Western Mail comment - 16 January 2009
It is a feature of political bodies everywhere that they tend to delude themselves that they’re more powerful than they actually are. It’s a misconception that appears at all levels of elected office and, as we report today, it can be at its worst in Wales’ county halls.
Not everyone at Swansea Council is impressed that the venerable body is spending its time discussing the crisis in Gaza. That’s not to say that international crisis isn’t a serious business – but surely the Foreign Office has more chance of brokering a ceasefire than Swansea Council?
This is not a new phenomenon. The campaign to declare Wales a “nuclear free zone” was conducted through a series of votes at the then-eight county councils. The effect, of course, was symbolic.
Likewise, the Assembly has grappled with the question of whether it should discuss matters over which it has no control – the war in Iraq being the most high-profile flashpoint. It may be a body elected to represent Wales, but AMs would do better to concentrate on using the powers they have.
The plain fact is that local government in Wales has a very specific set of powers. It raises funds through grants from the Assembly Government and charging us council tax; it then spends that money on schools, rubbish collections, leisure facilities and so on.
We elect councillors to monitor the delivery of those services, making changes where necessary. Councillors have plenty to discuss, and the people who elect them would surely expect them to concentrate on local issues.
Swansea council isn’t the only offender, to be fair to Wales’ second city. But there shouldn’t be safety in numbers: councillors should stick to dealing with the issues they were elected to look at.
Any politicians who want to deal with foreign affairs, can, of course, stand for election to Westminster. There are tiers of democracy in the UK; voters are sophisticated enough to know who does what, and politicians should do the same. It isn’t as if there aren’t big questions for local government to grapple with. Councils are being hit by the credit crunch just like everyone else, with settlements likely to be tighter and demands for their services getting higher.
That would be enough to keep most of us busy, and Wales expects its elected politicians to be doing everything in their power to benefit the country during an economic downturn.
The Welsh Local Government Association tells us today that it is: “up to each council how it runs its monthly meeting agendas”.
And that neatly summarises the point. Councillors can choose to discuss things they have no control over, if they want. But their voters are watching. A key feature of democracy is, of course, the ability to remove councillors if they don’t spend their time addressing the issues we expect them to.
