Dec 16, 2024 08:07 PM
(This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2024 09:59 PM by C C.)
Decentralization is something you'd expect to be against the grain of traditional socialists (though Rayner's soft left status might mitigate that a bit). And indeed, her critics seem to be playing that angle, so that there is inconsistency throughout the article as to what's going on. See footnote at bottom for background on the historical dependency of socialism on strong central control and planning, despite there being factions in the system/ideology that favored local administrative freedom.
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Devolution will be the default for local government, Angela Rayner claims
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics...00308.html
EXCERPTS: Devolution will be “default in our constitution” rather than “at the whim of a minister in Whitehall”, Angela Rayner said as she launched plans to overhaul local government.
Under the reforms published on Monday, two-tier council areas will be abolished, and every region of England will be covered by new “strategic authorities”, similar to the regions which currently have elected regional mayors.
Critics of the plans have however warned they could create “mega councils” and erode power at the most-local levels.
Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner said the Government was “taking a step towards relighting the fire in our great regions”, and that the proposals would create “an economy and a society that works for everyone”.
During a speech at the launch of the Government’s devolution White Paper, Ms Rayner said the UK is the “most centralised” country in Europe, with “too many decisions affecting too many people made by too few”.
Devolution will no longer be agreed by the whim of a minister in Whitehall. It will now be default in our constitution She said: “In micromanaging by central Government and short-term sticky-plaster politics, you’ve got a doom loop of real problems going unaddressed in Britain’s regions. And there’s huge potential that’s unrealised.”
[...] Those critical of the plans include the District Councils Network, which warned of the risk of removing localised decision making.
In areas with two-tier local governments, county council areas are subdivided into independent district councils. There are 164 district councils in England. Local services are split in those areas, with county councils managing social care, waste disposal and major transport matters, while the smaller districts deal with planning applications, bin collections, and leisure facilities.
“We’re concerned that any creation of mega councils will prove the opposite of devolution, taking powers away from local communities, depriving tens of millions of people of genuinely localised decision making and representation,” councillor Hannah Dalton, vice chairwoman of the network, said.
She said there was little evidence that such reorganisations had saved money in the past. Simon Kaye, policy director at think tank Reform, said the White Paper was a “welcome start”, but that strategic authorities needed wider powers, including the ability to raise taxes.
He added: “There is also a risk that plans to abolish district councils will leave local neighbourhoods feeling even more neglected. The result of reforms cannot be simply the creation of ‘mini Whitehalls’ at a regional level – communities need a real say.”
Council areas which would be impacted by the changes are expected to receive letters from the Government in the new year. The first new strategic authorities could be set up by 2027 and will for the most part cover areas with a population of 1.5 million or above.
Downing Street insisted the changes would give more powers to local areas, improve accountability and tackle waste.
“The plans that we’re setting out today are all about giving power from Westminster to local leaders to make sure that they’ve got the levers they need to drive growth, but it’s also about having the right structures at a local level in place that means that local areas are delivering services that people care about in an efficient manner,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.... (MORE - details)
- - footnote - -
Socialism: State control, or centralized planning, means the government determines how best to use and distribute economic resources across society. The government is in charge of major industries – electricity, oil, communications, health, and agriculture, for example – and plays a substantial role in determining people’s income and employment, the goods and services available to consumers, and how much those goods and services cost. Even under the so-called “new socialism” that does not seek to abolish private property or redistribute wealth but instead focuses on regulation for public benefit and taxation to reduce inequality, the role of the government is greatly expanded.
Marxists originally described socialism as a stepping stone on the way to communism, defined as a “classless society.” Socialist systems involve a high level of government intervention in the market; communist systems involve complete government control of the economic resources and provide citizens with all basic necessities, including food, housing, medical care, and education.
But some contemporary socialists are critical of centralized government...
Socialism - central planning: Central planning, critics say, does not lead to an egalitarian, classless utopia, but to an authoritarian, undemocratic society dominated by a “coordinator class” of political elites, planners, and enterprise managers. Indeed, the basic logic of the system guarantees that central planning is a “road to serfdom” (in Hayek’s famous phrase) rather than a route to democratic empowerment.
Yet there is still a big question whether delegating semi-autonomy to locals could be achieved. A socialist state is always under threat by more successful, external competitors. It must contend with local regions straying away from party practices and ideology -- adopting outsider ways. That requires a dominating central government to ensure the sustained integrity, homogeneity, and survival of the overall socialist state.
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- - - - - - - - - -
Devolution will be the default for local government, Angela Rayner claims
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics...00308.html
EXCERPTS: Devolution will be “default in our constitution” rather than “at the whim of a minister in Whitehall”, Angela Rayner said as she launched plans to overhaul local government.
Under the reforms published on Monday, two-tier council areas will be abolished, and every region of England will be covered by new “strategic authorities”, similar to the regions which currently have elected regional mayors.
Critics of the plans have however warned they could create “mega councils” and erode power at the most-local levels.
Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner said the Government was “taking a step towards relighting the fire in our great regions”, and that the proposals would create “an economy and a society that works for everyone”.
During a speech at the launch of the Government’s devolution White Paper, Ms Rayner said the UK is the “most centralised” country in Europe, with “too many decisions affecting too many people made by too few”.
Devolution will no longer be agreed by the whim of a minister in Whitehall. It will now be default in our constitution She said: “In micromanaging by central Government and short-term sticky-plaster politics, you’ve got a doom loop of real problems going unaddressed in Britain’s regions. And there’s huge potential that’s unrealised.”
[...] Those critical of the plans include the District Councils Network, which warned of the risk of removing localised decision making.
In areas with two-tier local governments, county council areas are subdivided into independent district councils. There are 164 district councils in England. Local services are split in those areas, with county councils managing social care, waste disposal and major transport matters, while the smaller districts deal with planning applications, bin collections, and leisure facilities.
“We’re concerned that any creation of mega councils will prove the opposite of devolution, taking powers away from local communities, depriving tens of millions of people of genuinely localised decision making and representation,” councillor Hannah Dalton, vice chairwoman of the network, said.
She said there was little evidence that such reorganisations had saved money in the past. Simon Kaye, policy director at think tank Reform, said the White Paper was a “welcome start”, but that strategic authorities needed wider powers, including the ability to raise taxes.
He added: “There is also a risk that plans to abolish district councils will leave local neighbourhoods feeling even more neglected. The result of reforms cannot be simply the creation of ‘mini Whitehalls’ at a regional level – communities need a real say.”
Council areas which would be impacted by the changes are expected to receive letters from the Government in the new year. The first new strategic authorities could be set up by 2027 and will for the most part cover areas with a population of 1.5 million or above.
Downing Street insisted the changes would give more powers to local areas, improve accountability and tackle waste.
“The plans that we’re setting out today are all about giving power from Westminster to local leaders to make sure that they’ve got the levers they need to drive growth, but it’s also about having the right structures at a local level in place that means that local areas are delivering services that people care about in an efficient manner,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.... (MORE - details)
- - footnote - -
Socialism: State control, or centralized planning, means the government determines how best to use and distribute economic resources across society. The government is in charge of major industries – electricity, oil, communications, health, and agriculture, for example – and plays a substantial role in determining people’s income and employment, the goods and services available to consumers, and how much those goods and services cost. Even under the so-called “new socialism” that does not seek to abolish private property or redistribute wealth but instead focuses on regulation for public benefit and taxation to reduce inequality, the role of the government is greatly expanded.
Marxists originally described socialism as a stepping stone on the way to communism, defined as a “classless society.” Socialist systems involve a high level of government intervention in the market; communist systems involve complete government control of the economic resources and provide citizens with all basic necessities, including food, housing, medical care, and education.
But some contemporary socialists are critical of centralized government...
Socialism - central planning: Central planning, critics say, does not lead to an egalitarian, classless utopia, but to an authoritarian, undemocratic society dominated by a “coordinator class” of political elites, planners, and enterprise managers. Indeed, the basic logic of the system guarantees that central planning is a “road to serfdom” (in Hayek’s famous phrase) rather than a route to democratic empowerment.
Yet there is still a big question whether delegating semi-autonomy to locals could be achieved. A socialist state is always under threat by more successful, external competitors. It must contend with local regions straying away from party practices and ideology -- adopting outsider ways. That requires a dominating central government to ensure the sustained integrity, homogeneity, and survival of the overall socialist state.
_