In September 1996, the ACC, ADC and AMA continued the push for power by local authorities through Agenda 21 by issuing a consultation document on an Environmental Manifesto for Local Government, as part of a series designed to stimulate debate in the run up to the General Election and influence the agenda for the next Parliament. The general claim in respect of the environmental role of local government was (pi):
Local government's activist role as stewards and enablers for sustainable development needs to be recognised and supported by central government. In addition a clear division of labour, or partnership, between central and local government is needed if the goal of sustainable development is to be attainable.
More specifically, however, it asked that local authorities be given a 'power of community initiative' to lead and enable local action to protect and enhance the environment including the development of the LA21 process and the development of local strategies for sustainable development taking account of environmental, economic and social concerns. It also asked that local authorities should be given a duty to '...promote the social, economic and environmental condition and wellbeing of their areas taking into account the need to promote the overall objective of sustainable development.' (p2) In support of these new powers and duties, the associations asked that there be a review of local government
financing with the aim of seeing how sustainable development might be supported and to consider the potential for local 'green' charges, for example on pollution and waste, while allowing a greater proportion of local expenditure to be raised locally.
The Manifesto asked that both the power of community initiative and the requested new general duty to promote the well being of the local authority's area be included in an early local government Bill.
These new responsibilities and freedoms for local authorities were clearly the brokered product of what (almost totally Labour controlled) UK local government expected of a New Labour Government. This illustrated, well, the opportunistic way in which UK local government had successfully woven its long time hopes for them into the LA21 debate. This has been a successful campaign. It now appears that the power (or freedom) of community initiative and the related general responsibility to promote the well being of the area and improved local tax raising ability will all be given to UK local government within the first two years of the Government elected to power in May 1997.
Finally, it was claimed in the local government Environmental Manifesto that 'Regeneration programmes, such as the Single Regeneration Budget should, where appropriate, be subjected to full environmental assessment and sustainabiltiy criteria.' (p4) The way in which regeneration schemes neglect the environment and contradict the aims of LA21 were frequently cited by respondents to this research.
Local Authorities' Seizure of the Agenda 21 Opportunity (for Becoming More Governmental.)
Many UK local authorities had most likely, either consciously or not, through their pursuit of Agenda 21 and other environmental objectives, made a contribution to securing this victory. As Ward (1993:466) argues, A21 has been seized on by many UK local authorities because:
It provides an opportunity to prove to a sceptical local electorate and an unsympathetic central government that they have a useful and popular role in a democratic society. Developing and promoting environmental policies is. therefore, a way of creating new political space for local authorities through the concept of local guardians of the environment and equally a way of defending their traditional service role.
Others have also argued that, faced with a crisis of their democratic role as manifested in low turn outs at local elections and with the professions embattled by contracting out, UK local authorities have responded well to the environmental challenge (Cairns, 1996; Hambleton, 1993; Stewart, 1993: 21-23 and 1994: 49-50).
Comparative evidence, certainly, indicates that local authorities have responded actively to the Agenda 21 requirements and that there is considerable apparent enthusiasm if not necessarily very much basic ideological commitment; probably more so than almost anywhere else in Europe. At the LA21 UK Environmental Coordinators Meeting in Norway (UNCED, 1996:15), for instance, it was estimated that only in Sweden had 100% of local authorities taken up the challenge against 10% in Germany, 30% in Italy and 60% in the UK and Denmark.26
This activity is also demonstrated by Tuxworth and Thomas’ (1997) analysis of the most recent survey by the Local Government Management Board into the progress of the Local Agenda 21 initiative (November, 1996)27. All UK authorities (475 at the time) were questioned and 297 responded. O f the 297,96% claimed that their authority was committed to participating in the Agenda 21 process. 42% claimed that this commitment took the form of strong support and commitment to change in the authority's operations but 48% claimed only more tentative support (4% said 'no support yet'). Bearing in mind that authorities returning the questionnaires are likely to be more committed than those which do not, it seems that a very clear majority of authorities are not considered, even by their own
25 See also Adams (1993) for a UK - Canada comparison of the responses of public authorities