Pickles admits slowdown over elected city mayors

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said the Government would have to take “a much more gradualist” approach after Ministers were forced to drop plans for elected mayors to take on the role of council chief executives as well in the wake of fierce opposition.

Referendums are still due to take place in England’s 11 largest cities next year – including Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Wakefield – so voters can decide whether they wanted elected mayors put in charge, but Ministers had hoped the idea would inspire other towns and cities to hold referenda on the same day.

However, with the Government facing significant opposition to the plans, Ministers admit they may have to move more slowly.

“I’m convinced if the case is put more cities will want to go, but I think we’re now anticipating a much more gradualist approach towards getting elected mayors in,” said Mr Pickles.

Last week the Government also dropped its controversial proposals to turn council leaders into Shadow Mayors before the referendum takes place, an idea which had sparked anger from MPs and councillors who branded it undemocratic.

However, Mr Pickles blamed Labour councillors for suggesting the idea as a way of avoiding local controversies and then failing to back it in public. “It turns out they’d prefer to remain silent so we’ll go back to the original position of not having shadow mayors,” said Mr Pickles.

In a wide-ranging interview with regional journalists in Westminster, a defiant Mr Pickles risked sparking a fresh battle with local government by insisting “with oodles of respect, I think maybe I was right” on the issue of council cuts. Despite councils and unions having warned of devastation caused by local government cuts, he insisted most had proved able to cut spending without forcing thousands of compulsory redundancies.

He also made clear he is still waging his war on fortnightly bin collections, despite his plan to offer councils incentives to empty bins weekly having been vetoed from last week’s Waste Review by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman.

He said he would make an announcement “fairly soon” on measures to ensure that residents are given a weekly collection, which he said was a “reasonable expectation” for households.

“All I want to do is abide by the original idea which was to cut down on disease and infestation,” he said. “It’s not a coincidence the rat population has exploded at a period when people have gone onto fortnightly collections.

“Go on wandering around the dustbins, open them, see what it looks like inside, enjoy the aroma. It’s not good if a council can’t ensure our streets are free from vermin and our rubbish is collected.”