20 APRIL 1944, Page 13

ARE TOWN COUNCILS DULL ?

SIR,—Mr. Young apparently fails to appreciate that my article was on the dullness of town councils. It was not intended to deal with their sur- vival, which while highly important is quite another issue. Such survival is, however, closely linked up with the calibre of local representatives, and the quality of those representatives (as of Parliamentary) varies enormously. If every local councillor were energetic, competent and courageous, neither the Government nor the bureaucrats generally would have dared to interfere with local government as they have. It is the weakness, cowardice and slowness of a large number of those responsible for municipal affairs, that has allowed Whitehall to get away with what it has.

I believe local authorities should, by every means in their power, persuade their Parliamentary representatives actively to oppose the present trend toward centralisation. Some of those Parliamentary representatives, however, are in favour of it, others merely indifferent. In my view, utterly irrespective of party politics, local authorities should organise opposition to such members at the first General Election. A showdown on this issue is inevitable, and the local authorities, provided they have the requisite guts, could turn out at an election almost any Parliamentary representative who failed to defend local government. Some municipalities are already holding conferences and towns meetings, and enlisting Par- liamentary support. Others are lamentably slack.

Mr. Cox's statement " Alderman Tiptaft is too modest " has unfortun- ately so far not been generally recognised. Whether these outsize amal- gamations of small authorities. to which he refers. make for greater efficiency is in many cases exceedingly doubtful. Certainly they tend to lose that local touch, and therefore that local interest, which is so valuable in municipal government. There should be an immediate and full enquiry into the powers, duties and future organisation of local government. So far, the Government has deliberately evaded it, while introducing far-reaching changes under the excuse of immediate necessity. It is not time that is lacking, but will.

The Government has already wasted years in failing to define its attitude on outstanding matters like Barlow, Uthwatt and Scott. Had that time been properly used, the whole policy of future local government powers and organisation could by now have been settled. What is crystal clear is the vital necessity for local authorities to unite all their forces and adopt a far more virile policy against central control, than

they have so far done.—Yours faithfully, NORMAN TIPTAFT.

Alderman of the City of Birmingham.

21 St. Paul's Square, Birmingham, 3.