"Putting local back into local government: -The need for power and responsibilities"
Ciarán Cuffe September 2003

Introduction

The first part of the title of my talk today come from the headline over an opinion piece written by the late John Kelly back in 1988. Kelly stated:

“The structure (of local government that) we have today is … a castrated version of the British scheme of 1898. What is called “local government” is now mainly carried on by non-elected officials, spending money contributed not locally but from the central fund, while an empty husk of democracy survives in almost impotent elected councils absorbing large quantities of public money in expenses and overheads.”

Kelly, J, 1988

Three years after these words were written I was elected to Dublin City Council, and I represented the South Inner City ward on that council for eleven years, resigning early this year in order to fulfil by Party’s policy of opposing the dual mandate of office holding at local and national level.

During those eleven years I witnessed dramatic social and economic changes within the area that I represented, but during my two terms of office as a local elected representative I felt more like an outside commentator, than an actual decision-maker in the changes that occurred. While I welcomed and supported many of the developments that took place, it often seemed as though the more important decisions were taking place backstage, far away from the Council Chamber.

During that period there was a stimulating discussion of the need for local government reform. This debate was influenced and often led by the late Tom Barrington. However only some of his recommendations on local government reform were adopted and local government is still a shadow of what can be seen in other European States.

 Next year’s Local Elections take place in early June 2004.  If the weather is good there is a reasonable chance that the turnout for the local elections may rise to over 50%. This was the turnout in 1999. If it rains there is a danger that voter turnout may fall below 45%. In Dublin City only one third of the voters bothered to show up last time round. However the weather is not the main reason for low voter turnout. People have realised that very little power resides in local government, and consequently they take little interest in what goes on in City Hall

In Ireland, Local Authorities have to go cap in hand to the Department of the Environment for almost any significant funding or decision. The failure to give local government power or responsibility was best illustrated last year when Dublin’s Director of Traffic was stalled from putting up new traffic signs by the Department of Transport, as the Minister for Transport had not reviewed the proposal. Surely the Minister has better things to be doing with his time! This approach is rife throughout Ireland. Almost all significant spending decisions have to be vetted and approved at national level. This may have been appropriate prior to Irish independence, but it smacks of a neo-colonialism to have every decision checked and approved by the central government. It also adds millions to civil service wage-bills to the point where remuneration consumes the bulk of overall spending.

Back in 1991 Tom Barrington chaired an excellent report ‘Local Government Reorganisation and Reform’. He used information compiled from a Council of Europe Report to devastating effect. The Report showed that Ireland was at the bottom of the league table when it came to allocating powers and responsibilities to local government. Even Luxembourg – not exactly a super-state –allocated more functions to local government than Ireland. Barrington stated: “Local government should be recognised as a valid partner in the process of government and its role expanded with appropriate links with community groups. Central government should be willing to ‘let go’ and devolve functions.” Twelve years later there is still much to do in order to deliver on the excellent ideas contained within his report.

Of course there has been some reform in Ireland, and the passing of a referendum that gave constitutional recognition to local government was a welcome step in the right direction. However allocating clear functions to local government should follow up the changes in the law. If not, we are paying lip service to the concept. The recent passing of the ‘Protection of the Environment Bill’ by the Dáil takes away significant powers from local councillors to make waste management plans, and may well pave the way for municipal incinerators being built without a local democratic mandate.

The Bill follows a recent trend in allocating powers to City and County Managers. While these Managers have played an important role in the history of local government in Ireland they have no democratic accountability to the people. They are permanent civil servants, and often have the upper hand in discussions in the Council Chamber. Once the annual Estimates Meeting of the Council has been held, the Manager can normally breathe easy for another twelve months, safe in the knowledge that his or her future is assured. The two-tier system of Manager and Councillors has led to the Mayors of Local Authorities having little power other than that of a figurehead. We should ask ourselves do we want someone who attends social events for photo-calls with a chain of office or do we want to delegate significant functions to a dynamic mayor with the ability to get things done?

Bodies such as the County Enterprise Boards, City and County Development Boards and Partnerships Companies have a vital role to play in community development, but it has got to stage where the life-blood is being sucked out of local government in order to support these bodies. Local Authorities can be dynamic, reactive progressive bodies, but their capabilities are not been harnessed effectively. A ‘bottom-up’ approach to the renewal of Temple Bar could have given local councillors a stronger role in ensuring that super-pubs did not dominate the area.

Instead during the 1990’s a plethora of new organizations emerged to address development issues. Adam Marshall described these as:

“…a unique combination of national agencies, statutory and non-statutory quangos, social partners and community groups perform key tasks related to regeneration and urban renewal.” Marshall, A.J., 2002

Quangos, (Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations) have increased in number and responsibility over the last decade. These bodies have a significant democratic deficit, and have added to t disempowerment and confusion that members of the public experience when engaging with local government.

I wonder whether the emergence of these quangos reflects a deep-set belief that giving real power to local politicians would threaten central government. I suspect that the view of City and County Managers is that stronger local democracy would threaten the remit of the Managers themselves. After all the County Manager system emerged out of some rather murky dealings in Cork City in the 1920’s. My own view is that the permanent civil service has its roots in the pre-independence colonial rule, and that there is still a worry that all hell would break loose if local councillors were actually given extensive powers. However there must be a correlation between ability and responsibilities, and I would suggest that if increased powers were given to local government, the system would attract a higher calibre of candidates.

The Quangos themselves vary in powers, responsibilities and quality. But the emergence of these bodies emasculated the few powers that Local Authorities had in the first instance. David Connolly, Chairman of the Dublin Inner City Partnership argues that local Partnerships have “performed effectively and delivered significant value for money.” I wonder whether the emergence of partnership absorbed many strong voices that were calling for political and social change. Connolly stated that Partnership-based local development organizations were established in response to serious social and economic problems that could not be tackled by normal state programmes. He identifies long-term unemployment, heroin abuse in Dublin and educational disadvantage as some of these issues. I agree with him that local government was ill equipped to address these issues at the time, but I do feel that local government could have a stronger role in addressing these issues.

As a local councillor constituents come to you with issues of concern. As a city councillor I’ve ran for office pledging to improve healthcare, tackle affordable housing, provide decent public transport and recycling. If I were to be completely honest I should be saying that local authorities have no remit regarding public transport; that our housing allocation comes from the Department of the Environment; that our responsibility to provide recycling has just been given to the County manager, and any actual power regarding healthcare is about to be taken away from the health boards. Try running for office with that on your campaign literature! At a local level people want decisions made quickly and efficiently on local issues. They want a bus stop to be moved if there are difficulties, and they want more Guards on the beat in certain areas. In a curious and convoluted way this can actually happen. As a Councillor you can get on the phone to Dublin Bus and arrange a meeting; you can call up the Garda Superintendent in Pearse Street and suggest more patrols on certain streets, but I suggest that allocating more functions to Local Councils might be a more efficient way of getting things done.

United States -Democracy in Action?

Within the United States there are clear functions of government at federal, state and local levels. Years ago I remember working New York City, and on my pay cheque there was a clear breakdown of the percentage deducted from my salary at each level. Of course that doesn’t make it that much easier to pay the tax in the first instance. Closer to home, I remember someone saying to me on the campaign trail that he missed domestic rates, as he felt he could always go down to City Hall and harangue his local councillors if he disagreed with their decision.

Of course there are limits to democracy. While observing US elections last year I was surprised to see a small group of middle-aged stern individuals handing out leaflets at a supermarket. They turned out to be the local judiciary and their literature read ‘Re-elect the sitting Judges.’ Within the US many states elect their police chiefs and school boards, and there are aspects of their system that we should examine.

Denmark  - A Model for Local Government Reform?

Some years ago following an initiative from Fr. Michael Murnagh of the South Inner City Community Development Agency (SICCDA) in Dublin’s Liberties, Dublin Corporation participated in an exchange partnership funded by the European Union. The initiative entitled ‘Quartiers en Crise’ or ‘Neighbourhoods in Crisis’ was a precursor to the URBAN Programme. Under this programme I found myself being put up in the rather insalubrious surroundings of a youth hostel in the city of Aalborg in Northern Denmark. However the lack of luxury in the accommodation was compensated for by the wealth of information about local government in Denmark. I met Councillors who chaired committees dealing with policing, health and housing. The local Authorities were adequately funded and had the power to address the concerns of their constituent.

There I was astounded to meet councillors who have the powers and finance to effect real change in their communities. The local council had separate committees dealing with transport, health, housing and policing.

 Each of these committees was chaired by a knowledgeable councillor who devoted much of their time to ensuring that the right decisions were made in the city’s best interests. If a bus stop needed to be moved the Council could make the decision. If a neighbourhood wanted more police on the beat they could effect change. If housing was needed the local authority had the land and the clout to make it happen.

The system of local government in Denmark clearly allocates certain functions to both towns and counties. Denmark has a long tradition of local government autonomy. While the state concerns itself with wider, national affairs, local government is exercised through the medium of the county and local councils. The members of the county and local councils are directly elected every four years.

The State looks after all matters of a general and common nature such as foreign affairs, the police, defence, telecommunications, universities and other types of specialised education. The most important county functions are the provision of hospitals, health services, post-16 secondary education, the social welfare of disabled, regional planning, countryside and environmental protection, the construction and maintenance of highways and public transport, EU-structural funds. The most important local authority functions are local planning, primary and secondary schools, nurseries, care of the elderly, local road construction and maintenance, water supply, waste water treatment and waste disposal.

Counties and municipalities have the right to levy taxes and they are responsible for 2/3 of the public service. The public spending is financed by means of taxes and duties of various kinds of which the state collects about 70% and the counties and local authorities the rest. The state collects income tax and duties and the counties and local authorities collect income and property taxes. They determine their own tax rate and income and land taxes alone accounted for 58% of their total revenue in 1997. In addition, the state makes an annual grant to the counties and local authorities. This general grant is not earmarked for any specific local government activity.

I believe that the Irish Government should examine the Local Government System in Denmark, and consider applying the better aspects of their system in the Irish Context. I think it was Tom Barrington who argued that the only real functions of national government should be defence and foreign affairs but the European Union has probably stepped in on both of these.

Any attempt at providing regional government in Ireland seems to have been more to do with appeasing Brussels or Merrion Street, rather than addressing pressing regional priorities in healthcare or transportation. I would credit the Dublin Regional Authority with their report on the ‘Compatibility of Regional Boundaries’ report, which illustrated the absurdities of the dysfunctional geographical areas of different state functions

Meanwhile in Ireland…

Strategic Policy Committees (SPC’s) have also been set up by dictat from the Customs House. However they have failed to rise to the challenge that their names suggest. The inaugural meeting of one county’s SPC on Environment and Engineering spent much of its time discussing the litter problem in the chairperson’s own electoral area. Much more could be achieved if they were granted the resources to effect change. The creation of Regional Authorities some years ago was also a false dawn. Much of the time at the Dublin Regional Authority’s first meeting was taken up with haggling over the design of a chain of office. Authorities without powers are empty vessels that will perpetuate mediocrity. Nothing more than a radical reform of local government through the devolving of power to local level is required.

The flourishing of quangos has led to confusion in the eyes of the public, and duplication of resources amongst different organisations. I find it difficult to be clear about the exact remit of the Dublin City Development Board. the Dublin City Enterprise Board, the many Dublin Partnerships and the work of Dublin City Council. Matters come to a head when communities decide to produce a ‘plan’ for their area. Is it a Development Plan or a Local Area Plan under the Planning Acts; is it Corporate Plan of the Local Authority, or is a plan of one of the above-mentioned boards? I believe that a tower of Babel has been created that causes confusion for many who are trying to access services.

Looking Forward

The term city or county councillor often has a pejorative meaning when used in the Irish Context. The brightest and the best often chose to exert their influence in other forums than the Council Chamber.

At an anecdotal level people take a jaundiced view of local politics. Many county councillors used one of the few powerful reserved functions in a questionable manner. When asked about this murky area and its application in Dublin City I often pointed out that we had no land left to rezone so the issue rarely surfaced.

I do feel that local communities want to have control over their own destiny. People want their local authority to provide playgrounds, local bus routes, childcare and parks.

I do not underestimate the challenge that this represents to a system that is not used to abrupt change. Giving powers to local government will also financing. Twenty-five years ago the abolition of domestic rates gave Fianna Fáil a boost at the polls, but led to the gradual downgrading of council services. In addition income tax and VAT increases were used to compensate for the drop in tax revenue. Part of the process of local government reform must involve placing local authorities on a sound and independent financial footing.  This could be achieved by ensuring that the Rate Support Grant is increased. An alternative would be to allocate a proportion of value added tax directly to local authorities.

Unless we devolve powers to county level and abolish the quangos we will fail to energise local government to the challenges of the twenty-first century. It is the people and the communities that local government purports to serve that will be the real losers if this fails to happen. Revitalised council chambers could attract people with dynamism and vision that would make innovative and courageous decisions. Over to you Minister Cullen.

Ciarán Cuffe is a Dáil Deputy for Dún Laoghaire and is the Green Party’s Justice Spokesperson. He can be contacted at Ciaran@CiaranCuffe.Com

References

BALTIC Sea States Subregional Co-operation, http://www.bsssc.com/pages/subregions/denamrk.htm

BARRINGTON, T.J., ‘Local Government Reform: problems to resolve’

Local Economic Development and Administrative Reform, Edited by J.A. Walsh, 1991

DUBLIN REGIONAL AUTHORITY, ‘Compatibility of Regional Boundaries’, DRA (Collins, R), 1995

KELLY, J., ‘Putting Local back into Local Government, Irish Times, June 11th 1988

MARSHALL, A.J., ‘European Regional Policy and Urban Governance: Assessing Dublin’s Experience, European Consortium for Political Joint Sessions, Turin, 2002, http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/jointsessions/paperarchive/turin/ws12/Marshall.pdf