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No-one would argue with the view that the relationship between the individual and the state has to be re-thought.

We have all seen the signs of that relationship in crisis: Fewer people than ever are turning out for local elections. In surveys politicians are consistently the least trusted of professionals.  Councillors are older and whiter than ever before – who with any sort of life would wants to be a council member?

In a new book leading thinkers Lord Filkin and David Albury, both Labour government policy wonks to their fingertips, make the case for “localism� and call on governments and indeed local councils to stop their addiction to central control and to work in different ways with local people to provide better services.

Or at least I think that is what they are saying!

If a recent article by Filkin and Albury is anything to go by, they couch their argument in such New Labour, managerial speak that it renders their message at best vague and at worst completely indecipherable.

“Agendas have to be joined up�, they say.  Do they mean that government has to be more assiduous in stapling its paperwork together? Or do they really mean we need to be better at working together?For this kind of thinker local people are always “citizens�.

People do not need to get together to take action, they have to be “empowered�.  Residents are never helped to be healthier or more informed, they are “partners in achieving better health and education outcomes�.

And, oh yes, that word “partner�.  In the world of Filkin and Albury government never works with local government it “partners with� councils (and no doubt achieves empowering outcomes).

This is the Lego approach to thinking and writing, where shiny phrases appear picked out of the box to build something that looks like a meaningful sentence but on a closer look fails to stand up.  And certainly communicates little or nothing.

There is a serious point here.

How are ordinary people ever going to understand what is happening in local government and summon up the energy and interest to get involved, if local authorities fail to talk to them in a way they can understand and to which they can relate.

This not about talking down to people.  This is about effective communication and that starts with understanding and relating to your audience.

Everyone understands what Filkin and Albury mean by outcomes.  But we ordinary folk call them good schools, cleaner streets, less crime, affordable council tax.  We call a household recycling centre a tip, but still know it is the best place to recycle our rubbish – and save the world. 

If local government wants to reconnect with citizens it should stop talking about “reconnecting with citizens� and just start talking with local people about the things that matter to them in a way that does not confuse or cut them off. Or else local councils will be partnering on their own next time, and that is the last outcome they want.

paul.masterman@blueyonder.co.uk