Localism will create the 'fragmentation’ of public services and risks threatening value for money, chair of the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge has claimed.
Addressing the CIPFA annual conference in Birmingham today (7 July), Ms Hodge voiced concerns likely to raise eyebrows within a local government sphere keen to forge ahead with plans for devolved services.
'Value for money is more important than it's ever been before and that's true across the whole political spectrum,' Ms Hodge told delegates.
She claimed a system of centralised procurement and contract letting could provide better value for local government than shifting to a policy of localism that would see individual councils control a wider range of public services.
Ms Hodge also cautioned that scrapping the Audit Commission must not be allowed to let value for money slip. 'It's very important that we do still follow the money and understand how it's spent.'
The government's plans for 'armchair auditors' would not be an adequate to replace the commission, Ms Hodge claimed.
'It is not enough to simply dump data on the public,' she said. 'The National Audit Office [the remaining government auditing body] was set up to look at big contracts', not a series of fragmented services.’
