Change is on the horizon for local government across the country - Carl Les
We live in a time of change, and that change is accelerating both in occurrence and impact. For many, change is unwelcome and worrying. This is often a function of age. In my business life I wanted to change things, to improve them - my opinion, frequently and often.
My father was the arbiter, having started with nothing he reminded me it was easy to spend money, less easy to make it. As the owner of the business and the keeper of the purse strings his opinion prevailed more than mine. When in later years the decision-making passed to me alone, there was still a sizeable block on change, on improvement - my opinion, in the form of the taxman and inheritance tax.
That`s why the situation of land owning farmers has such a resonance with me at the moment. But change did still happen, only much less frequently than I would have liked, and I recognised it became more challenging as I inevitably grew older. Even when welcome, change isn`t easy. There are numerous firms of experts who make a good living by offering and assisting with the management of change, and how to do it successfully.
Robert Kennedy, John F Kennedy`s younger brother was a politician of note in his own right. He was Attorney General in JFK`s administration, and notably by his side in the Cuban missile crisis in the early 60s. But not so well known is that he was also a prolific speech writer especially for his brother, one of the greatest orators amongst United States presidents.
People of my generation will never forget his inauguration address “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” and on his visit to show solidarity to the divided city of Berlin “all the world can say Ich bin ein Berliner”. The 1960s was perhaps the start of the change generation, and Bobby Kennedy wrote “Ask not whether change is coming. Ask rather how you may influence that change”.
We have great moments of change happening around us at present (great as in impact, not necessarily great in welcome).
Certainly welcome is the news that Israel and Hamas have agreed a ceasefire. Whatever the rights and wrongs in the conflict, nobody can deny Israel the right to defend its citizens and its existence against attack, most notably the October terrorist onslaught. It is welcome that if the ceasefire holds there will be the release of all the hostages, and no more casualties on either side amongst the innocent. It is a fact that no matter how successful a military conflict is, at some point diplomacy has to take its place to provide a solution, otherwise it becomes a military occupation which is a continuation of conflict in slow motion.
With the re-election of President Trump this week, great change is coming not only in the USA but also in international affairs. Whether all these will be welcome or not will depend on your opinion, but his intervention appears to have assisted in the peace talks about Gaza, and may also bring about a solution in the illegal invasion of Ukraine. It will remain to be seen if some of his pre-election rhetoric comes to fruition, “drill baby drill”, using the National Guard to round up 22 million illegal immigrants, annexing Greenland and the Panama Canal by economic or military means. The United States came into being through a struggle for independence, and grew in size with California and Texas by similar means. Louisiana and Alaska were economic land acquisitions. But those were in different times of change.
Great change is coming in the world of local government. The new government’s budget will have an unwelcome impact on our finances through increases in minimum wage and National Insurance. Most unwelcome is the shift in the local government settlement from supporting services in rural areas to targeting areas of deprivation. We must seek to influence this change, not least because it was done at the stroke of a pen, with no transition period for us to adjust. Nobody will argue about addressing deprivation, but it is not right to overlook the fact that services in rural areas cost more to deliver.
Structural change is coming to local government across the country. The movement from two tiers of government to unitary councils is likely to happen across the rest of the country where it doesn`t exist already. We were visited by the Local Government Association this week to learn from our experience. Foremost is increased efficiency and savings.
Locally it is difficult to see anything to welcome in the news about the cheese facility at Kirby Malzeard. When Hawes Creamery was scheduled for closure local management and investors got together and delivered a rescue plan that not only saved the creamery, but actually grew it. Unwelcome change at first, influenced to an advantage. Kirby has long since stopped being a production unit and is packaging and storage now. This change is very unwelcome. We must influence it to some advantage.
Carl Les is the Leader of North Yorkshire Council.