Local Government in England : Centralisation, Autonomy and Control

✍ Scribed by Colin Copus, Mark Roberts, Rachel Wall (auth.)

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
• Year: 2017
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 211
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The book explores the claim that English local government exists in one of the most centralised relationships with national government. Such a position fundamentally undermines any notion of local self-government and makes the term ‘government’ in local government a misnomer. The book will examine how the erosion of the autonomy, powers, roles, functions and responsibilities of English local government came about, the arguments of centralisers and localisers to support their view of the constitutional status of local government, and its overall role in the government of England. The book offers an antidote to the onward march of centralisation by offering a new vision of local government which emphasises both ‘local’ and ‘government’.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
Centralisation: The Constant Struggle....Pages 1-35
Policy Narratives in Local and National Government....Pages 37-55
Fragmentation and Centralisation....Pages 57-84
Mergers and Acquisitions: Narratives, Rhetoric and Reality of Double Centralisation Through Structural Upheaval....Pages 85-112
Devolution Today: Revolution or Submission?....Pages 113-137
The Ties That Bind....Pages 139-164
Conclusion: Localism and Centralism—A Constant Conflict or Time for Change?....Pages 165-183
Back Matter....Pages 185-206

✦ Subjects

Public Policy;British Politics;Governance and Government;Legislative and Executive Politics;Urban Studies/Sociology