Centralisation, Devolution and the Future of Local Government in England

He was a member of the Layfield committee on Local Government Finance (1974-1976), and has contributed to many other government inquiries.George Jones joined the London School of Economics (LSE) in 1966 and was appointed Professor of Government in 1976, a position he held until his retirement in 2007 and which he later held

The case for a more devolved and decentralised country is even stronger after the EU referendum vote. A book for scholars, students, practitioners and policy-makers. It is an essential read for anyone interested in giving communities new opportunities to shape their futures.’ - Chris Skelcher, University of Birmingham, UK.‘The book is written by three towering figures in local government academia and provides a wide-ranging analysis of what currently ails local government. This book offers a rigorous critique of that centralisation and an alternative localist vision for the future governance of the UK. Power should not be hoarded in Westminster and Whitehall, but available at the sub-national level. But his contribution to it and academia is of great international renown. He will be missed.’ – Colin Copus, De Montfort University, UK.. It is with great sadness that Professor George Jones passed away before the publication of th

English local government is in a state of decline after 40 years of incremental but cumulative centralisation by central government. The process of centralisation, and its corrosive effect on the status and responsibilities of local government, have been widely recognised and deplored among politicians and senior officers within local government, and by academics with an interest in this field. This book fills this gap.This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of local government, and more generally to those interested in what has been happening to British politics and governance.. This book is the first to directly address this trend's impact upon the institution of local government, a crucial element in the democratic viability of a unitary state. However, there has been no study exploring in detail its impact, and, equally important, suggested ways in which the growing imbalance between the powers of central and local government should be rectified