Cllr Charlotte Kenyon represents Pulborough on West Sussex County Council.

One of the things that our new party leader, Kemi Badenoch, talked about at our party conference in Birmingham was “the Blair/Brown legacy”: the constitutional changes they introduced, the increasing reliance on extra-governmental authorities and arms-length bodies and the embedding of New Labour philosophy across government, all of which has never been ‘wound back’. 

Over time, it has become increasingly clear how profound and long-lasting these changes have become. In Kemi’s words “the Left never left”. It feels as if it has become increasingly difficult to implement Conservative policies, even when that is what the electorate has voted for. Disappointment and frustration inevitably follow the perceived failure to deliver on expectations and promises made, contributing to the electoral defeat we recently suffered. A correction is required.

In theory, quangos balance the benefits of governmental oversight with the flexibility, independence and expertise of private sector organisations. In practice, it leads to the transfer of decision-making authority away from elected representatives. It might appear superficially appealing to distance the delivery of public services from politics but in reality, this weakens accountability: who does the electorate turn to if they’re unhappy? Who’s responsible? 

This issue of accountability is as relevant to local government as it is to central government. If residents are unhappy with local service delivery it is to their elected members that they turn, in the hope and expectation that something will be done. They assume that elected members are in control and will hold us responsible if they are dissatisfied. We carry the can when things don’t work but there’s a limit to what we can do.

In theory, elected members are responsible for deciding policies and priorities, setting budgets and scrutinising the work of the authority; officers are responsible for implementing the decisions, policies and plans set by members. Officers should be politically neutral; members should not attempt to manage or control operational matters. 

So far, so simple. But who decides what is an ‘operational matter’? What if a member wishes to challenge operational decision-making and outcomes on behalf of residents? Sometimes the ‘how’ is as important as the ‘what’ in determining outcomes and the member may feel it is necessary to challenge the basis on which a decision has been made, only to be told it is an ‘operational matter’.  Formal scrutiny doesn’t really address this. There seems little recourse if a member doesn’t feel their questions have been answered adequately. 

Who decides what is ‘politically neutral’? What if members and officers disagree about what is and isn’t ‘political’? 

• ‘Diversity, equity and inclusion’ roles and policies have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, the intention being to ‘level the playing field’ for those historically less well represented (or even discriminated against). In practice, there is a fine line to be drawn between actively encouraging greater participation from one group and effectively inhibiting it from another, as the RAF discovered in June 2023 when an official enquiry found that its efforts to increase the numbers of women and people from ethnic minorities had led to unlawful positive discrimination against white men. Such things breed resentment and erode confidence in our institutions.
• The language of gender identity theory has been widely adopted across government and major corporations. Those who disagree have in some cases been wrongly disciplined by their employers for their beliefs. Evolving case law indicates that public or private organisations that attempt to enforce policies that misinterpret and misrepresent current UK equalities legislation and guidance are at risk of being taken to employment tribunals by employees on the grounds of bullying and harassment, losing and having costs and compensation awarded against them. 

Recent examples include:

• In August 2024 Cambridgeshire County Council came to a settlement with Lizzy Pitt, a social worker, having admitted that it had discriminated against her for her ‘gender critical’ views
• In September 2023 Arts Council England reached a settlement with Denise Fahmy who resigned due to harassment because of her ‘gender critical’ beliefs
• In July 2023 an employment tribunal found in favour of Rachel Meade in a case brought against Westminster City Council and Social Work England on the same grounds

Equalities legislation and guidance is complex and evolving and authorities should ensure their policies reflect them accurately to mitigate against the potential legal, financial and reputational risk of getting it wrong. They should develop their own understanding of the law and associated guidance and be wary of taking on trust the advice of self-appointed experts who may not be as impartial as they claim to be or uncritically copying what another organisation is doing, as if this provides an automatic seal of quality. Just because another authority is doing something, doesn’t necessarily make it right. Common practice may not be best practice. There is no substitute for independent, critical thinking and Councillors should be ready to challenge ‘groupthink’. 

Through this period of opposition, the Conservative Party will need to articulate clearly what it stands for and what it seeks to offer the electorate. Hopefully, this will include proposals to regear the workings of government to return greater authority (not just accountability) to elected representatives. 

In the meantime, Conservative local authorities have an important role to play in demonstrating to the electorate what that means in practice by:

• Upholding good governance and service delivery
• Challenging central government to ensure adequate funding
• Ensuring policies and working practices accurately reflect UK law, guidance and evolving case law
• Lobbying government for greater clarity where the law and guidance are ambiguous or contradictory
• Actively promoting debate on matters of public interest
• Vigorously and vocally opposing the divisive politics of the Labour government and so-called progressive left

One of the reasons so many of our core/’natural’ supporters abandoned us at the last General Election is because, in the words of so many, they didn’t know what the Conservatives stood for anymore. As the party develops its renewed offer to the public, we should use the platform we have in local government to make our mission crystal clear and show leadership on the issues that matter to the people we represent. 

The post Charlotte Kenyon: How can Conservative councils implement Conservative policies? appeared first on Conservative Home.