The Local Government Association (LGA) said earlier today that it believes much more power must be transferred from Westminster to communities.
Andrew Bird, chairman of LARAC, said: “I am surprised by the result of the referendum. I thought it would be close, but we would narrowly vote to stay in the EU.
“The important thing that has to happen now is the government must invite local authorities and involve them in the EU exit talks. We must ensure these talks are not used to further cut council budgets.
“I would support the Local Government Association’s call for more powers to be transferred to the people from Westminster. Residents should decide what happens in their areas.”
Devolution
Explaining why it was calling for more devolution, the Local Government Association said: “EU laws and regulations impact on many council services, such as waste, employment, health and safety, consumer protection and trading and environmental standards.
“There cannot be an assumption that power over these services is simply transferred from Brussels to Westminster. If services are delivered locally, then the power over how to run them should rest locally too. Decades of centralised control over funding and services has distanced our residents from the decisions that affect their everyday lives. With greater control in our areas we can improve services and save money.”
Pressure
Lee Marshall LARAC’s chief executive emphasised that the pressure for reaching a 50% recycling target had now been removed from Defra with the future departure from the EU.
Mr Marshall said: “In the immediate term I think there will be very little change for local authorities. Services still need to be provided and authorities will be out there to keep collecting waste and recycling on a daily basis.”
He continued: “There are a number of questions over policy direction, such as will the UK and specifically England adopt higher levels of recycling as per the circular economy package, or go for lower levels? That is going to be an important policy direction.
On targets, Mr Marshall added: “To me the immediate thing is that the consequences of missing the 50% have gone, and you could take from that the drive to meet it have gone at a national level.”
And he explained that to some extent, with austerity the focus had switched from reaching targets to delivering services more efficiently with changes such as reduced spending on communication campaigns.
APSE and ‘consultation’
Meanwhile, the Association for Public Services Excellence (APSE), which represents over 300 councils is calling on the government to ensure services are protected.
The body is now calling on the government to ensure local authorities are fully consulted about EU exit talks.
Paul O’Brien, ASPE chief executive, said: “It is not for us to judge the outcome of the referendum. The British people have voted for change, however we must not allow the result to bring a further assault on local government finances. The ship is only just steadying from years of austerity budgets and now is not the time to crush the progress that councils are making in bringing about stable services.”
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