our promise to the British people to put more power into the hands of local governments so that these programs can be beneficial to the British people for generations to come.