A
fundamental review of the structure and organization of local government in
Britain is once again on the political agenda. A quarter of a century after the
report of the Royal Commission on Local Government in Britain, and twenty years
after the implementation of a major re-organization of the service (which went
ignored most of findings of that Commission) local government is once again in
the melting pot. In April 1991 the Department of the Environment issued two
discussion papers on the structure and financing of local government, which in
turn led to the establishment of the Local Government Commission in August
1992, to review English Counties. Proposals for the first group of these were
published in July 1993. In Wales and Scotland, however the procedure has been
somewhat more accelerated and at the time of writing, detailed legislation to
effect the changes proposed by the Commission is about to be introduced into
Parliament.
The
public 'rationale' for the review has been the wish to move responsibility for
the provision of local services from the existing multi-tiered structure of
County/Region, District, and Community Councils to single-tier 'unitary'
authorities. The idea is to bring local government closer to identifiable
communities, and therefore to make it more responsive to local needs and more
accountable to local electorates. Thus the overriding emphasis has been on
designing services that are subject to local control, as opposed to securing
the most effective means of delivering them. This is directly contrary to the
philosophy behind the 1974 re-organization which tended to move responsibility
for a number of services away from local councils, in order that they might
benefit from greater economies of scale.
Ever
since the establishment of the present system of local government in 1974,
there has been a power struggle between the District and the County Councils,
and twenty years of persistent lobbying by the Association of District Councils
against supposedly remote County and Regional authorities seems to have had
some effect. In particular, those artificial English and counties created in
1974, such as Humberside, Avon, Cleveland, Dyfed, Clwyd etc. have not been able
to gain the same acceptance and local loyalty as that of their predecessors.
However the previous county boundaries had existed for about a thousand years
and so perhaps it was unrealistic to have expected much to be achieved in a
mere twenty.
Another
reason behind the timing of the current Local Government Review has been the
desire by central government for a fundamental change to the role of local
authorities, which might be effected co-incidentally with the new structure.
Thus the new councils will act as enabling authorities rather than as service
providers wherever this is possible. In common with the government's national
policies on privatization, as much of the service provision as possible will be
devolved to the private sector.
Yet
most commentators also accept that there is an even more pressing 'hidden'
political agenda behind the Review - the wish by central government, to curtail
the power of local authorities to defy or hinder its policies. Throughout the
1980s certain local authorities were a constant 'thorn in the flesh' to the
government, and in particular to the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Indeed
it is arguable that the inability of her government to control local government
spending, or to introduce a politically acceptable means of reforming local
taxation which brought about her ultimate downfall. The recent publication of
the Thatcher memoirs makes it clear that structural reform of local government
was envisaged by her in 1985, but fatally, was deferred until after the
introduction of her proposals for local government finance (Thatcher, 1993).
As
a result of the above, there has been a relentless transfer of decision making,
and the power to allocate central government resources at a regional level away
from elected local authorities to government appointed QUANGOs
(Quasi-Autonomous Non-governmental Organizations). This trend has been
noticeable since the late 1980s and is particularly apparent in Wales, where
there are few elected local authorities which are sympathetic to the policies
of central government. The Welsh Office has therefore been forced to pack an
ever growing number of QUANGOs with a relatively small number of its political
friends (Evans, 1993 and Heath, 1993).
From
the recommendations published so far, it is clear that there will in future be
no uniform pattern of local government throughout the land, but rather a range
of solutions depending upon local circumstances or vested interests. There is
no clear idea emerging as to exactly what constitutes an 'identifiable'
community, either in terms of population size or character, as so there appear
to be enormous variations and inconsistencies in the proposals published so
far. In most instances the new 'unitary' authorities will be based upon one or
more of the existing district councils such as the Forest of Dean, or
Darlington each with a population of about 75 000, or else North East
Lincolnshire which will consist of Cleethorpes and Grimsby with a total
population of 160,000. At the other extreme some 'unitary' authorities might be
existing county councils with the excision of one or more urban areas - for
example Derbyshire without Derby (population of 710 000) or County Durham
without Darlington (population 495 000). All of the new English and Welsh
counties created in the 1974 re-organization will however be abolished.
The
impact on the public library service
Inevitably,
library and information professionals, will be particularly concerned about the
potential implications of the Local Government Review for Britain's public
library service. In financial terms, public libraries represent a very small,
and seemingly unimportant, player in the field when compared with other local
services such as education or social services. However they provide a service
which is generally popular with the public, and one which is perceived as
operating at a local level. Most library users will judge the quality of the
service by the materials that are available at their local library, and the
assistance they receive from the local staff. They will be unware of all of the
bibliographic and other services which are an essential pre-requisite of any
library collection, nor of the various special services for particular groups
or communities that are frequently provided by most large library authorities.
UK
public libraries have simultaneously been accused of serving the needs of only
an articulate and middle-class minority, and yet also of abandoning their
traditions of providing education and information in favour of the provision of
undemanding recreational reading. Yet in spite of such criticisms the service
is generally appreciated by its clients. Even during the 'high noon' of
Thatcherism, in the late 1980s attempts to abandon the idea of free public
libraries failed because of the risk of electoral unpopularity far outweighed
the financial savings.
Most
commentators now accept that the local government re-organization of 1974 was
generally beneficial to the overall level of the public library service in
Britain, even if only in terms of offsetting the effects of twenty years of
financial stringency. There are undoubtedly a few instances where
well-established and thriving local library services suffered a short-term
decline in standards as they were merged with larger, more remote, and less
well funded county services. All those professional librarians who were
involved with implementing the changes (including the writer of this editorial)
suffered to some degree from the inevitable disruption inherent in any such
change. Similarly the career aspirations of some librarians suffered as a
result of the change, although those for others was greatly enhanced.
Yet
ultimately the results of the change were beneficial. The larger library
authorities were able to introduce a new professionalism into public library
management, and undertake effective strategic planning. They operated at a
sufficient scale to be able to take advantage of automated centralised
acquisitions, cataloguing and circulation systems, which would not otherwise
have been viable. Above all, however they had the resources able to build up
comprehensive collections, employ specialist staff and offer a range of
information and support services to both urban and rural areas. At the same
time the better run services have given their staff working at a local level
sufficient freedom and support to be able respond to the particular needs of
the local communities being served.
Whilst
some of the proposed unitary authorities will be of a sufficient size to be
able to offer effective services to their locality, many will not. It would be
possible for one authority to employ another to run its library service, or
else for two neighbouring authorities to co-operate in a joint provision, this
is hardly likely and would seem to go against the currently fashionable
political philosophy. Public libraries in Britain seem be condemned to several
years of disruption and stagnation, whilst the costly process of disaggregating
of existing collections and services takes place.
Linda
Hopkins, the County Librarian of
Gloucestershire - one of the counties first examined by the Local Government
Commission - has outlined a dismal scenario for the UK public library service
following disaggregation and loss of the economies of scale (Hopkins, 1993). Her
predictions include
The
alternative to these will be that the costs of maintaining the existing service
levels will rise, and 'given the present Government constraints on local
authority expenditure, the deterioration in service is far the more likely
outcome'.
As Linda Hopkins points out, it might be argued that her predictions are unnecessarily despondent (or even biased!), particularly since her own job would be at stake. Yet at the same time it is difficult to see what advantage of such disruptive proposals would have for the public service as a whole.
There
will undoubtedly be resistance to the various proposals for the reform of local
government, both from the opposition parties in Parliament and also from those
locally elected bodies which are likely to lose most power and influence as a
result. It may be that the government will yet have second thoughts on this
matter, although at present this does not seem likely. The question is, what should
be the role of the professional officers who administer public library services
on behalf of their local communities, in any such discussion? Local government
officers in general, and public librarians in particular, have hitherto
preferred to remain above party politics, seeking rather to work with whatever
party happens to be in power. However, a distaste for politics, or a reluctance
to discuss their own allegances does not absolve them from the responsibility
of pointing out loudly and clearly to their political masters, and also if
necessary to local electorates, what they believe to be the implications of the
proposed policy changes, for the services they run.
It
may be that too many of us remained silent for too long during the 1980s when
much of what was worthwhile about British life was being systematically
undermined or dismantled. I do not think that future generations will easily
forgive us if we allow the same thing to happen again in the 1990s without at
least speaking up.
David
Stoker
(With
many thanks to Linda Hopkins and Geraint Evans; the opinions expressed are
those of the Editor)
NOTES
1. Evans, Geraint (1993) Back to the future
in Wales, Public Library Journal, 8, (4) pp.103-6.
2. Heath, Tony, (1993) Placemen take
control of Quangoland. The Guardian, 19 November 1993, 19.
3. Hopkins, Linda (1993) The local
government review: England, the first tranche. Public Library Journal, 8, (4)
pp.103-6.
4. Thatcher, Margaret (1993) The
Downing Street years.