London Government
XCEPF for the last slanging match het"een George Brown and Enoch Powell. the t'vti: day debate on the London Government Bill gaV; little foretaste of the battle royal that will "n1 in the New Year. The Government's plans to re- vive interest in local government by centric): services round compact boroughs with a c:f: ordinating body in the Greater London Authoredi went forward unscathed, but considerably dent Tortuous work in committee will straighten obt some of these dents. The suspicion remains that in its haste to push the Bill through l'arharticjics the Government will only create new anon13110 that will make another review necessary in iteer years' time. The powers of the projected Grea „ London Authority have been so whittled away
especially in traffic and housing development, that the reforms may have the effect of diminish- ing rather than reviving interest in the govern- ment of London. Yet the volume of work appor- tioned to the new GLA must make payment of members essential as a spur to interest. And how can the Bill be regarded as a thorough measure While the City, with 5,000 citizens, retains any pretence of borough status? The devolving of Personal services on the boroughs may, initially at any rate, cause more chaos than it is supposed to remedy. Various details of the plan have been attacked by architects, teachers, doctors, magis- trates, child workers and local government officials: some of their fears were based on an exaggerated nostalgia for the present system, Others on anger at the proposed scrapping of the LCC and its built-in Labour majority. Yet there are also several anomalies that must be remedied before this Bill becomes law, so that this much- needed reform of London government will pro- duce a network of services that will be sufficient to meet not only existing demands but also the increasing needs of the next decade.
The whole business of governing cities torn apart by the increasing demands of motor traffic and swollen by surplus population requires more research than it gets. Reform of London's gov- ernment deal should be followed by an attempt to
With the Manchester and Birmingham conurbations.
Previous page
