Fear is a powerful motivator that can influence behaviour hugely - something becoming increasingly evident in local councils across the country as they try to become financially self-sufficient.
With cuts of up to 40% to local government budgets, it is not surprising that income generation is the new holy grail for councils. Earlier this year a survey by law firm Trowers & Hamlins found that 61% of council leaders fear that parts of the public sector that fail to become financially self-sufficient will be “abolished or lose functions” and thinktank Localis has found that almost one in five senior local government managers expect that within four years, their council will generate up to 30% of revenue through commercial activity.
Butthe repercussions of this are yet to be fully understood. A new set of behaviours is taking over and the vital role of building and nurturing communities is quietly being replaced by the need to make a quick buck.
Building big commercial portfolios, buying housing to develop and let out at higher market rents is just the start. There’s not a building, park or open space that council managers aren’t eying eyeing up to exploit.
Local high streets are very much at the top of their income-generating list. Councils are snapping up shops, banks, pubs and offices. Eastleigh borough council, for example, is now landlord to Lloyds Bank, Wetherspoons and Costa Coffee among others. Such voracious property acquisition is usually linked to all sorts of regeneration schemes that are primarily designed to fill town hall coffers rather than improve communities.
In my own community of Radlett in Hertfordshire there is growing anger at how the council is seeking to force a hotel and a third supermarket on a local high street that doesn’t need one. There’s been little consultation and councillors have admitted the scheme is needed to generate income from a car park that they own. Independent shops will be forced out and the character of the village ruined if it goes ahead.
Clumsy schemes like this make a mockery of the mission statement on the Department for Communities and Local Government website, which claims that the role of government is “to give more power to local people to shape what happens in their area.” With such obvious financial pressures on councils, this sentiment is likely to become increasingly redundant in the years ahead.
When I presented my review on the high street to government three years ago, a key recommendation was that local authorities draw up long-term plans, work with local people and hold public meetings to share their vision of improving their high street.
Our aim was to create modern environments fit for the 21st century that fully met community needs and drove civic pride. The best minds in local government get this. But once we reach a stage where councils are no longer investing in communities but only prioritising schemes that generate the most money for them, the challenge of creating vibrant high streets and sustainable communities will become infinitely harder.
Bill Grimsey is the former chief executive of Wickes and Iceland and author of the Grimsey Review into the high street.
Talk to us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic and sign up for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday.
