The Conservatives this morning released their latest ideas for devolution, Control Shift: Returning power to local communities. And it's got a large amount of coverage in the media which is pleasing for those of us who think local government needs to be taken seriously.

David Cameron claims he wants "radical decentralisation", but it would be wise to remember that a move towards centralisation for the past 30 years has happened under both main parties. So do the plans say anything interesting?

Well yes, there's a couple of eye catching proposals:
The first is the idea for local referendems if a minimum number of people seek one on an issue - don't like the council tax you're being charged? You'll be able to gang together to force a vote on it. But is this a good move? After all, who would vote for a tax rise?

Directly elected police commissioners are something that's been around as an idea for a while and are pushed in this report. They have them in the US and are being sold by the Tories as making them more accountable. There's also a increase in required disclosure of council expenditure - all welcome in this open age. One day, Parliament might finally see sense and follow suit.

A fair point being raised on blogs is that until the revenue base is moved back towards local government, real power will always remain centralised. But, show me a track record in recent British politics where tax-raising powers are handed back to local areas. Even Scotland's recent local income tax to replace council tax has now been binned by the SNP.

It will be interesting to compare the Conservative plans now to what is actually achieved in 2011 if they manage to win the next election. Would their nerve hold if criticism of postcode lotteries on services mounts up? It would make a huge change for a British government to decentralise significantly.