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Tories propose more council power Tories propose more council power
(about 2 hours later)
Council chiefs should publish their pay and perks to make them more accountable to local people, the Tories say. The Tories say they would give people the chance to veto high council tax rises and introduce elected mayors to 12 English cities.
The party is due to publish proposals which it says would take more power from central government and give it to local authorities in England. Leader David Cameron says ministers have taken too many powers from local authorities over decades.
The Tories also want to introduce directly elected mayors in 12 cities. The party says councils should reveal more about spending - including pay and perks - to make them more accountable.
Leader David Cameron is expected to say that he wants a "fundamental shift of power and wealth to local people and local institutions". But local government minister John Healey said Labour had reversed the "centralisation of the Thatcher years".
Under the new proposals, caps on council tax rises would be scrapped, allowing people to veto excessive rises in local referendums. Mr Cameron told the BBC he was a "big fan" of elected mayors for big cities: "I think it helps accountability. People then know there is one person that they can praise when they get it right, that they can blame when they get it wrong."
The Conservatives will produce what they call their green paper on decentralisation on Tuesday - which includes plans to give people "real influence" over local councils. 'Rewards for failure'
Planning Under the Conservative proposals, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield would get mayors with similar executive powers to London's Boris Johnson.
It includes proposals to make councils publish detailed information on expenditure, including senior staff's pay and perks and guidance to stop "rewards for failure" for sacked workers. Caps on council tax rises would also be scrapped. Instead, if increases broke a certain threshold, 5% of council tax payers could trigger a local referendum.
During his speech to launch the Conservative's Green Paper, Mr Cameron is expected to argue that Britain has become "one of the most centralised countries in the developed world". FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm">More from Today programme
The Tory leader will say: "At the same time as taking democratic powers off local councils, Labour has placed a whole pile of bureaucratic burdens on them. The Conservatives also propose making councils publish detailed information on expenditure, including senior staff's pay and perks and guidance to stop "rewards for failure" for sacked workers.
"Labour have clogged up local government with a mind-boggling 1,200 centrally imposed targets. Regional Development Agencies would lose their planning and housing powers to local councils and the party says it would scrap the controversial Infrastructure Planning Commission - set up by the government to take decisions on major projects like airports to streamline the planning process.
"If we had more local discretion, if we allowed more decisions to be made at the local level, and more money to be spent at the local level, then we'd have better outcomes and more things that actually work. 'Little new'
"That's what this Green Paper is all about." Shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Labour had created a new tier of regional government - such as regional development agencies - which acted as an "arm of central government".
The party also says it would scrap the controversial Infrastructure Planning Commission - set up by the government to take decisions on major projects like airports to streamline the planning process. "It's not actually accountable, and it took power away from local government so that people feel when regional decisions are made that they are being imposed on them and they can't actually influence the way that decision impacts their local community," she added.
The Tories argue that the government plans to use it to "force through the environmentally damaging Heathrow expansion". Mr Cameron argues that Britain has become "one of the most centralised countries in the developed world" and local government has been "clogged up" by bureaucracy and centrally imposed targets.
The 12 cities earmarked for directly elected mayors, which would have executive powers similar to the mayor of London, are:
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  • Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield, Wakefield.
For the government, Mr Healey said: "Labour has devolved power to councils and the public, reversing the centralisation of the Thatcher years.
Other plans include allowing councils to benefit financially from building more houses and from encouraging new businesses in their area. "The Tory proposals offer little new - our major cities can already choose to have a mayor.
Regional Development Agencies would lose their planning and housing powers to local councils and the Tories say they would end Whitehall's ability to cap council tax rises - instead allowing local people to veto excessive rises using local referendums. "The Tories say they back councils but are set to cut cash for local authorities, meaning increases to council tax bills or cuts to local services, at a time when people need real help the most."
Mr Cameron has previously described capping bills in England and Wales as "an old-fashioned idea straight out of the bureaucratic age".