Localism is not the end of local authorities' role

16 September 2011 1 min read John Freeman Education

While the coalition's rhetoric has been localism and the empowerment of local communities, this has most clearly been manifested in ways that seem to exclude local authorities.

Rather, the notion of localism seems to rest on local action at the level of the individual institution - academies and free schools.

It is clear that the Secretary of State is aiming for almost all schools to be autonomous from local authorities during this parliament. (In fact, of course, they will just swap the local authority for the Secretary of State.)

So will the education role of local authorities inevitably wither? I believe that there will be a continuing role, but very different from the last half century.

The white paper The Importance of Teaching envisages local authorities as champions for children and parents. Indeed, I was encouraged to see Young People's Learning Agency chief Peter Lauener urging them to pick up the gauntlet of local leadership.

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