ABSTRACT
The Coalition Government, influenced by the lack of agreement among the associations, ran away from the whole problem. The White Paper on ‘Local Government in England and Wales during the Period of Reconstruction’, issued at the beginning of 1945, is mainly an escapist document. The White Paper acknowledged the contention that certain services need to be planned or administered over wider areas; and that the reconstruction programme would place an impossible burden on local government finance. The White Paper was in many ways a highly misleading document. In the first place, it presented the case for reform as though it were a proposal to ‘disrupt’ an inherently stable and sound structure. In the second place, the disavowal of any ‘general policy’ of centralizing local services evaded the issue. Thirdly, the excessive deference shown to the associations of local authorities and their implied identification with the public interest resulted in the whole picture being out of perspective.
