In a Municipal Journal feature article, entitled Under the Influence, he criticises a possible new performance indicator that suggests Council should be judged on how well residents believe they can influence local decisions.

 

He calls the proposal "crude" and says: "What this indicator actually does i throw into stark relief just how centralised and market drive a country we live in".

 

"We can see that 'local' issues are not as easily defined as the government might wish to think.  The list of issues is a long one, and includes:  the closure of post offices, crowding on communter trains, closure of small health units, a lack of dentists and the cost of water/water meters.... A local authority may have a view and may even be an advotcate on behalf of its resdients, but residents clearly feel that they have little influence over these matters, as indeed do local authorities themselves."

 

You can read the full feature by clicking here.