I SUPPOSE that if you spend your working life in policing and then turn to politics, it’s no surprise that you acquire a suspicious, maybe at times cynical mindset.

Maybe that’s why when I hear some Government minister proclaiming they’ve got good news for local government, I scrutinise the small print, rather than jump for joy.

The problem is that this Government –- like many before it – is a bit like Humpty Dumpty in how it communicates. When it uses a word it means exactly what they choose it to mean.

The Government is big on something it calls localism..

But localism includes something called the Public Bodies Bill. This gives the Secretary of State no fewer than 142 powers to intervene in issues that would otherwise be left in local hands. I tend to get the feeling that the main freedom the Government would like us to have is the freedom to do precisely what it tells us to do.

So, the alarm bells rang again this week when Nick Clegg announced that he was giving councils greater freedom by allowing them to keep up to 80 per cent of business rates – effectively localising this important tax.

Local government finance is a complicated area. But one fact shines through the reams of figures. For decades now, central government has effectively dictated how much councils spend and what they spend it on. This is no way to make local government more accountable and financially responsible.

Business rates underwrite a big chunk of council spending. The rates from all council areas go into a central pot and are then redistributed to local authorities according to a formula that takes into account local needs and conditions. So, on the face of it, allowing councils to keep more of the money generated locally would seem a simple and good idea.

But again, I look at the detail and it makes me very worried indeed.

The big beneficiaries of this brand of localism will be the areas that need it least - the South-East and London, home to big business, multi-national companies and the infinite riches of the banks and financial sector.

They have massive business rates income, and fewer of the problems that beset areas with high unemployment and deprivation.

Areas like ours, still fighting for a bigger share of the national wealth and a prosperity that has eluded us for decades, wouldn’t be so lucky. The North-South divide would be back, wider than ever before.

Making his announcement, Mr Clegg said there would be no losers. He made the usual reassuring noises about safety nets and status quos. And as usual, this worried me even more.

In the past year, through the local government settlement, the Government has presided over a huge and grossly unfair redistribution of resources from North to South and rich to poor. Councils in the North- East lost £80 per head against a national average of £47, while councils in the most affluent areas took a hit of only £20.

We are paying for that unfairness here in the North-East in reduced services, fewer jobs and a less resilient local economy. In any redistribution, just as in any race, there are losers as well as winners. The evidence points to our region once more being treated as an also-ran. It isn’t fair and if the Government goes ahead, it may be that just like Humpty Dumpty, they’re heading for a great fall.