“Parted are
those who are singing today. When we
look back and forgetfully wonder what we were like in our work and our
play.” Forty years ago, local government
was reformed by the 1972 Act, the new system was installed on 1 April 1974 and
by 1976 the UK
The words
are taken from the Harrow School song, Sir Winston Churchill would have known
it, but by 1974 his Great
Britain United Kingdom
When the
new authorities took over many found that the former authorities had run down
the general financial reserves, sometimes leaving nothing. At the same time often repairs and
maintenance had been cut to release money for new vote winning schemes and popularity
for some local politicians.
In particular
buildings and road maintenance reserves had gone, again to all sorts of
projects often designed on a have it now pay later basis. Promises had been made to many staff and
salary and pension rights ramped up before vesting day. The accounts were faked or forgotten or lost.
One feature
was that before reorganisation there had been serious imbalances in rating
values from one area to another and in types of building. When this was rationalised a lot who had
enjoyed cheap rates were being hit. What
was worse was that the high inflation of the period meant that everyone paid
more in cash, despite some gaining in real terms, but they did not see it that
way.
Edward
Heath, the then Conservative Prime Minister made the mistake of trying to take
on the miner’s in the middle of it and then calling a snap election early in
1974. He lost and Labour under Harold
Wilson took control, conveniently blaming the Conservatives for the mess that
was revealed in local government.
On 15 March
1974, John Poulson, architect extraordinary was jailed for fraud and
corruption. He was active in a number of
the old local authorities with the paradox being that a high proportion of them
were Labour held mining communities. Had
Heath waited it might have been different, but as Poulson buttered up a few
Conservative ministers perhaps not.
Reginald
Maudling, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, who left The Treasury in a
mess was associated with him. His wife
wanted to make East Grinstead the ballet
centre of the world. It was trying to
help out this expensive project that may have been the straw that broke the
back of Poulson’s companies.
As I
remarked at the time “It was all tutu expensive”. But nobody laughed, but it was in a meeting attended
by Labour councillors former friends of Poulson. That some had been given fun times in London
Harold
Wilson and Jeremy Thorpe, an Old Etonian and the then Liberal leader did a deal
in 1974 and Labour took power. Look up
Jeremy in Wikipedia for another grim tale.
Looking back I wonder now whether Harold Wilson had already begun his
decline into dementia by 1974 and came to realise it in 1976 when he resigned.
Then as now
there were many changes under way which we neither recognised nor
understood. Even the few that did
realise that some things were changing irrevocably misjudged the scale and
potential impact.
North Sea
Oil was on its way, sea transport by container was transforming trade, major
companies, such as Rolls Royce had gone to the wall. The railways were facing the loss of most of
the freight traffic.
Cheaper holidays
were transforming travel and tourism.
The old basic industries of the economy were becoming neither basic nor
economic and the subsidies handed out were not working.
Also, we
had been led into the European Economic Community
on false promises and a pack of lies. To
do this we ditched the Commonwealth and imagined that Europe
could replace the faster developing markets of the rest of the world.
Forty years
on and the world is turning again. Just
as nobody can go back to the 1970’s now nobody can go back to 2005.
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