Local Authorities (Restoration of Democratic Rights) (Hansard, 5 May 1982)

§ Mr. Bob Cryer (Keighley)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to enable local authorities to make decisions according to local need; and for connected purposes. Although I realise that the tragic affair of the Falkland Islands overshadows matters at present, it is nevertheless true that the Government can be criticised in other ways, which we need to point out and remedy by means of legislation.

Since 1979, the Government have hounded local authorities in a continuing and vicious attack, particularly those local authorities that are Labour-controlled. However, Tory-controlled authorities have also been affected. In Bradford, the leader of the Conservative group, as well as the leader of the Labour group, helped to launch a campaign to keep local government local.

There is no reason why local government should have been attacked in this way, especially over expenditure. I quote: At the end of each year local government expenditure has invariably been only 1 or 2 per cent. off target—a far better record than that of central Government". Those are not my words, but the words of George Jones, Professor of Government at the London School of Economics, and John Stewart, Professor of Local Government Studies at the University of Birmingham. In The Times of 14 August 1981, they said: No Official Secrets Act protects local authorities. Their committees work in public. Detailed decisions are published in a way that would be inconceivable to central government. Local authorities are close to their citizens and very visible. The hidden operations of central government present the real dangers of inefficiency and waste. Local government control of expenditure since 1975 has been better than that of central government. If we accept the need for a balance between a framework of central Government legislation and the rights of local authorities to respond to the electorate that put them in power, clearly that balance has been savagely kicked aside by the gauleiter of Marsham Street, the Secretary of State for the Environment, backed by the political zombies on the Government Back Benches.

My Bill will repeal those sections of the Housing Act 1980 that give council tenants the right to buy, the right to a discount, and the right to a mortgage. It will enable local authorities themselves to determine whether to sell houses in the light of the needs of the area. Thousands of couples are in need of a home and the compulsory selling of a house will not remove one person from the massive waiting lists that have been built up under the Tories. Private tenants have no right to purchase and the Minister is satisfied by the voluntary arrangements that prevail there. Voluntary arrangements should be allowed to each local authority and my Bill will enable this to take place.

Secondly, my Bill will repeal that section of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 that enables the Secretary of State to control to an unacceptable, unreasonable and undemocratic degree direct works departments. It is for the local authority to decide the area of operation of direct works departments, which frequently provide the best system of apprenticeship and which are subject to the control of the elected representatives of the area. Indeed, in Bradford, on local government 172 reorganisation in 1974, the local authority inherited council house maintenance in Keighley carried out by two private enterprise contractors, both of whom were a byword for inefficiency and one of whom went bankrupt. The then Conservative-controlled local authority instituted a direct works department to remedy the deficiencies of private enterprise—deficiencies which included small private enterprise contractors being squeezed out entirely by the greed of the two monopolist contractors. Brad ford is now under Labour control and I am confident that Labour will maintain that control after the elections tomorrow

Local authorities should be allowed to develop direct works departments free from the bureaucratic restrictions imposed by Tory Governments.

My Bill will also restore the needs element to the rate support grant so that cash aid from Government will go to those areas that are in the greatest need. It should be made absolutely clear that any rate increases imposed by any local authorities have been forced on them by rate support grant cutbacks imposed by Government.

Money from central and local government supports basic services, such as social services, including meals on wheels, education, cleansing, refuse collection, care for the elderly and care for the very young. Money from Government to local authorities should be increased to help generate jobs and cut the cost of swelling dole queues. My Bill will provide a means of doing this.

There are so many oppressive sections of Tory legislation that affect local government to repeal that I cannot possibly encompass them within the framework of a modest Bill such as this. But I can remove the threat of the courts and district auditor from councillors who are simply carrying out their duty by providing that, if expenditure is authorised by a duly convened full council meeting of a local authority, which is properly lawful under statute, that will prevent a district auditor imposing a surcharge on councillors or referring the matter to a court, as a district auditor did in the recent Camden case.

If people are dissatisfied they have the remedy of the ballot box and, as Lord Justice Ormrod commented, such matters should be judged there, not in the courts. Local authorities are the only elected bodies apart from this House and they should be free from any oppressive action, as opposed to supervisory action, by any district auditor.

Similarly, my Bill will prevent any attempt to allow the Comptroller and Auditor General access to local authority books. The permanent secretary at the Department of the Environment, for instance, might well be tempted to use his powers under the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act of 1866 to control local authorities through his ability to monitor the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Finally, there is one area of concern that has not been subject to statutory provision so far, and that is the area of nuclear-free zones. Over 100 local authorities have declared their areas to be nuclear-free zones, but this declaration does not have any statutory backing. Under my Bill local authorities will have the right to suspend the movement of nuclear materials through their areas or to give authority for such passage subject to such conditions as they may impose.

As Jones and Stewart, the two academics I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, said in 1981, There is a need for new policies which will maintain and increase the strength of local government. 173 Labour is committed to democracy in local government and the first step to defend local services is to keep Labour in charge of local authorities in tomorrow's election.