The Nature of Competition in British Local Government

Abstract

Competition for the provision of local government services has become a major feature of the functioning of local government. Attempts to promote competition within local government have taken on different forms and have developed over the period of consecutive Conservative governments since 1979. Thus, competition at the local level has been promoted in compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) and through developments to housing and education policy. This article proposes to examine the nature of competition in local government although it will primarily be concerned with CCT. Initially it will be important to define competition in local government. This will be followed by a description of the nature of competitiveness in modern local government which will also draw on comparative work that has been completed with respect to other European nations. The impact of CCT itself will then be examined in more detail before the paper addresses whether changes in competition policy are possible which could ameliorate the worst effects of competition and perhaps improve the workings of the system.