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CBI chief calls for smart local government decisions

The chief of the CBI has suggested that smart local government decisions can boost UK growth.

In a speech to the Local Government Association Annual Conference today, John Cridland explained how councils have an important role in boosting growth.

Focussing first on growth, Mr Cridland said: “A recent infrastructure survey the CBI did with KPMG showed 98 per cent of companies see planning as a problem.

“Planning is one of the main areas in which the UK has lost international competitiveness over the past decade.

“The planning system needs to be a facilitator of development, not a blocker of it. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) made things simpler, with thousands of pages of planning policy condensed down to 50.”

He also acknowledged that striking a balance when it comes to planning can pose some difficult choices.

He said: “People might not want to lose open spaces to new developments. But they will want the local employment opportunities they bring.

“Business doesn’t expect every decision local authorities make to come down on our side. But we do expect councillors to make decisions that are in the broad interests of all their voters, not just a vocal few.”

The value of LEP’s, and in public and private sector collaboration also featured in the speech.

He added: “The private sector can offer a valuable contribution to this process, and through LEPs there’s opportunity for much closer collaboration between us.

“Some LEPs have made a strong start, and they’ve been a shot in the arm for public-private collaboration compared with the Regional Development Agencies, which were often seen as remote.

“They can better reflect functional economic areas than regional structures did, and have an improved understanding of specific challenges faced by different areas.

“But the disbanding of RDAs has led to their statutory functions being centralised, leaving questions as to whether things like transport planning and attracting foreign direct investment can happen effectively without more of a sub-national approach.

“A lack of resource and statutory powers might limit the impact LEPs can make, reducing them to lobbying central government for funds. That doesn’t provide the legitimacy and local accountability LEPs need.”

Mr Cridland also shared his support for streamlining of local government procurement processes, but suggested that more should be done.

He urged a timetable for completing procurements to combat the sluggish UK performance compared with the EU average.

On the benefits of shared services, he said: “Pooling things like HR and finance functions just makes sense, and it’s a lesson central government should heed – most departments are way behind the curve.

“And as you know, experience already shows it shouldn’t stop in the back office. The Tri-Borough area of Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham is sharing library services, adult social care and children’s services. Northampton and Daventry are sharing environmental services.

“And Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire police authorities are sharing air support. So to the 134 councils who aren’t sharing any services – and to many Whitehall departments – I say simply: get on with it. There’s every benefit in being bold.

“Let’s consider too what’s happening across sectors within the whole-place community budget pilots.

“Pooled budgets can dramatically improve services and lower costs. So rather than seeing separate NHS, police, probation and housing budgets, let’s see more public funding pooled around outcomes – for reducing youth unemployment, for example, or cutting reoffending.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .