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.’
Protecting the public realm without shutting it down
As Martyn's Law approaches, this free special report from LocalGov and Hill & Smith sets out how councils can protect public spaces without shutting them down.
