IN CONFIDENCE
Mr Brook talked about the City of Westminster Council in the broader context of other London boroughs and County, District and Parish Council responsibilities were analysed and discussed. The effects of the EC were discussed. In Europe countries tend to be much more decentralised than in Britain. It was noted that local government has become highly politicised and recent examples of overspending by Liverpool City Council and Ken Livingstone's controversial link with Northern Ireland in the GLC were cited. Finance was a point of interest and overspending on housing and rate capping were discussed in some detail as were the recent changes in education which is now in the hands of the boroughs. The practical implications on local authorities of central government policy were discussed at the Association of London Boroughs where Mr Conor Ryan, Press Officer, was joined by Mr Nick Lester, Planning and Transport Officer. Central Government policy on the 'Right to Buy' has in their view, led to fewer council homes being available which, in turn, has led to increased homelessness, a big problem for London as a whole and for certain boroughs in particular. The effects of the community charge were discussed (the students showed great interest in this new form of taxation), as were the ramifications of the abolition of the GLC. Mr Lester spoke of the absurdity of not having an equivalent to the GLC citing difficulties of co-ordinating transportation facilities from borough to borough.
A meeting was arranged at the Department of the Environment. After Chris Hancock's introduction to the DOE, at the request of the students, Mr Head gave a resume of the history of local government from 1836. On 1 April 1974 there were 12 boroughs, but now there are already 400. He also talked about elections, rates, rate capping and personal taxes. General elections technically take place every five years (although in practice it may be only four), district council elections take place every four years and county council elections take place every year on the first Thursday of May. Mr Head explained the position of a councillor and how difficult it could be if (s)he was in the opposition party to that of the Government, as this inevitably sometimes brought conflict. However, Mr Head continued, councils are given guidelines within which they must operate and within these guidelines they have a lot of freedom. For example, although the Government requires a minimum standard from its council it does not interfere with the details. It might control how much is spent but not what it is spent on.
The students also visited the Local Government International Bureau where Mr Taylor gave an excellent presentation of his organisation and a larger picture of local government with Europe. Finally a brief visit to the London Residuary Body completed their programme in London. After the controversy of the GLC the London Residuary Body now has to, in Mr Hosier's words, "Clear up the Mess". The organisation has taken a very low profile after the big personalities of the GLC and it has been quietly handing over authority directly to the boroughs (32 of them) and to the City of London Borough. It's work will come to an end in March 1990 when it will take over the function of the ILEA.
CONCLUSION
There can be no doubt that the students left the country with a clear picture of central and local government in Britain. Their questions were intelligent, sometimes challenging, and they were keen to know more and quick to learn.
Shumer Attiin
Elizabeth A Seale Escorting Officer LONDON
11 September 1989
IN CONFIDENCE
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