Knjižničarski pogled: Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England

Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England

During the time of successive lockdowns due to the COVID pandemic, local organisations faced increased demand for ensuring that residents and businesses were kept informed and supported while simultaneously waiting for guidance to be passed down from central government to local authorities and on to...

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izdano v:	URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb,
Glavni avtor:	Ball, Susan
Format:	Article ou chapitre numérique
Jezik:	Anglais
Izdano:	Revue française de civilisation britannique 2024
Teme:	town councils centralism community engagement COVID response localism policy instruments centralisme engagement social réponse COVID localisme instruments politiques
Online dostop:	Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM

id	openedition-oai:revues.org:rfcb_12713
record_format	openedition
collection	OpenEdition Journal
language	Anglais
format	Article ou chapitre numérique
building	0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic	town councils centralism community engagement COVID response localism policy instruments centralisme engagement social réponse COVID localisme instruments politiques town councils
spellingShingle	town councils centralism community engagement COVID response localism policy instruments centralisme engagement social réponse COVID localisme instruments politiques town councils Ball, Susan Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England
description	During the time of successive lockdowns due to the COVID pandemic, local organisations faced increased demand for ensuring that residents and businesses were kept informed and supported while simultaneously waiting for guidance to be passed down from central government to local authorities and on to communities. These community-based organisations include 10,000 town councils comprising the lowest level of government of England and covering 40% of the population. This article introduces town councils as policy instruments theorized from a political sociology perspective. It outlines the recent historic context of town councils in terms of national policy aimed at developing community engagement, with particular focus on the introduction of the localism agenda by the Coalition Government through to policies of austerity since 2010 and levelling up since 2019. This shows the lack of goals or consensus on the role of town councils, which function as policy instruments connected to policy for community engagement in a symbolic way and having limited expectations in terms of implementation. The article then addresses central government guidance to local authorities in the context of the COVID pandemic and lockdowns. The response of two town councils to the delays and confusion arising from the process of translation by ministers and Whitehall officials of directions from Downing Street is described. By means of the reflective hindsight provided in interviews with town councillors in two case studies, the role of town councils as policy instruments in developing community engagement during the pandemic is outlined. The article concludes on the case studies viewed as policy instruments set in the wider context of policy discourse on localism.
author	Ball, Susan
author_facet	Ball, Susan
author_sort	Ball, Susan
title	Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England
title_short	Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England
title_full	Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England
title_fullStr	Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England
title_full_unstemmed	Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England
title_sort	town councils as policy instruments for community engagement: local diversity within a centralized response to the covid pandemic in england
publisher	Revue française de civilisation britannique
publishDate	2024
container_title	URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb
url	https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/12vm2 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/12713
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spelling	openedition-oai:revues.org:rfcb_12713 https://doi.org/10.4000/12vm2 urn:doi:10.4000/12vm2 en https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/12713 2024-12-09T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/12vm2 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England Revue française de civilisation britannique CRECIB - Centre de recherche et d'études en civilisation britannique info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2429-4373 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/0248-9015 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb Ball, Susan town councils centralism community engagement COVID response localism policy instruments centralisme engagement social réponse COVID localisme instruments politiques town councils During the time of successive lockdowns due to the COVID pandemic, local organisations faced increased demand for ensuring that residents and businesses were kept informed and supported while simultaneously waiting for guidance to be passed down from central government to local authorities and on to communities. These community-based organisations include 10,000 town councils comprising the lowest level of government of England and covering 40% of the population. This article introduces town councils as policy instruments theorized from a political sociology perspective. It outlines the recent historic context of town councils in terms of national policy aimed at developing community engagement, with particular focus on the introduction of the localism agenda by the Coalition Government through to policies of austerity since 2010 and levelling up since 2019. This shows the lack of goals or consensus on the role of town councils, which function as policy instruments connected to policy for community engagement in a symbolic way and having limited expectations in terms of implementation. The article then addresses central government guidance to local authorities in the context of the COVID pandemic and lockdowns. The response of two town councils to the delays and confusion arising from the process of translation by ministers and Whitehall officials of directions from Downing Street is described. By means of the reflective hindsight provided in interviews with town councillors in two case studies, the role of town councils as policy instruments in developing community engagement during the pandemic is outlined. The article concludes on the case studies viewed as policy instruments set in the wider context of policy discourse on localism. Pendant les périodes de fermeture successives dues à la pandémie de COVID, les organisations locales ont dû faire face à une demande accrue pour s’assurer que les habitants et les entreprises étaient informés et soutenus, tout en attendant que les orientations soient transmises par le gouvernement central aux autorités locales et aux communautés. Parmi ces organisations locales, on compte 10 000 town councils, qui constituent le niveau de gouvernement le plus bas d'Angleterre et couvrent 40 % de la population. Cet article présente les town councils en tant qu'instruments politiques théorisés dans une perspective de sociologie politique. Il décrit le contexte historique récent des town councils en termes de politique nationale visant à développer l’engagement des communautés locales, en mettant particulièrement l’accent sur l'introduction de discours du localisme par le gouvernement de coalition, le programme d’austerité depuis 2010 et le politique de levelling up depuis 2019. Cela montre le manque d'objectifs ou de consensus sur le rôle des town councils, qui fonctionnent comme des instruments politiques liés à la politique d’engagement local d'une manière symbolique, malgré des attentes limitées en termes de mise en œuvre. L’article se penche ensuite sur les directives du gouvernement central aux autorités locales dans le contexte de la pandémie de COVID et des périodes de confinement. Il décrit la réaction de deux conseils municipaux face aux retards et à la confusion engendrés par le processus de traduction, par les ministres et les fonctionnaires de Whitehall, et les directives émanant de Downing Street. Les entretiens avec les conseillers municipaux dans deux études de cas indiquent le rôle de l'administration municipale dans la gestion de l'administration publique. L’article conclut sur les études de cas considérées comme des instruments politiques dans le contexte plus large du discours politique sur le localisme.

Town Councils as Policy Instruments for Community Engagement: Local Diversity Within a Centralized Response to the COVID Pandemic in England

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