CLES calls for councils’ roles to be reimagined

The Centre for Local Economies Studies (CLES) has called on local authorities to play a more pro-active role with a greater emphasis on community wealth building.

In a new report out today, the think tank calls on councils to use their purchasing power and assets to ‘advance the cause of social and economic justice for all’.

The report argues that ‘the time has come to reset local economic development by placing community wealth building at the heart’ of the post COVID-19 recovery effort.

It calls on local authorities to help reshape local markets and help grow a diversity of generative organisations, which can invigorate local supply chains, ensure healthy competition and reduce the dominance of ‘extractive operators’.

The report also calls for ‘public good’ services, such as electricity, public transport and care, to be fairly priced and accessible to all.

It also calls for local authority pension funds to help fund local investment plans.

‘Beyond their responsibilities to their members, these funds are reservoirs of the wealth which has been built in their place,’ the report states.

‘Their investment decisions should reflect the local roots and values of their members.’

The report also recommends councils buy equity stakes in local companies.

‘In this way, the state can not only recapture economic value as the sector recovers, but social value as it influences ethical corporate, tax, employment, environmental and community practice from the organisation of which it is now an owner,’ it adds.

It also adds that local authorities should invest in local land and property assets for ‘the common good’ and ‘intervene to democratise ownership by purchasing property for future asset transfer to generative organisations’.

‘Last week’s announcements mean that once again officers are being asked to dust off their lists of “shovel ready” projects, to compete against each other to demonstrate that their scheme will have a transformational impact,’ said CLES chief executive, Neil McInroy.

‘To play this game they must suspend what many know to be true and buy into the outdated notion that once investment capital has been secured, wealth, jobs and opportunity will trickle down for all to share.

‘The reality is that over the last decade this approach has done nothing of the sort. In the face of unprecedented economic challenge, we urgently need to reset local economic development,’ added Mr McInroy.

‘Own the future provides what is sorely needed – the tools and levers to build a new economy based on tenets of community wealth building and that functions to create human and environmental wellbeing.’

The full report – Own the Future – is available to read here.

Photo Credit – Nattanan23 (Pixabay)