‘Councils must fundamentally re-think their finances’ by merging services with neighbouring authorities – and forcing through changes to executive salaries - as they seek to slash costs, communities secretary Eric Pickles has told the Conservative Party conference.
Addressing delegates on the opening day of the Conservatives’ annual conference in Birmingham on 3 October, Mr Pickles said ‘there has never been a better time to be involved in local government’.
But amid concerns that central government grant to local authorities will shortly be slashed by 25% through chancellor George Osborne’s spending review, Mr Pickles added he was ‘under absolutely no illusions about the difficult challenges’ facing councils.
Pickles urged a financial ‘revolution’ that would reconfigure service delivery
To complement forthcoming new freedoms for councils, such as the general power of competence, he urged a financial ‘revolution’ that would reconfigure service delivery and support.
Part of this, he said, should be enforced cuts to the chief executive salaries causing concern within Whitehall. He urged executives on £150,000 to take a 5% pay cut, and those on over £200,000 to take a 10% cut.
‘Councils should share services, work across boundaries to drive down costs and protect front line services,’ he added. ‘Is it really necessary for councils to have separate education or planning departments or, heaven forbid, separate press offices?
‘Take Hammersmith & Fulham [LBC] with Westminster [LBC]. They will save the taxpayer £100 million by merging services, such as education. And that's just the start.... the revolution is spreading. Christchurch and East Dorset councils are among the growing numbers that now share a chief executive. This is the future of local government.’
Mr Pickles also provided a little more information on his plan for place-based budgeting, which he has already revealed will form part of the post-spending review climate and will facilitate early intervention programmes - involving a range of local public bodies and designed to tackle deprivation, crime and poor health and education outcomes.
‘We'll allow councils to pool the budgets across the public sector - social services, care, housing and health improvement, and reward councils for delivering results and preventing social breakdown,’ he said.
As revealed by LocalGov.co.uk’s sister title, The MJ, earlier this summer, Mr Pickles confirmed he also intends to create a new generation of powerful ‘executive mayors’ who could combine the roles of local leaders and chief executives to lead local public service improvements.
