One of the most significant changes in the operation of local government will take affect following next year's local government elections (and already has in the county councils that were elected this June). Yet, this change has gone largely unnoticed by many people in the wider world. Perhaps because, like the original change to the cabinet system, non-politicians are more interested in the outcomes of local government, than the organisation of it.
The big change though is the introduction of what is known as the "strong leader" model of local government. This change has come about through the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. This piece of legislation scraps the right for smaller local authorities to retain their committee systems and also removes the option of a directly-elected mayor and council manager option, which was thoroughly discredited in the only council that adopted it - Stoke-on-Trent. This means that all councils will have to be run either by a directly-elected mayor or through a leader and cabinet.
Much has been written before about a the virtues or otherwise of directly-elected mayors. As the majority of places that have had a referendum on having a directly-elected mayor have rejected the idea it seems odd that Labour (and now the Conservatives too) are still pushing the idea. This means that most places, following a consultation, will end up going with the "strong leader" model. This option includes a number of key changes that will worry many Liberal Democrats:
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Once elected by full council, the leader will continue in office for four years - until the year they are due for re-election.
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The leader will be able to choose their own cabinet which must include at least two other councillors.
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The budget can only be defeated if at least two-thirds vote it down.
The result of this is to hand huge powers to the leader, which could be especially problematic in councils where there is no overall majority or where a leader turns out to be a controversial figure. Whilst it can be argued that councils will be more able to "get on with it", it reduces the power of backbenchers even further and would mean that new councillors have no say in who the leader is for many years once they have already been appointed. It also means that whilst in opposition council groups can elect their leader annually and have a say in the cabinet, once in power they can only elect their leader once every four years and have no say in the cabinet.
To try and retain democracy, ALDC is suggesting that Liberal Democrat council groups continue to hold annual elections for leader and cabinet/shadow cabinet. This would however rely on the goodwill and sense of decency of the leader to respect their democratically expressed wishes, as there would be no way of stopping them appointing different people once elected in to power.
We are also working on suitable clauses to include in the Model Standing Orders (some clauses have already been included, but we would like to improve on them) to ensure that any leader who ignores their group's wishes can be dealt with. We would also like to hear more from Liberal Democrats around the country on what they are doing to implement the new law whilst adhering as much as possible to Liberal Democrat principles. If you have any "good practice" from your area, do let us know by emailing anders.hanson@aldc.org