Sunday, February 19, 2006

More on the growth of local government

One of the themes running in this blog is the growth of local government. (I see the Christchurch City Council is warning its rates may rise by ten percent.)

Reading the Listener I came across this, "In Britain, the Blair government last year announced plans to put more onus on local councils to provide childcare..."

It's true. The Telegraph reports, A separate Child Care Bill will place a new duty on councils to offer "affordable and flexible" child care for the under-14s. Local authorities will have to offer a minimum number of places, while Ofsted will have greater powers to inspect those caring for the under-fives.

Good grief. We can now see one of the ways the Local Government Can Do Anything Bill, passed here in 2003, may turn into a licence for much greater localised redistribution of income.

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