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Tories propose more council power Tories propose more city mayors
(about 2 hours later)
The Tories say they would give people the chance to veto high council tax rises and introduce elected mayors to 12 English cities. The Conservatives say 12 of England's biggest cities outside London will get a vote on bringing in directly elected mayors if they win power.
Leader David Cameron says ministers have taken too many powers from local authorities over decades. Referendums would be held on a single day in cities including Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield and Liverpool.
The party says councils should reveal more about spending - including pay and perks - to make them more accountable. The party would also allowing voters to veto big council tax rises, it said.
But local government minister John Healey said Labour had reversed the "centralisation of the Thatcher years". But Labour said cities could already choose to have elected mayors and there was "little new" in the plans.
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." Elected mayors were a key plank of Labour's plans to shake-up local democracy but take-up proved patchy.
'Rewards for failure' 'One to blame'
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. For a town or city to hold a referendum on having an elected mayor, it needs a petition signed by 5% of voters - and the majority of areas which held a vote rejected the idea.
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. Instead the Tory proposals would see a series of referendums held across 12 cities on a single day.
Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield could get mayors with similar executive powers to London's Boris Johnson.
FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programmeFROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme
Conservative leader David Cameron said former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine, who carried out a policy review on inner-city regeneration for the party, would help "define the powers of these city mayors".
Mr Cameron told the BBC he was a "big fan" of elected mayors, adding: "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."
Funding 'cuts'
Under the Tory plans, caps on council tax rises would be scrapped. Instead, if increases broke a certain threshold, 5% of council tax payers could trigger a local referendum.
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.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.
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. Regional Development Agencies would lose their planning and housing powers to 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.
'Little new' Mr Cameron says ministers have taken too many powers from local authorities over decades.
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". But local government minister John Healey said: "Labour has devolved power to councils and the public, reversing the centralisation of the Thatcher years.
"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.
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.
For the government, Mr Healey said: "Labour has devolved power to councils and the public, reversing the centralisation of the Thatcher years.
"The Tory proposals offer little new - our major cities can already choose to have a mayor."The Tory proposals offer little new - our major cities can already choose to have a mayor.
"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.""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."
And the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations in England, said it would be a mistake to scrap all house-building targets.
Chief executive David Orr said: "Targets ensure there's a clear link between priorities and government spending. They also ensure that, as a nation, we have a clear assessment of the scale of need, and they help to concentrate the minds of central and local government and house-builders alike."