So there’s less than two weeks to go now until Election Day
& the reckoning that comes with it, & the political narratives are well
established. Long term economic plans,
protecting the NHS, dealing with the deficit, ending austerity & increasing
housing supply are the interchangeable mantras heard throughout each day from
almost every side. It has felt like a
curiously cautious campaign, with as much emphasis from the major parties on
not scaring the horses rather than providing hope, inspiration or new
directions.
Central to the groupthink on public spending is the
NHS. I’ve written before on the sacred
cow that is, in Nigel Lawson’s famous phrase, “the closest thing the English
have to a religion”. The election
campaign has evidenced this more than ever, if the party pledges are anything
to go by. The Conservatives promise at
least an extra £8bn per year by 2020, as do the LibDems who add an extra £500m
per year for mental health services.
Labour promise £2.5bn of extra funding for the NHS per annum, 8,000 new
GPs & 20,000 more nurses. UKIP
pledge 8,000 more GPs, 20,000 more nurses, 3,000 more midwives & £3bn per
year extra funding. The SNP want £9.5bn
extra for Britain, with £2.5bn of that specifically for Scotland. & so it goes on.
Of course no party wishes to commit political suicide by being
seen as anti-NHS, even those who disagree with the way it is structured. & so the arms race of NHS spending
pledges continues exponentially.
Compare this to the parties’ stances on other public
services. Yes the (current) big three
have all committed (in different ways) to greater devolution of powers to local
areas. Education remains an area of
focus, but with the emphasis on how schools are administered and what the
curriculum should contain. New housing
is vital, but local government’s role in how this might be delivered is barely
mentioned, beyond the Conservatives’ focus on the sale of existing Council
properties to help fund the extension of Right to Buy.
The conclusion I find hard to avoid is that when it comes to
influencing the debate, local government has largely failed. Within the sector it is widely recognised
that councils have, in most cases, adapted to post-2010 austerity well. Perhaps too well. Unlike the health sector, local government does
not cry out for more money, & has not warned of imminent disaster if the funding
doesn’t come. The sector has raised
objections & sounded warnings, but then generally got on with making the
best of a bad situation. This is laudable,
but the truth of the matter is that whilst politicians of all stripes are
falling over themselves to “protect” the NHS, local government is seen as an
easy target for more reductions in funding.
The fragmented nature of local government is a part of
this. The LGA has a crucial role to
play, but the competing claims of Counties, Districts and Metropolitan areas
mean that the sector often does not speak with a united voice. This makes it all the more easy for national
politicians ignore or override their local counterparts. In the area of public
health, Michael Marmot’s “Social Determinants of Health”, and councils’ central
role in addressing these issues, are widely acknowledged. But does this message get reflected in the
discourse of national politics? Local government, ironically, is not a vote
winner. Alongside this, the sector’s complexities make it difficult for the general
public to know what councils do, never mind how they do it. & in the current climate fomented by
certain politicians, public opinion of local government is weighed down by
inaccurate perceptions of largesse, “gold plated pensions”, & so on &
so forth.
This being the case, the election will certainly provide
significant further challenges for the sector as a whole. But it does also afford the possibility of
opportunities. Whichever party, or
parties, holds power after May 7th will be aware that despite the
election rhetoric, all public services face an era of economic, technological,
demographic & social change. The challenge
for local government is to convince the politicians & the public that we
are a fundamental part of the solutions to these changes.
