Clause 39
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill
12:00 pm
Phil Woolas (Minister of State (Local Government & Community Cohesion), Department for Communities and Local Government; Oldham East and Saddleworth, Labour)
Like the hon. Gentleman, I suspect, I have never believed that radicalism and structural change are the same thing. Some of the best councils have a traditional model of leadership. The Audit Commission’s comprehensive performance assessment scores for the current round will be made available later this week. There is no necessary cause and effect between an executive model and strong leadership; it can depend on the individuals involved and the body politic. New York is often quoted as an example of strong leadership with a mayoral model. Under Giuliani, arguably, it was, but it also went bankrupt under the same electoral model—or nearly bankrupt, but I will not go there. I am not saying necessarily that there is a cause and effect, but I am trying to create the circumstances in which that would be most likely.
Secondly, I believe that the Government are not, as the hon. Gentleman implied, imposing a model. We are trying to give a range of options within a framework within which strong leadership is most likely to come about.