Is Oxfordshire's local democracy disappearing? This group thinks it is

A campaigning group called Planning Oxfordshire’s Environment and Transport Sustainably (POETS) warned last year that there is a ‘democratic deficit’ in the county.

And this year, they have said this has become worse, claiming the Government has ‘enfeebled’ local councils, through moves like intervening in South Oxfordshire’s Local Plan.

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The group has also said huge projects like the Oxford to Cambridge Arc have a top-down approach with very little say from people affected by them on the ground.

David Young, a member of the POETS group, said: “There is a widely used maxim that if you want to boil a frog, you don’t just drop it into boiling water, because it will jump straight out again.

“You put it into cold water and slowly bring the water to the boil. By the time the frog realises it’s getting too hot, it’s lost its energy to be able to jump out.

“Democracy is being simmered right now in Oxfordshire.”

David Young, member of POETS

The new paper from POETS is entitled ‘Democratic Deficit 2021: Who decides Oxfordshire’s Future?’

It warns that the Government is centralising more power, taking it away from local councils, and has also taken power out of the hands of MPs during the Covid crisis.

The group points to plans to overhaul the planning and housebuilding system as one of the areas where it thinks the ability to make local decisions is being stripped away.

It also said that councils have been ‘enfeebled’ by Central Government, pointing to the actions of the the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government during the debate over the South Oxfordshire Local Plan.

The minister, Robert Jenrick, told the council it was required to pass the plan by December 2020, which it did after leading councillors had promised to scrap it and start again as part of their manifesto.

The POETS also criticised large schemes of national importance like the Oxford to Cambridge Arc and Oxfordshire Growth Board, organisations aimed at boosting the number of homes, the infrastructure, and businesses across the region.

The group’s said these organisations had not held a ‘meaningful consultation on the growth agenda’.

The POETS report said: “Some years ago, many of these issues would have made headlines, but we are becoming increasingly used to and worryingly more accepting of them. That they often fail to register now underlines that we risk losing our democracy by neglect.”

It recommended a series of steps to prevent the erosion of local democracy.

These included supporting local media, challenging the Government to set up a ‘Royal Commission’ which would work to revitalise councils and their finances, and calling on candidates in upcoming council elections to share their thoughts on planning, transport and the environment.

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The POETS produced a similar report in 2019 which warned about the loss of local power and said people may begin to feel disenfranchised if big Government projects over which they had very little say were rolled out.

The group also advocated for Oxfordshire residents to take part in upcoming local elections.

Chris Cousins, another member of POETS said: “We think that it is essential that local elections take place this year, after the Government postponed them in 2020.

“The public have the opportunity to get involved and challenge candidates about how they would enable greater local control over Oxfordshire’s future”.

But the report’s contents were contested by Ian Hudspeth, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, who questioned who the ‘unelected group’ were.

He said: “I look forward to seeing them standing in the elections in May – because: who are they speaking for?”

Ian Hudspeth

Mr Hudspeth added: “The Growth Deal was something which all councils in Oxfordshire signed up to. The elected leaders of those authorities agreed to it.

“The Oxford to Cambridge Arc is a collaborative approach between councils across that region. It is important for that to be successful to provide jobs and grow the economy, which we need now to pay back all the additional funding we needed during the Covid crisis.”

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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment.

POETS is a group of former public sector officials and university researchers with expertise and careers in planning, transport and the environment.

Their latest report was written by three members: David Young, former director of environmental services at Oxfordshire County Council, Chris Cousins, former head of sustainable development at Oxfordshire County Council, and Elizabeth Wilson, associate lecturer in environmental planning, Oxford Brookes University.

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