Between rhetoric and reality: Does the 2001 white paper reverse the centralising trend in Britain?

This article assesses the government's claim that the White Paper, Strong Local Leadership - Quality Public Services (2001), reverses the centralising trend of the previous 20 years. It is argued that the 'confessions and concessions' of the White Paper do not actually represent a reduction of centralism or any enhancement of local government autonomy. Where controls are relaxed, these are primarily managerial rather than political; delivery rather than democracy is the primary focus of attention. Increasingly sophisticated approaches to performance management signal both a new form of centralism and a challenge to the traditional bilateral model of central-local relations.