£1.8m of tax payer's money spent on Government red tape (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

£1.8m of tax payer's money spent on Government red tape

July 5, 2006 12:23 PM

Government interference in council business costs the average authority in England and Wales £1.8m per year.

The latest figures released by Ruth Kelly, local government and communities secretary, have also revealed that councils report back to Whitehall on 566 separate performance criteria.

Commenting on the statistics in the Guardian newspaper, Ms Kelly has announced that she is to cut back on costly centralised interference and give power back to local councils.

Leeds City Council leader Mark Harris (Lib Dem) has welcomed the promise to devolve more power to local communities and expressed no surprise that the figures provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers were so high.

Cllr Mark Harris (Moortown) said "As a Liberal Democrat and council leader, I am delighted that Ms Kelly has finally seen the light and decided to cut back on the endless hoops that we in local government have to jump through. With 410 council's in England and Wales*, that's £738m of tax payer's money going on what many councils see as needless red tape.

"This government's constant insistence that local councils cannot be trusted to run their own affairs is as expensive as it is infuriating. Here in Leeds we have ticked all the boxes that the government have provided for us and yet we still have to divert vital funds to please Whitehall.

"The idea that councils should be more accountable to local people is something the Liberal Democrats have long advocated. It seems strange to be patting Ms Kelly on the back for this stance when her own government seems so at odds with giving people a say in their own affairs."