Commission on Electoral Arrangements for Local Government
As a Liberal Democrat I am
committed to Local Government and local democracy even though in practice they
appear to be not always the same thing.
As a Councillor since 1984 and a former Leader of the Opposition on
Swansea Council, it is my view that Local Government in Wales is not
representative of the people it serves, does not always serve their best
interests, often fails in it leadership role and plays lip service to
consultation with, and the empowerment of its citizens.
When I was elected in 1984
at the age of 24 I was the youngest Councillor on Swansea City Council and one
of a sizeable minority with a full time job.
Today, seventeen years later, I am the second youngest Councillor on the
City and County of Swansea and one of only a handful in full-time
employment. The growth of the cabinet
system has marginalised the majority of councillors on that and other
authorities, regardless of whether they are in opposition or part of the ruling
group. This, combined with the
abolition of attendance allowances and their replacement with a flat rate
payment means that most of those backbench and opposition Councillors have no
reason to attend meetings, though most of them do, as being retired or
unemployed they have centred their life around their Council work.
The fact that one party has
an overwhelming majority means that they dominate all proceedings including
Scrutiny Committees, which they also chair, and as a result scrutiny has failed
to bite in any meaningful way. Meetings
are in general held in the mornings, which can make it impossible for working
people to be Councillors. Swansea
Council in common with many other Welsh Councils (and I exclude Cardiff from
this as it holds main Council meetings at sensible times) is run for the
benefit of the retired, the unemployed and the unemployable. Any comparison of its make up by age,
employment status, or socio-economic status with those people it seeks to
represent will conclude that there is a serious mismatch.
The outcome of all of this
is that there is lack of suitable professional and other experience on the
Council in project management and forward planning which, taken together with
the vested interests built into a static political situation, means that the
Council is failing to take the lead it should in re-building Swansea. This is the view of the vast majority of
people and is supported by an independent IDEA health check of the Council,
which concluded, that Swansea: -
The picture painted by this
report is of a Council stuck in a rut and failing to meet the demands of the
new modernisation agenda. Speaking to
Councillors and officers around Wales I can testify to the fact that these
faults are not isolated to one Council but are prevalent in the paternalistic
culture of Welsh local Government political management. It is evidenced at a
National level by the attitude of Council Leaders to Best Value and many other
reforms, which they believe should be on their terms and should not disrupt the
cosy culture of inertia built up over many years in Welsh Local Government.
The point is that this inertia
has at its roots the lack of political change.
The first past the post system of elections has enshrined majority party
status for parties who can only command a minority of the votes. Barring seismic shifts such as those in
Swansea in 1976 and Rhondda Cynon Taff in 1999, the ruling party is largely
isolated from electoral pressures and survives by making small concessions to
public opinion whilst leaving the overall direction and culture of the Council
unchanged.
The result is local
government, which is unrepresentative and remote both in political and
managerial terms. Not only are working
and younger people put off from standing by the culture that faces them and the
times and venues of meetings but the odds are stacked against them succeeding other
than by working the system within the ruling party and abiding by their rules.
The disparity of how
people’s votes are cast to outcomes is demonstrated in Table Two. The comparison is frightening and is more so
when one realises that it does not just relate to the 1999 local Council
elections but to elections prior to them going back to the beginning of
universal suffrage. In Blaenau Gwent
for example the ruling Labour Group has 81% of the seats with 45.7% of the
vote. In Bridgend, Labour rule with 75.9% of the seats but only 40% of the
vote. In Rhondda Cynon Taff, Plaid
Cymru have 56% of the seats on 43.3% of the vote whilst in Newport Labour have
85.1% of the seats with only 44.6% of the vote. In Cardiff, Flintshire, Neath Port Talbot, Swansea and Torfaen it
is the same story - political inertia based on unequal outcomes.
What is more the poor
turnout in local elections, in my view demonstrates how people are resigned to
the fact that their vote cannot change things.
The vast majority of people in these Councils live in wards considered
safe for one party or another and no matter how disillusioned they are prefer
to express their disillusionment through absenteeism rather than by casting a
positive vote for change. That is
because they know that under the present system the odds are stacked against
them.
The case for change is
overwhelming. Whilst Councils remain
entrenched in political and managerial inertia then they will not respond to
pressures to reform either from Government or the electorate. They are largely
able to pay lip-service to public opinion and it is only through opening them
up to the possibility of change by ensuring that electoral outcomes reflect the
votes cast, that we will ensure that Local Government becomes the sort of
modern and responsive local democracy which Wales needs and which can be
trusted with full responsibility for its own destiny.
I do not wish to enter into
a discussion on the merits and de-merits of various PR systems, as it seems to
me that this would be a distraction from the main case for reform. However, given the political traditions of
Wales it seems to me that there must be a number of pre-requisites for any new
electoral system. Firstly, it must be
proportional and achieve an outcome as close as possible to the way people
voted. It must retain a link between an
elected member and his/her ward and ensure that every Councillor has a clear
constituency to represent and does not or is not perceived as being a different
type of Councillor to any other. In my
view that rules out any top up system similar to that used for elections to the
National Assembly for Wales.
Thirdly, it must belong to
the electorate and thus be immune to the influence of Political Parties and
their candidate selection procedures, giving them the belief that their vote is
meaningful and worth casting. In other
words there must be no safe seats belonging to any one party and voters should
be able to choose to vote for a candidate rather than a party list. Fourthly, it should respect the Independent
tradition and not disadvantage those wishing to stand for election without
affiliation to a particular party.
Fifthly, it should encourage
people to stand for election by giving them hope of being elected. Finally, it should assist women and ethnic
minority candidates by enabling them to be treated as individuals in their own
right and offering them an equal chance of election.
In my view First Past the
Post does not meet those criteria but the Single Transferable Vote system of
election does. It already works
successfully in Northern Ireland where turnout is significantly higher than
that in Wales. The Northern Ireland
experience also demonstrates that people are capable of using and understanding
this system. In both 2001 and 1997 local elections were held on the same day as
the General Election and people were asked to complete two ballot papers, one
with a cross and one by numbering candidates in order of preference. There was little difference in turnout – the
turnout was 68.2% for Parliament compared to 66% for the Town Hall. In England on 7 June 2001 local elections
were also held on the same day as the General Election. In this instance the
turnout for the National election was 59.4% compared to 62.1% for the local
vote. Clearly, the obsession of the UK Government in using PR systems, which
require people to vote with a cross is not necessary.
My submission therefore is
that Local Government needs to reform and that the STV system of voting should
be used as the new electoral system.
The multi-member wards, which it requires are already prevalent in
Councils across Wales whilst the option remains to either create multi-member
wards where they do not exist or to use the alternative vote where to do so would
create unacceptably large wards.
A number of other issues are
contained in the terms of reference for this Commission. One that has been raised is persuading
older, long serving Councillors to stand down to make way for new blood. I am opposed to paying off such
Councillors. A number of older
Councillors are very capable, good community politicians and bring much needed
experience to the job. There should be
no time limit on the period somebody can serve as a Councillor. That should be
a matter for them, their party and the electorate. Under an STV system such pay-offs will not be necessary as the
emphasis on the individual rather than the party will root out those who are
cruising on the back of a solid majority for their party rather than them.
Finally, I would argue
strongly that the way that Councils operate is a key factor in persuading
younger and newer blood. Councils must
be flexible and take into account working patterns in the way that they operate
if they are to be representative of their community. Adequate and fair remuneration is a factor in persuading
candidates to come forward but so are good working conditions, support and the
impact on their career. Councils must
be sensitive to these factors.
Peter Black AM
Liberal Democrat
South Wales West
11 October 2001