Tory leader, David Cameron, has pledged to restore power to local councils and scrap a whole range of constraints including audits, inspections and financial ring-fencing.
Mr Cameron admitted previous Conservative Governments had gone too far in removing power from councils.
But, he claimed, this had been in a bid to stem the excesses of ‘loony left’ authorities such as Lambeth and Liverpool during the 1980s.
He said: ‘This Conservative Party is taking a very different approach, which is saying we do want to devolve to local authorities. We want to trust them and trust people to decide how they want to be governed locally.’
He also pledged to dump the Standards Board for England, plus ‘a whole range of audits and inspections and instructions’, end ring-fencing and scrap regional assemblies.
Shadow communities secretary, Eric Pickles, said central funding would be offered to all councils for a proper weekly refuse collection.
His promises were welcomed by the leader of Birmingham City Council, Mike Whitby, who addressed the conference this week.
He said: ‘The Conservative Party, perhaps reflecting on the lessons learned here in Birmingham, can begin to put the life and soul back into the United Kingdom.’
Skills Pipelines: What local government needs to know
Councils and mayors are to be handed a central role in developing skills pipelines for local industries, as the Government unveils what it calls a ‘fundamental change’ to the education system aimed at tackling youth unemployment. Here's what council leaders and officers need to know.
