Views
Radically changing the political system - for the Inverness Courier
LAST week MPs returned to Westminster after the shortened summer break. The first item on the agenda has been the government's plans to radically shake up the political system.
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg led the debate on the proposals for a referendum to change the voting system. And yesterday he did the same on the Bill that will fix the parliamentary term for five years, ending the guessing game about when the prime minister intends to call the election.
These measures are part of a much wider package that will change the political landscape of this country. Work is going on to put together plans for a democratic House of Lords and to review the system of party funding, with a view to ending the corrosive influence of big money in politics.
And as well as changing the way the system works in Westminster, we are also the first government for decades that will give power away to people and communities, ending the centralised system that failed so badly in the Labour years. We will give much greater power and freedom to local authorities and, through the Calman reforms, significant financial powers to Holyrood.
I hope that the Scottish Parliament follows suit and reverses the centralising tide in Scotland. Under the SNP, we have seen powers taken from the Highlands and given to Edinburgh - we need to reverse that tide. Especially in an era of much tighter public spending, greater local control and accountability is essential to getting the best from the public money we do have.
LOCAL SERVICES
In that context, I warmly welcome the innovative proposals for reform of emergency services that has come from Highland Council.
The idea of a single blue light service for the north of Scotland would be a major reform, but one that would keep accountability to local communities and local knowledge at the heart of our blue light services.
The alternative is dispiriting. We are already hearing from Edinburgh talk that all three services could be centralised. This is the easy, traditional way to cut costs but at the expense of community connection.
Given the scale of the spending reductions that need to be made to get our nations' finances back in order, politicians need to be more radical than that. A single blue light service for the Highlands challenges a lot of preconceptions. But it would allow significant cost savings in the back office, and a pooling of expertise from services that already work closely together. I hope the idea will be worked up seriously, as an innovative contribution to public service reform in the Highlands.
Less innovative and altogether more predictable has been the noises coming from some of the more militant trade unions at the TUC conference. I think the politically motivated calls for strike action misread both the public mood - which recognises that serious action is needed to stabilise the economy - and also the mood of public servants.
I know that many people are concerned about the future. But equally, many in the public services have grown frustrated by the web of bureaucratic targets and agreements through which the Labour government tried to dictate their work.
The coalition has a different vision. We are clearing away bureaucracy of targets, and replacing it with transparency and trust. Transparency so that people can see for themselves what is working and what isn't and exercise greater control over the services they receive. Trust because the person on the frontline knows better than the man in Whitehall what is needed in their community or area of expertise.
The savings we are making in public spending are an unavoidable part of dealing with Labour's economic legacy and making Britain stronger again. By reforming our public services we can give staff and communities more responsibility and so get better outcomes for less public money.
Posted on: 14/09/2010
