No power devolution

The Programme for Government states “we will abolish the position of county manager and replace it with that of chief executive, with a limited range of executive functions.”

The Local Government Bill, published this week, states that the functions of a city or county manager will become those of the new chief executive of the local authority.

This is cosmetic change. There is no devolution of power, as promised. The new legislation will give more power to central government, more power to county managers/chief executives, and will destroy self-government.