The Cullingworth Guide to Better Government No.1: Smaller councils

I have spent an entertaining half hour or so reading the minutes of Keighley Town Council (known to its detractors as Trumpton - although that was a fine and efficient place) and a selection of competing letter written to the Keighley News, that towns august journal of record.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of parish councils and a supporter of Keighley Town Council (although I think it's a little too large for an effective parish). And this post isn't about that issue but about the issue that underlies Keighley Town Council's existence - the creation of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in 1972 from a hodge-podge of neighbouring authorities, large and small.

The argument for these big councils was that bigger councils meant bigger efficiencies. And that argument still underlies the ridiculous unitary councils that are cropping up - providing nice little earners for us fat cat councillors. But I have two concerns with all this...

1. Are these Councils really more efficient than smaller councils? I was Deputy Leader of one and saw the scale of waste and inefficiency. Even turning in every day there was no way I as a mere Councillor stood a chance of challenging this waste. Such places are rife with directors of performance. All with their PA, their policy officers, their assistants, their assistant PAs and their admin officers. Plus a vast army all single-mindedly focused on greater efficiency (which would of course be best achieved by them abolishing their own jobs)

2. Are these Councils more effective than smaller councils? I wrote about this a while back and have seen nothing to change my mind. Smaller councils are more responsive, more customer focused and (yes, my dear director of performance) more effective than the big metropolitan councils and unitaries.

So today's modest proposal:

Recreate local authorities at a human level - for Keighley & Airedale, for Wharfedale and for Morley. They can't do much worse than what we've got now, can they? Not too small - about the size of the average London Borough (you know the ones that always come top of the efficiency league and are noted for delivering better services like Wandsworth, Camden and Westminster).