Daily Echo - Time to give power back to the people

Time to give power back to the people
JOHN Denham MP used to be a councillor. You would therefore expect him to understand the importance of the role. We are not important in our own right, but as representatives of the people, crucial to a functioning democracy.
These days, John is a very senior figure in politics, a member of the Cabinet, Secretary of State for i Communities.
He has been touring the country, telling people he is interested in strengthening local democracy. To be fair, he probably inherited a consultation paper he is promoting called Strengthening Local Democracy. It's therefore unfortunate that his rhetoric, praising the role of local government, isn't matched by proposals in the document that will sort out the problems.
Local government is heavily dependent on central government for finance. Without a significant reform, such as scrapping council tax and replacing it with a local income tax, the powers of a local council to offer any real choice to voters over the range and quality of services it delivers will remain severely limited.
I hate to bang on too much about the fluoride in drinking water debate but it provides a perfect example of how Government has transferred powers away from locally elected councillors like myself and permitted a quango, the Strategic Health Authority, to decide the issue.
There are other areas where I have found that I, as an elected local councillor, am unable to prevent things happening. Traffic Commissioners, based in Bristol and Leeds, make decisions about the issuing of HGV licences in this area. Major planning applications that would not be right for this area are rejected by locally elected council members, but then given the go ahead by central government appointed people.
The principles in the paper are sadly lacking. A local authority should be concerned with leading and shaping a community, looking after the well-being of the people it serves. The present Government has had a very good innings but has failed to deliver the sort of radical change that is needed to strengthen local democracy.
Relations between local government and central government have always been somewhat strained. After all, we ail want the power to change things for the better.
Wouldn't it be good if we could break the old two party stranglehold on Westminster and vote in a reforming government that is really serious about giving power back to the people?