Whitehall's straitjacket of infrastructure

Written by Tom Bowman
Monday, 26 February 2007
Whitehall's grip on infrastructure funding and delivery is killing off sensible bus and tram schemes across the country, says a parliamentary report. Sadly for many the mere mention of 'transport' induces deep yawns and boredom, but without proper transport provision Britain faces a bleak future of overcrowded trains and jam-packed roads. The reality is that we would do much better if Whitehall didn't have so much control. The problem lies with central government's grip of power over transport funding and delivery. Most people think inept local authorities are unable to deliver transport services, but actually the reverse is true. Local authorities across the country want desperately to improve transport but are straight-jacketed by Whitehall controls, layers of government bureaucracy, and red tape. Since only 7% of local authority spending is raised from council tax, local authorities are powerless to fund infrastructure schemes and are dependent on central government grants which are all ring-fenced for central government priorities (health, education etc.). To pay for transport schemes, local authorities must bid for funding from central government. These bidding processes are time consuming, complex, require expensive studies costing millions – and ultimately there is no guarantee that funding will be granted. Manchester Airport's Interchange (report pg. 14) took six years to complete because Whitehall Mandarins required endless studies despite general support for the scheme. And it isn't just one funding pot; centralised funding involves a baffling array of funding bodies. Liverpool alone uncovered over thirty different funding agencies (report pg. 18) which makes it extremely difficult to cobble together cash for one project since each has Quango has different time-scales, requirements and targets. The answer? A courageous political party needs to devolve financial powers to local authorities. In America and Australia local government uses Tax Increment Financing which use the expected growth in property tax revenues from a designated geographic area to finance bonds used to pay for infrastructure. The Conservatives could counter Gordon Brown's centralising trend and support financial devolution to the local level. By empowering local government David Cameron could sweep away the multiple layers of regeneration Quangos that Whitehall has created because of its distrust of local government to deliver. Then local people could be in charge of their own destiny, not unelected bureaucrats – and by devolving power, local government would be more accountable. Sure, some local authorities will get it wrong, but it will be better than the present system, and those that get it right can be a beacon for the rest. Some say Margaret Thatcher killed local government, but the time has come for David Cameron to resurrect it. Bookmark Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. Powered by Azrul's Jom Comment for Joomla!