Ministers attacked for underfunding voting incentives

Aug 9 2008 by William Green, The Journal

MINISTERS are under fire over a £279m local democracy overhaul that could leave North East councils with just a few hundred pounds to provide voting “incentives”.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears last month proposed a package to boost local democracy – from encouraging more directly elected mayors to voting “incentives” to combat low turnout, such as prize draws and offering refreshments.

Her department subsequently said it had assumed £1,000 would be spent per authority per election on providing a small reward as an incentive. But just £110,000 has been earmarked, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Based on the number of local elections this year, the cash would provide around £687 for each council – sparking questions about the project’s worth and whether administration costs would be higher than the prize.

The amount contrasts with the £2m allocated yearly for introducing and regulating directly elected mayors. And more than £3m annually has been set aside to increase the use of petitions.

The bill for a “duty to promote democracy” has been put at £32m a year, while three-monthly public hearings involving council bosses could cost £630,000 annually.

The overall cost of the package to the DCLG has been put at £279m between 2008 and 2011, with yet-to-be finalised costs also falling on other Government departments.

Senior Newcastle Liberal Democrat councillor Greg Stone said: “They are talking about back of the fag packet calculations on this. I think it is a classic case of the Labour Government coming up with the headlines first and struggling to think of the details afterwards.”

He warned about centralising power in an elected mayor, saying proposals to hand power over policing to them was a “recipe for sound bites” rather than action.

Sir Jeremy Beecham, vice-chairman of the Local Government Association, questioned whether voting incentives would “see the light of day” and whether they would have an impact anyway, but welcomed “substantial” proposals about petitioning.

A DCLG spokeswoman said the “milestone” plans would take time and resources, but would be met within its budget.

She said the biggest single investment was a £70m fund to help local groups run services and community facilities, such as swimming pools.

The spokeswoman confirmed councils would be allowed to provide voting incentives, but insisted it did not mean spending a lot of money – with options including a free draw or offering refreshments at the polling station.