United Kingdom Unitary state

Reforms

For the past few years, the United Kingdom has witnessed a substantial scaling back of the State at local level.

Since the start of the economic and financial crisis, several laws have modified how local governments operate in the United Kingdom. In particular, they can now count on broader powers in the areas of health and social services (in England). At the same time, British local governments must deal with a substantial withdrawal of the state. Since these restructurings first took place, the central state has reduced its financial transfers to local governments by around 33% (in England), and new restrictions might be introduced in the coming months.

Local councils in the United Kingdom must therefore find solutions in order to properly manage their competences. Large-scale cost reduction programmes made it possible to lower local expenditures by 12.5% between 2010 and 2012, a result reached in part by the existence of inter-municipal cooperation agreements, which cover 95% of the country’s local governments. Local and regional council workers also have cause for concern with cuts in jobs and salaries. Lastly, 40% of local governments increased their taxes in 2013, passing the effects of state cutbacks onto the citizens. In the event where no remedy can be found, this situation can lead to the discontinuance of certain local services.

Local governments in Scotland have separate jurisdiction within the UK, but must also deal with major budget restrictions. They just faced the centralisation of police, fire and some social services. However, there are more approaches, such as the emphasis on preventative spending, integrated local-central outcome-based approaches, and community planning. Certain plans propose reducing the number of local councils from 32 to 15, affecting a population of 5 million inhabitants over the next few years. Moreover, this follows the decentralisation of local competences by the Scottish government.

Local self-government in the United Kingdom:

Unlike other European countries, it is not the prospect of having their competences recentralized which preoccupies British local governments, but rather the perceptible withdrawal of the central authority. This means that even though local councils enjoy wide latitude when it comes to political action, their local autonomy may encounter problems in the future as a result of these economic difficulties.