THE DETERMINANTS OF VOTER TURNOUT IN ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN017348 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Managing Politics? Good conduct and ethics regulation in English local government

In many countries, an important driver for concern about public values arises from falling trust in public institutions. One widely identified explanation has been the conduct of politicians, to which governments around the globe have responded by creating systems of ethics regulation and reform. This includes England, where measures instigated by the 2000 Local Government Act took a particularly centralised approach to improving conduct in local government, consisting of a standardised and formalised code of conduct with which councillors must comply, and machinery for exercising and adjudicating complaints against the code. This paper draws upon research which assesses the impact of this ethical regulation on the conduct of councillors, using insights from Foucauldian perspectives on government and critiques of government ‘modernisation’. As will be shown, the uneven effects of the framework can be interpreted from the extent to which the ‘technologies of power’ and ‘technologies of self’ have translated effectively into practices across local government. Our research found that resistance to ethics regulation often arose where councillors resisted the models of political identity and behaviour it was perceived to promote. Particular concentrations of complaints and misconduct were identified where councillors believe that recent changes in political management – including moves to cabinet executives under the auspices of ‘political modernisation’ – have caused a widespread loss of voice among elected representatives. The paper concludes with reflections on the near total abolition of the ethical framework in 2011 - itself the culmination of mounting resistance - and the extent to which political conduct can be managed by such practices of modernisation

Review of the role and functions of elected members: literature review

The research had three main aims: To provide Assembly Ministers and officials with a view of the effectiveness and efficiency of councillors in conducting their functions within the modern political structures introduced by the Local Government Act 2000, Suggest any improvements which might be considered for the operation of scrutiny functions in local government, and Make proposals about the appropriate numbers of councillors within the county and county borough councils. Research Methods The research team drew on four main sources of evidence: An extensive desk review of existing national policies, strategies, research, and local authority documentation A series of fifteen semi-structured national stakeholder interviews:including policy makers, local government specialists, the inspectorates, and officials from the four main political parties Eight in-depth case studies and a programme of telephone interviews in twelve local authorities with a wide range of executive and nonexecutive members, council officers and representatives of other local agencies including Local Health Boards, Fire and Rescue Service, Police Authorities, Further Education Colleges, and Voluntary Services Five deliberative regional workshops with council officers and elected members. A total of 302 interviews were conducted. The qualitative research took place between September and November 2006. Our report, which was submitted in February 2007, led to a number of new policy initiative including a formal response issued by the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government in the summer of 2007

Regulation inside government: processes and impacts of inspection of local public services

Previous research has highlighted an unprecedented increase in the scale, scope and intensity of regulation inside government in the UK, and growing concerns about its cost and effectiveness. Empirical analysis of 'BestValue' inspections of local government suggests that the processes of inspection were transparent and applied in a reasonably consistent manner. However, the direct and indirect costs were high; the fragmented nature of inspection regimes posed significant problems for inspected bodies; the adversarial nature of inspections militated against self-assessment; and there was little meaningful involvement by service users