Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A lesson from Detroit: what happens when localism goes wrong
Ministers should prepare councils for the great responsibility that comes with the great power they are being given, says says Hannah Fearn in the Guardian whose article uses Detroit as a lesson on how a city has been left bankrupt by corrupt myopic politicians and weak policies from central government warning that while corruption might not be so much of a problem in the UK, incompetence might be.
Tags for Forum Posts: localism
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Liz, you might remember this about the sad case of Detroit. It seems that neither the State (Michigan) nor the Federal government, are willing to help.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Yes, I do remember. And if a London Borough started to fall apart through incompetent management, how willing would the Mayor of London or Westminster be to 'help', especially if the borough was run by 'the other party'? Just musing really as I have no idea but I'm guessing something similar to Detroit where an emergency 'manager' has been appointed. On the other hand, if the borough has a strong and hands-on CEO, then incompetence might not lead to disaster.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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I thought that Detroit fell apart when the car manufacuring plants all closed at the same time. If Haringey were 99% invested in making cars and nothing but cars and then the car manufacturers pulled out what would happen to the borough ?
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Tottenham was once the home of several factories and lots of light industry, 99% of which have disappeared since the 1980s. Retail and food provides a few jobs but at the lower paid end. Tottenham has v high unemployment and the consequent hardship that comes with that.
What if through incompetence, the council struggled to balance the books and the roads were suddenly not swept, the bins not collected, the teachers in the schools weren't paid, the adult social care disappeared and there were pay cuts for those employed by the council. How would Tottenham and, indeed, the whole of Haringey look? But it doesn't have to be Haringey. Look at Barnet's experiments in outsourcing or Liverpool struggling to cope with the effects of the Bedroom Tax on areas already blighted.
As the article asks if more and more responsibility is devolved to local level in response to the Localism Act, "what happens if (when) local leaders just aren't up to the job."?
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Liz my point was that Detroit had invested in car making ONLY. If you have a medley of differing product manufacturing (like was in tottenham etc) then the impact of closures is spread out and local economies have the chance to survive. Unlike Detroit which really did put all its eggs in one basket.
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True but if you have a central government that doesn't do anything about the impact then all that happens is that local economies just take longer to die.
This doesn't have to be about Tottenham, although it has to be said that the dismantling of the manufacturing base in the 1980s there was quick and painful .
Many Northern towns were based around a single industry such as coal. Perhaps the only thing preventing total collapse is a competent local council, a National health service and a welfare system (now being dismantled). The article suggests that extra responsibilities devolved through the Localism act without competent councils to implement them could spell disaster for the those who have been forced to rely heavily on them: the old, the poor, the disabled.
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I'm beginning to see what you mean now Liz. Thanks.
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Yes, the failure of Detorit to compete, mainly with Japanese car makers, is the background, but I think a British government might have done more to ease the transition to other manufacturing or otherwise. Ordinary workers especially pensioners have suffered mightily by the poor governance in Motown.
Here, competence is the question for local government. In Haringey, IMO, the library service is run competently.
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