Reacting to the government’s White Paper on the reorganisation of local government, Green Party MP Ellie Chowns said:
“There is much to be welcomed in this White Paper including strengthening the rights of communities to purchase cherished local assets such as youth clubs, libraries or sport facilities; increasing powers over control of local transport, better alignment of public services including police, health and probation and removing the need for government to sign off decisions for locally specific things like cycle lanes.
“The big gap is the democratic deficit in Labour’s plans. This risks being devolution that steals power away from local people. We have to ask, how will local communities get heard? And who will hold mayors to account?
“We need to keep the local in local government. That means decision making as close as possible to the people most impacted; it involves trusting local communities to know what is best for them and supporting them with investment to deliver real change. And true democracy must include a fair proportional voting system for local elections, which seems to be a glaring omission from this White Paper.”
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