Local government and the local structure of the state have recently emerged as major areas of political conflict. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the crisis in local - central relations, firmly placing political events in the context of the development of both central political powers and local autonomy. The book focuses on the key period of increasing centralisation since 1976, which has involved progressive central control over local government finance, centralized policies for local service delivery, centrally-steered experiments such as Enterprise Zones and UDCs and all-out attacks on local government autonomy with rate-capping and abolition. But this period also includes the emergence of resistance campaigns and alternative local policies. The authors examine how local - central relations have changed and why they have changed. As well as examining local - central relations as a whole, the book has core studies of local economic policy, housing, civil defence, health, water and transport. Evaluating the debates on local state and local government, the book provides a conceptualization of the nature and role of the local state within the process of uneven development. This work should be of interest to 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates studying local government, post-graduates, researchers and teachers in political science, government, geography, urban sociology and urban studies.