LGA set to argue case for devolution with Whitehall

摘要

Local Government Association (LGA) chair David Sparks will take the case to Whitehall for devolution to be delivered to all English councils within 10 years. Cllr Sparks and his counterparts from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland met in Edinburgh on Tuesday to thrash out a joint statement they hope will provide a platform to take forward the devolution argument. He told The MJ: 'There's clearly a common agenda and within that there are unique characteristics that means one solution doesn't always fit all. Working together we can help each other.' However, the meeting was held amid council scepticism about civil servants' and national politicians' commitment to genuine devolution. At a public meeting last week, LGA chief executive Carolyn Downs decried the amount of movement from mandarins on devolution and claimed there had been 'a lot of absorb and deflect'. She added: 'I can only say I don't think devolution has been so positively received by civil servants.'