David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ idea has its merits but may give too much power to local authorities, says James Lowman
The government's Big Society philosophy ought to be a good thing for local shops. Surely locally based community businesses, run by people living in the towns they serve, would have a better chance of influencing local decision-making than most?
This may be true, but my initial take is that it holds more risks than opportunities. The government thinks that the more locally made the decision, the better it will be. But in areas such as planning law and alcohol licensing, this isn't the case and the government is turning a blind eye to dodgy local decisions.
National planning law in the form of PPS4 launched last December is broadly a good thing for local shops and town centres. It makes it hard to get permission to build out-of-town stores because developers have to first look for appropriate town centre sites and then prove new stores won't have a detrimental impact on the town centre.
But as the new guidance beds in we are seeing examples of this policy being applied poorly. In two cases we know of in Cambridgeshire, the government has rejected calls to review planning permission granted to out-of-town sites in clear contravention of national policy.
There is also a danger that in their role on alcohol licensing, local authorities may get too much of a free hand. For example, Manchester, Middlesbrough and a host of other councils have announced draft policies including a minimum price per unit. It can't be right for different minimum prices to apply on opposite sides of the same street.
This is an issue much better decided on nationally. The recent Home Office proposals on alcohol will give yet more arbitrary powers to local authorities and will erode rights of appeal for licensees. Is this really what was meant by Big Society: more powers to the state and fewer rights to small businesses?
All this doesn't mean that as a sector we should be working against the grain of policy on localism. Rather, we should see this as an opportunity to re-establish the role of the local retailer as the civic leader, forging links with local councillors, police, licensing officers, planning officers and community groups.
James Lowman is chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores.
The government's Big Society philosophy ought to be a good thing for local shops. Surely locally based community businesses, run by people living in the towns they serve, would have a better chance of influencing local decision-making than most?
This may be true, but my initial take is that it holds more risks than opportunities. The government thinks that the more locally made the decision, the better it will be. But in areas such as planning law and alcohol licensing, this isn't the case and the government is turning a blind eye to dodgy local decisions.
National planning law in the form of PPS4 launched last December is broadly a good thing for local shops and town centres. It makes it hard to get permission to build out-of-town stores because developers have to first look for appropriate town centre sites and then prove new stores won't have a detrimental impact on the town centre.
But as the new guidance beds in we are seeing examples of this policy being applied poorly. In two cases we know of in Cambridgeshire, the government has rejected calls to review planning permission granted to out-of-town sites in clear contravention of national policy.
There is also a danger that in their role on alcohol licensing, local authorities may get too much of a free hand. For example, Manchester, Middlesbrough and a host of other councils have announced draft policies including a minimum price per unit. It can't be right for different minimum prices to apply on opposite sides of the same street.
This is an issue much better decided on nationally. The recent Home Office proposals on alcohol will give yet more arbitrary powers to local authorities and will erode rights of appeal for licensees. Is this really what was meant by Big Society: more powers to the state and fewer rights to small businesses?
All this doesn't mean that as a sector we should be working against the grain of policy on localism. Rather, we should see this as an opportunity to re-establish the role of the local retailer as the civic leader, forging links with local councillors, police, licensing officers, planning officers and community groups.
James Lowman is chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores.
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