Change or More of the Same?

 Last week I tuned in to a Staffordshire County Council Meeting of Council.

The formation of Super Councils was being discussed again (and after a ten year plus gap) and what the options being forwarded might be for Staffordshire.

At the moment Staffordshire is a two tier authority - County and Borough Council, supposedly working seamlessly together. The leader of Newcastle Borough council left the meeting before is began. It was clear that Staffordshire County favoured the status quo - ie no change. The tension at the beginning of this meeting was palpable.

Parish councils - the lowest tier of governance - but governance nonetheless - were not mentioned in the Government Report. Perhaps there was a justifiable reason for this.
The options for change are: to join with Stoke-on-Trent, to join with Staffordshire Moorlands and one or two others such as Telford and the Wrekin in order to make up the required numbers to become a super council.
However, and hopefully, it might take more than numbers in order to become a super council. Unless a root and branch change to the system is undertaken then it will be business as usual with the dysfunctional councils joining forces with others to become larger dysfunctional councils.
Sufficient research exists from the 1970s to show that 'muddling through' has been the name of the game for so long it will be difficult to turn things around to make it sound - and at least not quickly.
Anyone participating in the recent Government consultation on changes to the behaviour in local councils would be aware that this was light touch and mainly about getting rid of 'disruptive' individuals. But unless 'disruptive' is clearly defined, and judgments are fair, unbiased and non-political, good councillors will be sacrificed in favour of the 'business as usual' ethos prevalent at national and local levels in some councils. What needs to be removed are the brutish and bullying behaviours of the gangs of gate-keepers and their allies, rooted in some councils, whose self interest resists any change for the better. This inhibits progress.
Removal is already happening with good people being forced or 'encouraged' to resign for no good reason other than for highlighting the dead wood and iniquities in the system - ie by being good councillors and following the rules as they are intended to be followed, not as certain individuals have come to interpret them over the years. Dubious and questionable interpretations are not being challenged or scrutinised and this is particularly so where elections have not been held for many years, sometimes decades. The co-option of like-minded individuals has become the order of the day, rather than the exception.
The monitoring/regulating system of councils appears to be as dysfunctional, following political lines rather than legal rules, guidance and ethical standards. Unless this is rectified then the system will never be fit for purpose.
It will be interesting to see how things pan out within Staffordshire, given that Staffordshire is still largely Conservative in its political persuasion. Perhaps holding it together at the moment is the £7.1 billion pension pot which will be split as and when local councils become realigned, some of them taking large debts with them.
The deadline of 25 March looms large. What happens as a result of this consultation will determine the future of local councils - and indeed of national governance.

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