Governance in England is not fit for purpose and devolution plans are not enough to fix the problems, MPs have claimed.
A stark new report detailed the issues of centralisation, claiming the Government wields too much power and Whitehall grips too hard, leaving people in England unable to benefit from locally-tailored policies.
The report by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee claimed the current ‘patchwork’ of governance was confusing and ‘opaque’ and has created ‘geographic inequality’.
Committee chair William Wragg said: ‘The levers of power have been stripped away from local levels of government throughout the twentieth century, leaving people in England with a less locally-focused and democratically-accountable system of governance.
‘We urgently need an overhaul of governance arrangements to empower local decision-making and restore public faith in accountable local governance.’
Mr Wragg called for a cross-party commission to come up with plans to fundamentally reform the system of governance.
The report also called for a shift to a long-term funding model for local government and moves away from bid funding.
This article was originally published by The MJ (£).
