01133pab a2200145 454500008004000000100002000040245010200060260000900162300001400171362001100185520070400196650003700900650002100937773002900958180718b2002   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aLowndes, Vivien  aBetween rhetoric and reality: does the 2001 white paper reverse the centralising trend in Britain  c2002  ap.135-47.  aAutumn  aThis article assesses the government's claim that the White Paper, Strong Local Leadership - Quality Public Services (2001), reverses the centralising trend of the previous 20 years.  It is argued that the `confessions and concessions' of the White Paper do not actually represent a reduction of centralism or any enhancement of local government autonomy.  where controls are relaxed, these are primarily managerial rather than political; delivery rather than democracy is the primary focus of attention.  Increasingly sophisticated approaches to performance management signal both a new form of centralism and a challenge to the traditional bilateral model of central-local relations. - Reproduced.  aLocal government - Great Britain  aLocal government  aLocal Government Studies