An new era of modernisation?

At the time of the completion of the revision of this book (January 2006), the third successive Labour government had been in power for just over six months, following its election victory in May 2005.

Labour's first term of office (1997-2001) had provided a sustained, coherent and fairly comprehensive attempt to change the way in which local government and its democratic institutions worked (see Pratchett, 2002). By contrast, Labour's second term was characterised by a wealth of central government initiatives affecting local government but very little in the way of coherence. The one big idea to emerge from an otherwise insubstantial 2001 White Paper (DLTR, 2001) was the introduction of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) system, whereby all local authorities have been classified as excellent, good, fair, weak, or poor, as a result of annual or biannual Audit Commission inspections, a system which still operates in 2006, albeit in modified form.

The reshuffle that followed the May 2005 General Election, however, appears to have ushered in a new era of local government modernisation coupled with a new vitality and dynamism in the reform process. Central to this new verve has been the appointment of David Miliband in a new Cabinet post as Minister for Communities and Local Government. As the Local Government Chronicle (12 May 2005, p 1) reported his appointment:

The inclusion in the new minister's title of the word ‘communities’ signifies an important departure in his post, away from an exclusive concern with the formal institutions of local government and towards a much wider attention to all things local. If the title is to be believed, Miliband will provide a new focus and drive for building sustainable communities across the country, working with local government and other agencies where necessary. It appears, however, that much of the focus will be on community units beneath the level of local government, even though a principal part of the agenda for local government itself is likely to be the creation of larger unitary structures, through the subdivision of existing counties or the amalgamation of existing districts (see below).