First magazine - March 2016

No.597 March 2016 www.local.gov.uk

the magazine for local government

special report: housing

“Discounted starter homes will be out of reach for the majority of people that are in need of an affordable home�

Cllr Peter Box, LGA Housing Spokesman

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interview:

11 The Budget Business rates and flood defence funding

16 Protecting rural England Green Belt, planning and devolution

29 Your role in scrutiny Talking shop or transformational?

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Budget time

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f you haven’t already, you will be finalising your council’s budget for the coming financial year.

The LGA is already looking ahead to the Chancellor’s Budget, on 16 March, and has made its submission to the Treasury – see p10 for more on this, and on the final local government finance settlement.

Elsewhere in this month’s magazine, we look at housing and how some government reforms are having a perverse impact on councils’ ability to build more, affordable housing and replace homes sold off under right to buy. We’ve also got features looking ahead to the police and crime commissioner elections in May, and changes which will allow commissioners to take over local fire and rescue services.

Andrea Sutcliffe talks about the Care Quality Commission’s work on a memorandum of understanding on involving local partners when it has to close care homes, and Sir Laurie Magnus discusses Historic England’s plans to work with councils on heritage action zones.

This month’s interview is with Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, while Ed Hammond, of the Centre for Public Scrutiny, makes the case for effective scrutiny and its critical role as councils’ deliver significant transformational change and savings.

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

contents news

4 Starter homes

5 Social care

New Labour leader

School run

Calorie counts Flood damage

interview

16 Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England

“Areas of Green Belt are being taken away without full and proper review”

9 12

5 25

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Editor Karen Thornton Design & print TU ink www.tuink.co.uk Advertising Ottway Media Solutions Write to first: Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ Email first@local.gov.uk Tel editorial 020 7664 3294 Tel advertising 07917 681135 Photography Photofusion, Dreamstime and Ingimage unless otherwise stated Interview Pinnacle Photo Agency Circulation 18,100 (March 2016) first is published online at www.local.gov.uk/first at least two days before the magazine. To unsubscribe email first@oscar-research.co.uk The inclusion of an advert or insert in first does not imply endorsement by the LGA of any product or service. Contributors’ views are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the LGA.

March 2016

features 8 Housing reforms 10 Local government finance and the Budget 12 Fire services and collaboration 13 Police and crime panels 14 Closing care homes 15 Deprivation of Liberty safeguards

comment 21 Historic England 22 LGA chairman and group leaders 24 Cyber-attacks and Northern transport 25 Child protection 26 Reviving rivers 27 Bonds agency

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regulars

6 Letters and sound bites 29 What is scrutiny for?

30 Parliament 31 Local by-elections

first contents | 3

Calorie counts to tackle obesity

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news Starter homes ‘out of reach’ for many families Discounted starter homes could be out of reach for the majority of families in need of an affordable home in many parts of the country, LGA analysis suggests.

First-time buyers will be able to buy 200,000 new starter homes over the next five years at a minimum discount of 20 per cent of the market value. Discounted prices will be capped at £450,000 in London and £250,000 elsewhere.

Analysis by Savills for the LGA reveals that discounted starter home prices will be out of reach for all people in need of affordable housing – defined as those who would have to spend more than 30 per cent of their household income to rent or buy – in 220 council areas (67 per cent). They will also be beyond the means of more than 90 per cent of people in need of affordable housing in a further 80 (25 per cent) council areas.

For the average earner with a minimal deposit (5 per cent) looking to buy an average priced house, a 20 per cent discount would make it possible to borrow enough to buy a starter home in just 45 per cent of all council areas in England.

Cllr Peter Box, LGA Housing Spokesman, said: “Starter homes will be out of reach for the majority of people that are in need of an affordable home.

“Not everybody is ready to buy, and it is crucial that councils are still able to ensure there is a mix of homes that are affordable for those people that need them.

“In some places, such as the North East and Midlands, the scheme will give people a better chance to get on the housing ladder.

However, a national scheme will not work for every area and fewer people will benefit from starter homes in areas where the housing crisis is most acute.

“Councils must have the flexibilities to shape the number, location and types of starter homes to ensure that they meet local need, and the powers to secure vital investment in associated roads, schools, health and other community services that people will rely on.”

See p8-9 and www.local.gov.uk/ media-releases for more on this story

he LGA is calling on the Government to make it a requirement for pub, restaurant and cinema chains to spell out calorie content in food and drink in a bid to tackle obesity.

Chains with more than 20 outlets need to clearly display calorie counts on menus and at counters so consumers can make more informed choices, according to the LGA. Councils, which have responsibility for public health, say that making people more aware of how many calories they are eating and drinking will help beat the nation’s obesity crisis.

The call follows a similar initiative in the US, where rules were brought in making it compulsory for chain restaurants, movie theatres and pizza parlours across the country to show calorie information on their menus.

A scheme like this in the UK would help in the fight against child obesity. Latest figures show 3.5 million children are obese, which can lead to major health conditions later in life, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, LGA Community Wellbeing spokesperson, said: “Pub, restaurant and cinema chains need to be displaying calorie counts so consumers and parents have a more informed choice and a better understanding of how healthy a particular snack, meal or drink is.

“Food and drink with a high calorie content is clearly a factor behind obesity, and the subsequent health problems it can cause.

“We want the Government to require major retailers to make their customers fully aware of how many calories they are eating or drinking.

Clear and prominent signs indicating the number of calories in a product should be mandatory.

“We need to take bold action in changing our environment if we are to beat obesity, and that includes when we’re sitting at a table in a restaurant reading a menu or ordering at the counter.”

Flood damaged goods costs

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he equivalent to almost 30,000 tonnes of water-damaged household goods have had to be dumped in landfill sites after the winter floods, research reveals. An LGA snapshot analysis estimates councils have so far been landed with a bill of more than £2.25 million in landfill tax as a result. Many items affected by flood water cannot be recycled as they are classed as contaminated. The LGA is calling for all landfill tax, which is calculated at just over £82 per tonne, to be returned to local taxpayers to be invested back in to projects that will support local jobs and growth, rather than go to the Treasury. The LGA also hopes the Government will be applying for EU solidarity funding to help those communities still recovering from the Christmas storms and flooding.

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www.local.gov.uk

Social care precept ‘won’t cover care costs’ Council tax rises will not bring in enough money to completely alleviate the growing pressure on vital services caring for the elderly and disabled, the LGA has warned As first went to press, LGA analysis was expected to show that 143 of England’s 152 social care authorities are considering or have approved introducing the extra 2 per cent social care precept in 2016/17, which would raise £372 million to pay for social care services.

However, the majority of this extra income might have to be spent covering the cost to councils of introducing the Government’s National Living Wage from April. The LGA has estimated it would cost at least £330 million to cover home care and residential care providers’ higher staff wage bills.

Local government leaders are warning council tax rises are unlikely to prevent further reductions in social care services, and will not be sufficient to deal with issues around the

quality and availability of care for older and disabled people. The LGA is calling for the Chancellor to bring forward £700 million of new funding earmarked for social care through the Better Care Fund from the end of the decade to 2016/17.

Cllr Nick Forbes, LGA Vice-Chair, said: “After years of striving to keep council tax as low as possible or frozen, town halls find themselves having no choice but to ask residents to pay more council tax over the next few years to offset some of the spiralling cost of social care in 2016/17.

“At the same time they are warning communities that despite council tax rising, the quality and quantity of services on offer could drop, as the income will not be enough to offset the full impact of further funding reductions next year, with the National Living Wage bringing a significant further cost pressure from April.

“Councils will continue to do all they can to maintain the services that older and vulnerable people rely on but services supporting the elderly and disabled are at breaking point. It cannot be left to council taxpayers alone to try and fix them.

“Vulnerable members of the community still face an uncertain future, where the dignified care and support they deserve, such as help getting dressed, fed or out and about, remains at risk. Vital social care services will increasingly be unable to help ease the growing pressure on the NHS and the threat of a care home crisis is still very real.”

There is such a thing…

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urham schoolgirl Hannah Smith, aged four (pictured), won a competition to decide on the theme of a special school run by writing about walking to school with the star of Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo. As her prize, the monstrous creature joined Hannah and classmates from St Helen Auckland Community Primary School, Bishop Auckland, as they walked, cycled and scooted to school. The special day was the latest Durham County Council MEGA Motion event, part of a campaign to encourage children to be more active. Cllr Neil Foster, Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, said: “MEGA Motion is a brilliant scheme that encourages our children, in a fun way, to be healthier and more environmentally friendly every day.”

March 2016

news in brief New Labour leader

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llr Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council since 2011, has been elected Leader of the LGA Labour Group. Representing more than 6,000 Labour councillors, he takes over from Cllr Sharon Taylor and Mayor Sir Steve Bullock, who have been acting joint leaders since his predecessor, Jim McMahon, was elected as MP for Oldham West and Royton.

Cllr Forbes has played a leading role in raising the profile of local government in a time of austerity and has been involved in national lobbying efforts for successive local government finance settlements.

Licensing for health

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he LGA is calling for greater powers to limit the opening of late-night premises in areas where there are particular concerns about the impact of alcohol on public health. An LGA survey reveals nearly 90 per cent of public health directors want a public health objective included in a revamped Licensing Act. Under current rules, councils can only listen to – but not act on – expert healthrelated evidence when considering licensing applications. Scottish local authorities have been able to consider all health implications – such as hospital admissions, and local addiction levels – since 2005.

EU debate

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he LGA is hosting a Smith Square Debate on 22 March on the EU referendum and its impact on local government. The debate will include panellists from the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns, and will consider how councils will be affected by the result of the referendum. See www.local.gov.uk/events.

Birthday beacons

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ouncils wishing to take part in the Queen’s 90th birthday beacons can download the official guide to taking part at www.brunopeek.co.uk. The deadline for notifying an interest in taking part is 10 April.

first news | 5

Southern devolution

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ive us the powers and we’ll get on with the job of securing economic growth and improving the quality of our citizens’ lives.

That’s the core of the Three Southern Counties (3SC) devolution bid to government.

Together East Sussex, Surrey and West Sussex along with district and borough councils, our local enterprise partnerships, health organisations and the national park are hoping to strike a deal that will help unlock our vast potential. It’s significant: we have a combined gross value added of £74 billion, bigger than Wales or Greater Manchester, and it could be bigger. But we are constrained by creaking infrastructure and growing service and financial pressures.

If our devolution bid is successful, we will be better placed to tackle the congested road and rail network, pioneer new digital technology, close the skills gap holding businesses back and build new affordable homes. A recent meeting with Communities Minister Baroness Williams was extremely positive. Now we are focusing on the detail. Together we will hammer out a deal, put it to the Government and then to local people. We are poised to grow. We have the determination, the drive and the ideas. All we lack are the powers.

Cllr Louise Goldsmith (Con), Leader, West Sussex County Council

letters

Creating a safer city

I Festival of light boosts local economy In early February, Nottingham celebrated our annual Light Night event. It proved to be hugely popular, with over 50,000 people turning out – 10,000 more than last year.

Nottingham city centre was buzzing, with a party-like carnival atmosphere as families enjoyed the free festivities.

Light Night is one of the most important events we hold, opening up the city centre on a winter Friday night to people of all ages, especially families with young children.

It’s one night a year when the city centre is completely over-run by families having fun. Free events and a friendly atmosphere attract thousands of extra visitors into the city, reflecting our Purple Flag status and boosting the visitor economy. Light Night also gives independent artists and organisations a change to showcase the wealth of talent in the area.

Events included lantern-lit processions, a silent disco, spaceship building, light sabre fighting, live music performances, a food and drink market, church installations, and light-up basketball, football and archery.

Our arts team did a fantastic job coordinating all the different events, and we are grateful for the support of our partners, community organisations, businesses and sponsor Robin Hood Energy. We now want to encourage everyone to start planning for a fantastic tenth Light Night event next year.

Cllr Dave Trimble (Lab), Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, Nottingham City Council

n Gloucester, we’re passionate about our city. Working together with our partners, the council is constantly working on new and innovative ways to help our city thrive.

That’s why as part of the NightSafe group we were more than happy to be involved in the introduction of the Best Bar None scheme.

The scheme echoes our ambition to make Gloucester’s night time economy better and safer for residents, businesses and visitors. It helps stop anti-social behaviour and it drives standards up, making Gloucester a more attractive place to spend time. So far, we’ve got 15 premises signed up and, after winning best new scheme at the national awards, I hope we’ll have many more signed up next year.

Best Bar None is not the only success we’ve seen as a group. We worked hard to develop the ‘City Safe’ scheme, our red and yellow card scheme, which sees people given warnings or eventually banned from shops and other premises in the city centre if they shoplift or cause anti-social behaviour. This acts as a deterrent and makes the city more pleasant for everyone.

Another success is the weekend night time

What do you think? Please submit letters for publication by emailing first@local.gov.uk.

Letters may be edited and published online

6 | first letters

www.local.gov.uk

pedestrianisation of the busy Eastgate Street, where most of our pubs and clubs are located.

Previously there were regular near misses with revellers and vehicles sharing the street. It’s been so successful that we’re now aiming to pilot it on Wednesday nights to encourage people to visit mid-week and to create a safer environment for local students.

We believe in Gloucester and I am confident that the work of our group will continue to make a big difference in making our city a safer, more attractive place for everyone.

Cllr Jennie Dallimore (Con), Deputy Leader Gloucester City Council

Sharing expertise

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eeds City Council has the ambition to become a more efficient and enterprising council and we have been helped in this work by the LGA’s Productivity Expert programme.

When we wanted some help with securing efficiencies for children’s services, it organised and funded 10 days of expert support from Herts for Learning Ltd, a not-for-profit company owned by Hertfordshire schools and the county council which provides school improvement and business services. This has been a positive and beneficial learning experience. We have been equally impressed and inspired by the opportunity to learn about their organisation, how they operate and the skills required to successfully make services more sustainable and efficient.

Our project began with children’s services but we are now closely linked to over 40 services across Leeds City Council that are trading or have the potential to trade. The ability of these services to continue to deliver high quality provision and support positive outcomes for children and young people is testament to the proactive and entrepreneurial approach they have adopted to ensure community need is balanced against financial sustainability.

Cllr Lucinda Yeadon (Lab), Executive Member for Children and Families, Leeds City Council

March 2016

Funding divide

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welcome the Government’s divide decision to award £2 million in ‘transitional funding’ to Nottinghamshire County Council, which provides some respite from the funding crisis we face. December’s provisional local government finance settlement left an immediate £9 million shortfall in the funding we needed to set a balanced budget – despite the council already consulting on over £20 million of proposed savings for 2016/17. That’s in addition to £212 million saved since 2010.

I want to thank the MPs of all parties who lobbied ministers for additional funding for county councils, and am grateful to them for highlighting the anomaly in the funding settlement which particularly disadvantaged counties and their ability to deliver social care services to the most vulnerable.

However, this needs to be put into context. Even with the additional funding, Nottinghamshire is still £7 million short of the ‘worst case scenario’ we envisaged when drawing up our budget proposals. There is also a big difference in the way the transitional funding has been allocated, with counties in the South receiving considerably more than councils in the Midlands and North.

At a time when we are in advanced discussions on devolution, which aims to re-balance the country’s economy and spread prosperity beyond the South East, it’s disheartening to see that funding allocated to more affluent areas far outstrips that awarded to areas of greater deprivation.

Cllr Alan Rhodes (Lab), Leader, Nottinghamshire County Council

To find out more about the LGA’s Productivity Expert programme, please email joanne.straw@local.gov.uk

sound bites Tim Beaumont (Lab, Liverpool) “Public health cuts not getting as much attention as JrDrs but will have massive impact on health services in Lpool.” www.twitter.com/CllrTimBeau Cllr Joe Cooney (Con, Lancashire) “@gregclarkmp announces local govt financial settlements. Good to see he has listened to responses with increased funding for Lancashire.” www.twitter.com/CllrJoeCooney Cllr Tom Garrod (Con, Norfolk) “Great news that @CommunitiesUK is reviewing #localgov grant formula in light of challenges faced by councils delivering Social Care in rural.” www.twitter.com/TomGarrod Cllr Nick Forbes (Lab, Newcastle) “Looking forward to working with @ jeremycorbyn and @tom_watson to give local govt a higher profile in Labour policy & campaigns #LabLocal16.” www.twitter.com/nick_forbes Cllr David Noakes (Lib Dem, Southwark) “News the Govt has found £300m support for Tory shire counties while Southwark & other deprived boroughs are offered nothing is outrageous.” www.twitter.com/cathedralsdavid Cllr Sean Anstee (Con, Trafford) “Strongly welcome the Fair Funding Review announced in today’s final settlement and will continue to put forward a strong case for #Trafford.” www.twitter.com/seananstee Do you have a blog or a Twitter account we should be following?

Let us know. Email first@local.gov.uk

first letters | 7

features Making sense of housing policy Cllr Peter Box is Chair of the LGA’s Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board

Councils are keen to build more homes and the LGA is working hard to ensure proposed housing reforms don’t make that job more difficult

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ouncils share the Government’s ambition to increase house building and enable home ownership.

From the outset, the LGA has been working privately and publicly to try to mitigate any of the potential negative impacts and unintended consequences of government housing reforms on behalf of councils and local communities. But it is clear that the Housing and Planning Bill has wideranging implications for local communities.

Measures within the Bill – currently being debated in the Lords – risk combining to reduce the number of existing council homes, which local authorities will be forced to sell and will then struggle to replace.

This could lead to an increase in the housing benefit bill as more people are forced to move into the more expensive private rented sector. This will do nothing to help councils reduce homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation.

The LGA has opposed plans to force

“Government housing reforms risk combining to reduce the number of existing council homes, which local authorities will be forced to sell and will then struggle to replace” 8 | first feature

councils to sell off homes to fund the Right to Buy extension to social housing, and raised concerns around a mandatory ‘pay to stay’ policy for councils (see below) and the provision of starter homes at the expense of affordable homes to rent. Meanwhile, we have been working with the independent research team at real estate services provider Savills (see right) to understand the impact of these housing policies, as part of our effort to make the case for additional flexibilities to government, parliamentarians and partners.

Plans for more starter homes at discounted prices, for example, will help support home ownership in some areas but will be out of reach for all people in need of affordable housing in 220 council areas, according to Savills. We have argued that councils must have the flexibilities to shape the number, location, types and quality of starter homes to ensure that they meet local need, alongside other affordable homes for rent.

The LGA also strongly opposes the proposal to require councils to charge mandatory market-based rents to higher income tenants, and to take a sum of money from councils based on a national estimate of the additional income from higher rents.

Many social housing tenants across the country will be unable to afford market rents or take up the offer to buy their council home under this policy. www.local.gov.uk

“Starter homes will help support home ownership in some areas but will be out of reach for everyone in need of affordable housing in 220 council areas”

This ‘pay to stay’ policy needs to be voluntary for councils – as it will be for housing associations to protect social housing tenants, and avoid hard-working families being penalised, people being disincentivised to work and earn more, and key workers, such as nurses, teachers or social workers, having to move out of their local area. Councils must also retain any additional income generated from rents to reinvest in new and existing homes.

The LGA insists the extension of Right to Buy to housing association tenants must not be funded by forcing councils to sell off homes. As a minimum, the LGA forecasts councils would be forced to sell 22,000 ‘high value’ homes in order to fund the extension.

This number could be much higher depending on how government chooses to define ‘high value’. Councils should always be free to manage their assets to meet the needs of local communities and must retain 100 per cent of all receipts to reinvest in new and existing housing.

The LGA will continue to firmly make the case – in both private and public – regarding the importance of councils playing a lead role in house building, reducing homelessness and benefits, and enabling home ownership.

March 2016

Analysis: impact of the Housing and Planning Bill Savills and the LGA project that 66,000 council homes will be sold to tenants under the existing Right to Buy scheme by 2020.

Local authorities could then be forced to sell a further 22,000 ‘high value’ homes by the end of the decade to fund plans to extend the scheme to housing association tenants. This could vary depending on how the Government defines ‘high value’ for different areas Required rent reductions, of 1 per cent a year for the next four years, take out £2.2 billion from council housing budgets by 2020 – making building replacements extremely difficult. There is a risk that of the 88,000 homes sold up to 2020, 80,000 will not be replaced. This will add £210 million to the housing benefit bill.

Forcing councils to sell off homes to fund the extension of Right to Buy to housing association tenants could cost councils £6 billion by 2020, according to Savills. A total of 5,500 homes would be sold each year should ‘high value’ be defined as the top third value of the regional market.

Discounted starter homes will be out of reach for all people in need of affordable housing – defined as those who would have to spend 30 per cent of their household income to buy or rent a home – in 220 council areas (67 per cent) and for more than 90 per cent of people in a further 80 (25 per cent) council areas.

Should the ‘pay to stay’ policy be mandatory for all social tenants, around 50 per cent of tenants deemed high income in the South East, East of England and London would not be able to afford to pay market rents or take up Right to Buy and would need to move out of the area to find a similar property.

first feature | 9

The funding challenge facing councils Following lobbying by the LGA, the Government provided an extra £416 million to ease some of the financial pressures facing some councils. But overall, local government faces another four years of challenging funding reductions

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ince the provisional local government finance settlement was announced in December, the LGA has been working on behalf of all councils to highlight to government the financial challenges they face to the end of this decade.

The provisional settlement set out changes to the way councils would receive revenue support grant (RSG), by taking into account councils’ ability to raise income through council tax.

However, the speed at which government grants will stop altogether at a local level had left some councils facing deeper than expected reductions in 2016/17. A number of councils also faced losing all of their RSG over the next two years.

The LGA called for government to provide transitional support for councils most adversely affected by the new method of allocating RSG and, as a result, it made a number of changes in the final finance settlement, published in early February.

The final settlement confirmed that core government funding (RSG) to councils would reduce by 28 per cent (£2.7 billion) in 2016/17. But it set out transitional grant funding of £150 million in both 2016/17 and 2017/18 for councils most adversely affected by the funding changes. The Rural Services Delivery Grant will also increase, by £60.5

million in 2016/17 and £30 million in 2017/18.

The Government has also made available £2.3 million in 2017/18 and £22.8 million in 2018/19 to ensure no council will move into a negative RSG position – where they would owe the Treasury money – within the next three years.

The changes to how RSG is allocated, and the reduction in RSG overall, are part of the process leading towards councils retaining all their business rates income by the end of the decade The move to full business rate retention is the most ambitious reform to local government finance of the last few decades. While it won’t solve the longstanding funding challenges facing councils, it is absolutely critical to ensure any new system works effectively. The LGA is looking forward to working closely with the Government on ensuring it is implemented and distributed in a way which maximises the potential it offers to our local communities and businesses.

LGA Chairman Lord Porter said: “The LGA has been working hard with the Government on behalf of all councils – both publicly and privately – to highlight the financial challenges they face over the next few years.

“We are pleased it listened to our fundamental call for new money to be found to smooth out funding reductions

“The speed at which government grants will stop altogether at a local level had left some councils facing deeper than expected reductions in 2016/17” 10 | first feature

www.local.gov.uk

The LGA’s Budget 2016 submission

in 2016/17 and beyond without any other councils losing out further as a result.

“Extra funding of up to £416 million over the four-year settlement period will ease the financial pressure on some local authorities and will ensure that no council will move into a negative grant funding position following changes to the way they would receive government funding within the next three years.

“Funding reductions will still be challenging for councils over the next four years. Any extra cost pressures, including from rising demand or policies such as the National Living Wage, will have to be funded by councils finding savings from elsewhere.

“Many will have to make significant reductions to local services to plug funding gaps and will be asking residents to pay more council tax while possibly offering fewer services in return as a result.”

In addition to the new money announced by government, all shire district councils will also be given the flexibility to raise Band D council tax by a minimum of £5 or 2 per cent, as requested by the LGA. This is forecast to bring in £39 million a year by 2019/20, if all districts raise council tax to the limit available to them every year.

However, with almost all of the extra £1.5 billion promised by the Government for social care unavailable until 2018/19, the LGA will continue to press for £700 million of new funding for the Better Care Fund to be brought forward. This remains vital in order to help alleviate social care funding pressures, as services supporting our elderly and vulnerable are at breaking point now – and will be exacerbated by the introduction of the National Living Wage in April.

March 2016

Last year’s spending review (see first 594) and the local government finance settlement for 2016/17 (see left) have set the course for important changes to the funding and delivery of our public services over the next Parliament.

Up next is the Budget, which the Chancellor will deliver on 16 March. The LGA, in its official submission to the Treasury, has set out how local government can work with the Government to achieve our shared ambitions to provide value for money and grow the economy (see www.local.gov.uk/ publications).

The submission includes a call to keep the momentum going around devolution across England. Devolution should take approaches to place-based finance to heart, especially when it comes to the further integration of care and health services. The Budget needs to include more deals being agreed to ensure the benefits of devolution reach all communities and businesses across the country, especially those in non-metropolitan areas.

The move to full business rate retention is the most ambitious reform to local government finance of the last few decades.

Our submission sets out the LGA’s intention to be fully engaged in ensuring that any new system works effectively. Reducing the scope for avoidance and financial uncertainty due to appeals must be a key consideration and the move to business rate retention should contain an assessment of relative needs for services and also go hand in hand with further flexibilities to council tax.

Almost 55,000 more disadvantaged jobseekers and people with disabilities and health conditions would be supported into work if funding and responsibility for national employment schemes was devolved to local areas, according to the LGA submission. Helping more people to move into employment is crucial to boosting local growth and reducing the welfare bill.

Councils worked tirelessly to protect communities from extreme flooding this winter. The Budget needs to ensure new flood defence funding goes towards projects that reflect the needs of local areas, with communities and businesses coming together to ensure investment provides maximum protection and value for money.

Capital investment, and subsequent revenue funding, should be devolved to councils, working in partnership with local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), to decide on the best use of this money to limit the risk of future devastation to communities caused by extreme weather.

The proposals within our submission would dramatically improve people’s lives, protect the services valued by residents and deliver savings to the public purse.

“The move to full business rate retention is the most ambitious reform to local government finance of the last few decades. While it won’t solve the long-standing funding challenges facing councils, it is absolutely critical to ensure any new system works effectively” first feature | 11

Emergency collaboration Cllr Jeremy Hilton is Chair of the LGA’s Fire Services Management Committee

The Government’s agenda for blue light collaboration mustn’t undermine the fire service’s excellent work with partners other than the police

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n January, fire and rescue authorities saw two major national developments in fire and rescue policy.

First, the responsibility for fire and rescue services within Whitehall was changed from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to the Home Office. Secondly, the Government released its response to its emergency services collaboration consultation, setting out its plans for the fire and rescue service and the other blue light services.

The response outlined the Government’s proposals for the three emergency services: • There will be an ability for all three blue light services to agree collaboration arrangements to encourage joint working.

• Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will be able to take on the functions and duties of fire and rescue authorities, where a local case is made. PCCs will be able to create a single employer for fire and police personnel where they are responsible for both services.

• Where PCCs are not responsible for fire and rescue services they will instead have representation on their local fire and rescue authority (FRA) with voting rights, where the authority agrees.

The LGA was one of more than 300 organisations that responded to the consultation. The LGA’s Fire Services Management Committee outlined the great strides towards further collaboration and transformation that the sector had already undertaken with our blue light partners, as well as our wider partners from local authorities and from health.

We felt that there were further opportunities for greater joint working with other health partners beyond the ambulance service. This would harness the sector’s prevention expertise and enable fire and rescue services to use the public’s trust in firefighters to benefit a wider range of

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“Local councillors sitting on fire and rescue authorities already do a brilliant job” services (see first 593).

We were clear that we did not feel it necessary to change the governance of fire and rescue authorities. Local councillors sitting on FRAs already do a brilliant job in this respect. However, if governance changes were sought, this needed to be done on the basis of local agreement, consultation and consent between all partners and the community.

The recent flooding in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Yorkshire shows the excellent job that the fire and rescue service does to keep the country safe by working so effectively alongside other blue light and public services. It is clear that by working together we can achieve the best outcomes for our communities, and we are supportive of the aim to further improve collaboration between the three

emergency services.

However we are concerned that any changes do not undermine the excellent work that is already underway in transforming services and working with wider partners than just the police.

We are currently studying the detail of the recently published Policing and Crime Bill, to understand how the Government’s proposals might work in reality. In some areas they have clearly listened to what we said. The new duty to collaborate that was originally proposed has been replaced by a power to enter into collaboration agreements. There are other areas we need to explore further, such as what business a PCC will be able to vote and speak on if they have a place on a county fire and rescue authority.

It is clear that these issues, along with the wider move of fire and rescue authorities’ national governance from the DCLG to the Home Office, signal a new focus on change across the blue light services.

The LGA’s Fire Conference and Exhibition 2016 is the perfect opportunity to discuss these changes in more detail, hearing from a number of senior politicians and practitioners. This year the fire conference is in Bristol, from 8 to 9 March. You can book your place via www.local.gov.uk/events.

For more information and LGA resources for fire and rescue services, please visit www.local.gov.uk/fire-andrescue-services

www.local.gov.uk

New responsibilities for police and crime commissioners mean the role of the panels that scrutinise their work also needs to be reviewed and strengthened

Policing the commissioners Cllr Simon Blackburn is Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board

A

s we approach the second set of police and crime commissioner (PCC) elections in May, tributes have been paid to the pioneering work of the first commissioners.

Tributes should also be paid to the pioneering work done by police and crime panels since they started work in earnest in November 2012.

They were very quickly thrust into a range of new statutory responsibilities, such as commenting on police and crime plans, considering PCCs’ precepts and conducting confirmation hearings for chief constables and PCC staff.

Since then panels have grappled with appointing an interim PCC after the sad death in office of the incumbent; demands for the resignation of a PCC following revelations around child sexual exploitation; and the suspension of a chief constable, judicial challenge to the suspension and subsequent reinstatement of the individual concerned.

Through all of this, panels have built up strong and supportive relationships with their PCCs. They have also built up relationships with other bodies such as community safety partnerships and crime and disorder scrutiny committees to help inform their scrutiny, as has happened in Durham and West Yorkshire.

They have also sought to use technology to make their work more accessible, with the Cheshire, Leicestershire and Sussex panels among those routinely webcasting their meetings.

But there remain areas where changes March 2016

could be made to assist panels in their work, as the Committee on Standards in Public Life reported last year. These include arriving at an agreed understanding of what is a decision of ‘significant public interest’, the publication of forward plans by PCCs, and the question of the resources available to panels.

Acting quickly to work with returning and new PCCs to clarify these fundamental issues post-May will be even more important for panels in the context of how the role of PCCs is expected to develop.

As my colleague Jeremy Hilton explains (see left), the Government outlined proposals in January for PCCs to take on

“There remain areas where changes could be made to assist panels in their work” the functions and duties of fire and rescue authorities.

This was followed last month by an announcement from the Home Secretary on plans for PCCs to take on a greater role in youth justice, probation and court services; and for them to be able to work with free schools to set up provision to support troubled children. Detailed proposals are expected after the PCC elections.

Coupled with the link to metro mayors, there is a potentially huge agenda here, and it is vital that PCCs and panels are clear how the different roles and scrutiny work together.

To support panels in this area, the LGA has developed an e-learning tool helping members understand the role of panels, and how they can most effectively support them.

We are also hosting a workshop for

panel members on Monday 14 March to discuss both the immediate challenges of elections and transition, and how the long-term role of panels may need to evolve alongside that of PCCs. I’d encourage as many panel members as possible to join us for this – please email Karen.denyer@local. gov.uk to secure your place.

For more information and LGA resources on PCCs and panels, please visit www.local.gov.uk/pcc

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Managing care home closures Andrea Sutcliffe is Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission

Closer collaboration is needed to minimise disruption to residents when failing care homes are closed

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hen the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is faced with a provider of a residential or nursing home failing the people living there, our first instinct is help ensure the service improves, given how disruptive and distressing any move can be for residents.

But when there are serious failings identified by CQC inspectors, which present a significant risk to people’s safety, we have to take decisive action.

During a closure, working closely together is vital. Good teamwork, clarity of respective roles and responsibilities and clear communication are essential to provide support for the people using the service, their families and carers.

This can be a difficult time for people, especially when the closure has had to be organised quickly. As councillors, you may be contacted by families who are upset and worried about what is happening. You can refer people to your own authority contacts and to the CQC’s phone line (03000 616161) to be referred to the local inspector involved.

When the Old Village School Nursing Home in Bedfordshire was closed last year (see right), the CQC, council and clinical commissioning group (CCG) worked together effectively and quickly. However, some people were moved late at night, which was obviously of concern to relatives and members of the public. Following the closure, we reviewed our guidance and are now more explicit about advising local services to arrange transfer before nightfall.

Cuts in funding, rising costs and increased demand for care have already placed a huge strain on care homes and adult care services.

It is likely that more care homes will close so local authorities, CCGs and CQC must look to manage closures in an organised way.

The Old Village Nursing Home in Bedfordshire CQC inspectors visited the home in June 2015 and identified poor standards of care.

We rated the home as inadequate and placed it into special measures. The provider was set clear expectations for improvement. In August, CQC inspectors carried out an unannounced inspection after concerns were raised that care was not improving.

Inspectors found overwhelming systemic failures with the potential for serious harm to come to residents.

Intensive discussions with the provider, local council and CCG followed to secure immediate improvements in care and to protect residents. The CCG provided additional staff as an interim measure, but the provider continued to fail to provide a safe service.

Due to the potential risk to people’s safety, CQC took urgent action to close the home.

We have learnt from experience that what works well is having a pre-prepared contingency plan and good communications between different partners and, crucially, with the people affected, and their families.

The disruption and distress caused by a move can be reduced by ensuring that there is support provided after the move, by continuing good communications and, if possible, by keeping people together.

We are currently working on a memorandum of understanding to set out more clearly the arrangements for how CQC, local councils, and CCGs work together during an urgent closure. Of course, every closure will have unique issues and flexibility

“What works well is having a pre-prepared contingency plan and good communications” 14 | first feature

will be important. But this needs to be underpinned by a focus on improving the safety and quality of care for the people having to move.

We understand how important it is for councillors to be aware of adult social care services that CQC have placed in special measures or need to close. Your local CQC adult social care inspection team is in regular contact with local authority officers in these cases.

You can also keep abreast of our inspection findings and press releases including those that announce services going into special measures by visiting our website.

See www.cqc.org.uk and visit engagementandinvolvement@cqc. org.uk to receive a regular e-newsletter

www.local.gov.uk

Protection costs A Supreme Court judgement means more residents receiving social care are subject to Deprivation of Liberty safeguards – adding millions to councils’ care bills

Cllr Izzi Seccombe is the LGA’s Portfolio Holder for Community Wellbeing

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he adult social care budget constitutes the biggest area of spend for councils with social care responsibilities, and supports some of the most vulnerable people in society. Ensuring sustainable levels of funding is critical, both for people that need care and support in our communities and for councils’ budgets as a whole.

A Supreme Court judgment means that thousands more people will need to be assessed under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) every year. The latest national data indicates that the number of assessments carried out in the previous financial year increased 10 times. The need to take the judgement into account as a

March 2016

significant pressure was flagged in the LGA’s spending review submission and in discussions with government, jointly with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, throughout last year.

This led to a one-off payment of £25 million being released in the current financial year (2015/16), in addition to the annual grant payment of £35.2 million. A recent impact assessment by the Law Commission found that if DoLs was properly funded, somewhere between £284.4 million and £403.9 million would need to be provided annually. Though the additional funding is welcome, it does not cover current and ongoing costs: these can only be met by impacting on other vital front line services.

Local government has developed a range of sector-led improvement activity to support local authorities to apply the judgement. Following the review of the current scheme by the Law Commission, we are also keen to continue to work with national partners to consider how DoLs could be amended to be both more effective and more efficient.

What are DoLs? The Department of Health estimated that 70 per cent of those who use social care services may lack mental capacity for some decisions.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) are part of broader legislation that protects the rights of people who lack mental capacity.

A DoLs assessment seeks to ensure that decisions made on their behalf about changes to their care are made in their best interests and do not inappropriately restrict their freedom.

Local authorities have to decide within statutory timelines whether any requests for changes to care are appropriate, and review these arrangements at a minimum of once a year.

A Supreme Court judgment on 19 March 2014, known as the Cheshire West judgement, widened the definition of a ‘deprivation of liberty’, leading to councils having to apply the safeguards to a much bigger group of adult residents. Although local government fully supports the principles behind the judgement, councils are concerned about its impact on local authority budgets and capacity.

However, without additional funding it will be hard for councils to protect the best interests of the most vulnerable people in our communities within the legal timelines.

A group of councils, including Liverpool City Council, are calling for the judgement to be treated as a ‘new burden’ and to be fully funded. They are developing a case to government that argues that there are not the resources available to process the current number of assessments, and that there needs to be immediate action so councils do not have to continue to absorb this ongoing cost pressure.

Cllr Roz Gladden (Lab), Cabinet Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health at Liverpool City Council, said: “Ensuring that the care provided is safe, unrestrictive and provided with dignity is critical to the health and wellbeing of people with a complex range of needs, their carers and families.

“Councils need to have the capacity, time and money to ensure that the rights and needs of people are protected.

Without sufficient funding, we will be failing some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.”

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interview Protecting the Green Belt Planning is not the problem when it comes to getting more homes built, warns Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England

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ast year marked six decades since the Green Belt became government policy. The Campaign to Protect Rural England used the anniversary to celebrate all that is great and good about our nation’s countryside.

But that celebration was tempered by a stark warning that Britain’s green spaces face the “biggest threat” they ever have at any time since 1955.

Shaun Spiers – the organisation’s Chief Executive since 2004 – insists more needs to be done nationally and locally to protect the Green Belt from being eroded by new homes or roads.

He told first: “I think there are 221,000 houses now planned to be built on the Green Belt. There has been a huge increase and we are very concerned about this growing threat which seems to be going by under the radar.

“Areas of Green Belt are being taken away without full and proper review.

Allowing developers to build on Green Belt not only affects the country but it affects the towns too.

“I think what we have seen over the past 10 or 15 years is the single-minded chipping away of support for the Green Belt from the likes of some free market think tanks who are totally hazy about where they get their

16 | first interview

funding from. All one can imagine is that they are funded by people with development interests who stand to make millions from building on the Green Belt.

“The Government and lots of councils also say they support the Green Belt but actually we know it is being eroded. Re-designating a bit of Green Belt near a town and redesignating a bit of countryside on the other side of the Green Belt is not the point of the Green Belt.

“We want to make the brownfield agenda work and recapture some of the spirit of regeneration which has kind of gone out of fashion.”

The LGA recently revealed that 475,000 homes with planning permission remain unbuilt in England while nine in ten applications are being approved by town halls. For the CPRE, these figures illustrate that the planning process is not to blame for our housing crisis.

Mr Spiers said: “The reason we don’t www.local.gov.uk

“We regard rightly done planning as a tool for betterment and getting people involved in the places they care about”

get houses built in this country is nothing to do with planning, it is to do with the way the housing market works. When we built 250,000 homes a year consistently for decades, the state built half of them. Since the state stopped building them over the last 35 years, the private sector has built what they have always built, give and take the peaks and troughs of the economy.

“Councils are being made to commit to implausibly high housing numbers which have never consistently been met even in the boom years. What we want is a much more realistic assessment of housing need.”

The CPRE firmly objects to moves by the Government to strip away planning powers from local councils and communities as part of the Housing and Planning Bill.

This includes national intervention in the production of local plans and permissions in principle for land allocated for development.

For Mr Spiers, the Government’s plan to force councils to sell homes to extend the Right to March 2016

Buy scheme to housing association tenants is also a “huge concern”.

With rural homes costing more, salaries lower and less social housing already, he says it is clear the Government has “not given a second thought” to the impact of the policy on rural areas.

It supports other measures – such as speeding up the compulsory purchase powers process and moves to double the number of self-build and custom-build houses by 2020.

“The Government is in a bind,” said Mr Spiers. “It wants to build more houses. It has a manifesto commitment to increase house building and increase home ownership and is refreshingly very keen to deliver.

“Some of what the Government is doing is positive. It has slightly increased compulsory purchase powers, and has put forward some interesting policies on self-build.

Fundamentally, it still sees it as a planning issue and I don’t think it is.

“Government is throwing initiatives at this. They have the Housing and Planning Bill, the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, they have John Rhodes looking at speeding up how local authorities develop local plans. There is a danger of initiative-itis.

“If you do that in planning it has unintended consequences. You end up losing the certainty and you end up with planning by appeal. Unless the Government is really careful about how it reforms the system it will have the opposite effect, and make it harder to build [more homes].”

Instead of stripping away local planning powers, Mr Spiers believes well-funded town hall planning departments are the key to ensuring any new development is sustainable and appropriate.

Stretched planning departments – crucial to building the homes and roads our communities need – have seen funding reduce by 46 per cent since 2010. Councils have also spent at least £450 million in

first interview | 17

18 | first interview

www.local.gov.uk PHOTOGRAPH KINDLY REPRODUCED WITH THE PERMISSION OF HASTOE HOUSING ASSOCIATION. PHOTO BY PINNACLE PHOTO AGENCY

three years topping up inadequate nationally-set planning fees.

A consultation on allowing councils to set planning fees and cover this spiralling cost, announced by Communities Secretary Greg Clark as part of the local government finance settlement, is a step in the right direction.

But planning, Mr Spiers insists, must never become a “Cinderella service”.

“Since I have been at CPRE, we have always tried to defend the democratic planning process from people who want to liberalise it and regard it as standing in the way of development and of people’s living standards,” he adds.

“We regard rightly done planning as a tool for betterment and getting people involved in the places they care about.

“The CPRE is the largest third party participant in the planning system across the country. Most of our branches are willing to countenance building even on reasonably large greenfield sites if it is well planned and if they think there is legitimacy in the planning system. If you remove the legitimacy then you will end up with people back in the trenches again.”

House building is not the only threat to our rural communities. Recent research by the Campaign for Better Transport highlighted that bus funding has reduced by £78 million since 2010.

It warned rural bus routes – particularly in areas such as Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire and Lancashire – will be lost forever, with the latest round of council funding cuts to see a further £27 million wiped out of bus funding budgets.

Combined with more and more potholes

appearing on rural roads and you are faced with a full-blown rural transport crisis, Mr Spiers warns.

He said: “It is a big issue – not just for rural areas – but for edge of town areas. If the Government carries on plonking estates down on the edge of towns, how are people going to get to and from the town?

“At the moment that is probably by car.

In rural areas, there are a variety of things that should be done. One of those is about funding bus routes – but the old idea about buses carting air and taking an hour-anda-half and through umpteen villages to get to the town is true – so buses won’t be the solution for every rural community.

“You will end up with more and more isolated areas.”

The 53-year-old believes moves to hand local areas control over bus providers and subsidies, as will happen in Cornwall as part of its devolution deal, is a “positive” step.

But the idea of devolution in general is greeted with more caution by the CPRE, who are desperate for local communities to be engaged in the processes and for rural areas to avoid simply being viewed as economies to be “unlocked”.

Mr Spiers said: “We certainly don’t view rural areas just as engines of economic growth, which sometimes one hears the Treasury talk about when discussing rural areas. They are also about beauty, amenity and so on.

“We are not opposed to rural devolution deals but there should be a period of assessment to see if this is working. I think the real concern we have about devolution deals is about transparency.

“The reason we don’t get houses built in this country is nothing to do with planning, it is to do with the way the housing market works.

When we built 250,000 homes a year, the state built half of them” March 2016

“So you get a deal between the Treasury and the councillors who happen to be in power, which shuts out civic society. I know people say the councillors are elected but they weren’t elected by that many people and they are taking some pretty important decisions. They might lose control of the council at the election and the devolution deal will still be there. There is a real democratic deficit.

“If devolution deals are about making places better in the round then fine. But if they are part of a narrow economic growth agenda then that has serious concerns for us.”

Connectivity is also a big issue for rural communities, with telecoms watchdog Ofcom finding people living in rural areas having to wait up to three years to receive minimum broadband speeds.

Mr Spiers wants the Government to do more to open up the market dominated

by BT, who he says is “giving a higher priority to investing in Premier League footballers’ salaries than rural broadband, as far as I can tell”.

The CPRE has a much more positive report on light pollution. It has been mapping the night sky for star gazers, and the early indications are that there have been some improvements. This, Mr Spiers admits, may be down to cashstrapped councils switching off or dimming streetlights to save money. But he urges all local authorities to see alternative night lights as an environmental and wildlife protection issue as much as a cost-saving measure – and be brave enough to withstand local opposition.

“Any local newspaper can run a campaign about safety as soon as you have switchoff schemes or dimming and it is tough for a local authority to withstand that,” he said. “Our evidence is that there is not much credibility there and that safety isn’t compromised or crime doesn’t go up if you do schemes sensibly.”

The CPRE will soon set out its hopes for 2026 – its centenary year. Mr Spiers admits he is “breathlessly optimistic” about its vision for a countryside “being more loved, more tranquil and more beautiful than ever”.

One thing is for sure, he concludes. “Once it is gone, it is gone forever.”

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Driving efficiency through Shared Services Fire and Rescue Authorities have seen reduced funding of between 26% and 39% since 2010 and will continue to see further funding reductions throughout the lifetime of this parliament.

Delivering an effective, safe and professional service to the public, whilst remaining within budget, has never been more challenging.

The Fire Service College is working on a number of strategic initiatives aimed at promoting greater collaboration to increase efficiency across the sector. Through the development of shared services capabilities we aim to reduce some of the duplication that presently exists: • RDTI Hub A new Research, Development, Technology & Innovation (RDTI) Hub is currently in development to co-ordinate functions across the sector, reducing costs and expediting innovation.

• L&D Hub Our Learning and Development Hub is designed to streamline training through a centralised Learning Management System, reducing local spend on technology and administration.

To find out more come along to the:

Fire Service College Fringe Meeting Tuesday 8 March – 1:15pm – 1:45 pm Wallace Suite, Bristol Marriott Hotel City Centre Speaker: Bernie Higgins, Director of Training, Fire Service College As Head of Special Operations Group at LFB, Bernie planned responses to major and catastrophic incidents. He played a significant part in redefining the FRS’s role within the government’s counter-terrorist CONTEST strategy, introducing the role of National Inter-Agency Liaison Officer to UKFRS and ambulance services, enabling more effective planning and response to terrorist incidents.

As Deputy CBRN(E) Lead Officer for the UKFRS Bernie worked with multiagency partners and government departments to ensure that UK CBRN(E) response was fit for purpose and, in 2011, planned and implemented the FRS response to marauding terrorism. He also played a key role in reshaping the UK emergency/military response to CBRN(E), as Strategic Advisor for CBRN(E) within CFOA National Resilience, and represented the UKFRS on CBRN(E) PPE programme and project boards. In 2015 Bernie led a successful FSC bid to deliver national resilience training to the UKFRS, and in August 2015 took up the role of Director of Training with the College.

The Fire Service College t: 01608 812984 e: sales@fireservicecollege.ac.uk

www.fireservicecollege.ac.uk

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www.local.gov.uk

comment How heritage can support successful places Sir Laurie Magnus is Chairman of Historic England

Last April, Historic England was established under its new brand name as a result of the split of the former English Heritage into two organisations. An independent charity, with the name of English Heritage, looks after our National Heritage Collection.

The split enables Historic England, the public body that champions and protects England’s historic environment, to bring its undivided attention to its purpose which, very importantly, includes supporting our partners in local government.

Our new corporate plan sets out how we operate and has some key objectives. Top of the list is that we will continue to champion the value of England’s heritage to all those who make decisions about its future – including those in local government. We will argue the case for protecting our nationally and locally important heritage assets and for the critical role they can play in supporting successful and vibrant places.

A good example of the latter is Margate (pictured), which has seen much of its old town brought back to life as it exploits its association with landscape artist J M W Turner, in particular with the construction of the Turner

Contemporary art gallery. New businesses have been established, along with new and returning visitor attractions. Margate has been able to make use of its historic character, its narrow streets, Victorian terraces and assets, such as the historic theme park, Dreamland, to begin a process of regeneration.

So we will continue to provide support, advice and training to local authorities. We want people to use and enjoy historic places in ways that reveal and reinforce their significance while contributing to their cultural, economic and social success.

We will also continue to support local authorities as they seek to maintain access to expert historic environment advice that is vital in ensuring local decisions do not put local

“We will continue to champion the value of England’s heritage to all those who make decisions about its future – including those in local government” March 2016

heritage assets at risk. The scale of expenditure cuts imposed on local government has meant that, in some places, extremely difficult decisions have needed to be made.

Historic England, in partnership with the LGA, is looking to improve the support we can provide to authorities by developing our understanding of the different models of service that are emerging. In 2013, we jointly published ‘Making the most of your heritage assets’, showing the different types of service that were emerging in response to the pressures facing councils.

It included examples such as Wiltshire providing archaeological services and advice to Swindon; and the development of Place Services, a specialist planning and advisory service established by Essex County Council as a not-for-profit enterprise (see www. placeservices.co.uk). We intend to update the publication this year, capturing more of the different models emerging and providing advice on which elements of which models work well and the key challenges involved.

Another corporate priority is to introduce a new scheme of heritage action zones (HAZs), which will see us work with a number of areas as they seek to maximise the economic potential of their local heritage assets.

Partnership working will be at the heart of these zones, with Historic England wanting to work with organisations with an interest in stimulating local growth.

We are committing substantial resources, both in the shape of grant funding and staff time, to help places realise the potential of their heritage assets in supporting economic growth and increased productivity. More information on HAZs, including the process by which you can apply to become one, will be made available on the Historic England website in early summer.

To find out more about Historic England, please visit www. historicengland.org.uk

first comment | 21

group leaders’ comments The case for fairer funding

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he local government finance settlement was always going to be difficult given the reductions in public spending that are required to restore the nation’s finances.

However, the provisional settlement announced in December caused considerable concern since many councils were being asked to find savings in the first two years that were well beyond that which they had been planning for. I was therefore delighted that when the final settlement was announced in early February, it was clear that the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Communities Secretary had listened and responded very constructively to the points that I and other leading LGA Conservative politicians, as well

as council leaders, had made since the provisional settlement.

The additional transitional funding of £150 million in 2016/17 and 2017/18 for councils adversely affected by the change in the distribution of central funding was a very significant announcement.

For some time I have been making the case for fairer funding based on real needs as many of the factors have changed over the years. The review of funding that was announced by the Government will play a key role in recognising the real needs and costs of service delivery in different parts of the country and will in turn inform the business rates retention model.

In addition, rural councils will see a

“I have been making the case for fairer funding based on real needs as many factors have changed”

Cllr David Hodge is Leader of the LGA’s Conservative Group

substantial increase in the rural services delivery grant; no council will be required to pay negative revenue support grant (RSG) in 2017/18 or 2018/19; and all shire districts will be given the flexibility to raise council tax by a minimum of £5 or 2 per cent.

Of course, the financial situation for councils will still be challenging over the next four years and any extra cost pressures will have to be funded by finding savings elsewhere. However, I believe that we are now in a much improved position, thanks to these announcements, to make these important decisions.

chairman’s comment

Constructive engagement on funding

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

T

he LGA has been working tirelessly – both publicly and privately – to highlight to government the financial challenges all councils face over the next few years.

In our response to the draft finance settlement (see first 596), we called for transitional funding to soften the impact of funding reductions in the first year of a four-year settlement that promised more money, for example for social care via the Better Care Fund – but only towards the end of this decade. It left some councils facing deeper reductions than they would

22 | first comment

have expected under the old method for distributing funding. We also called for greater council tax flexibility for shire districts.

The Government’s original proposals would have left 15 councils with a negative revenue support grant (RSG) allocation by 2017, with many more affected in subsequent years. We would have had councils losing government funding earlier than expected and having to pay a bigger share of their business rates income back to the Treasury.

Instead, after much hard behind-the-scenes negotiations, the Government announced that the final finance settlement would include extra transitional funding of up to £416 million for those most adversely affected by the changes, including an extra £93 million for rural authorities. This means no council will

have negative RSG until 2019, without any other councils losing out further.

The Government is also allowing all local authorities – not just the 51 districts with the lowest council tax bases – to raise their Band D council tax by up to £5.

We are pleased ministers listened to our call for new money. No-one doubts that funding reductions over the next four years will still be challenging for local government. As councillors, we may be asking residents to pay more council tax for possibly fewer services. But by maintaining a constructive engagement with ministers, we have been able to mitigate some of the worst anomalies, and make some progress on long-standing goals – for example, four-year funding deals.

“Extra transitional funding means no council will have negative RSG until 2019” www.local.gov.uk

group leaders’ comments

Cllr Marianne Overton MBE is Leader of the LGA’s Independent Group

Cllr Nick Forbes is Leader of the LGA’s Labour Group

Damaging impact of housing reforms

Overseeing the demise of local government?

he Housing and Planning Bill working its way through Parliament presents some of the most drastic legislation ever introduced on housing.

The new levy on councils to fund the Right to Buy sale of housing association properties will be collected through the enforced sell-off of higher value council homes.

The Government is planning to take this money from councils before they have even sold those houses, introducing an annual ‘council housing tax’ taken from the housing revenue account we use to maintain council homes.

The indications are that the Government will devise a formula which will take into account each council’s ability to sell ‘high value’ properties and then levy the council for their estimated proceeds from these ‘sales’. This will have a deeply damaging impact upon our ability to maintain the standards of our stock or build new council housing.

We are seeing the introduction of a council house tax which will not only remove a substantial part of the safety net council housing can provide, but also the pride it brings to those who live in a good home.

This is where the next fight for local government should be. If we don’t take the Government on over this policy and rise to meet this threat then we will be counting the cost for generations.

he shift away from central government grant continues with a 28 per cent (£2.7 billion) reduction this year.

However Communities Secretary Greg Clarke has responded to LGA concerns with welcome new funding. This grant partly corrects the unexpected disadvantage felt by shire counties in the provisional local government finance settlement. In particular, this helped the Conservative heartlands of Surrey, Dorset, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Rural areas will get an additional £60.5 million this year and the ability to raise council tax up to £5. These are helpful measures.

However, the major cutbacks faced by many councils are hard to manage, especially in those with responsibility for adult care, which unlike the NHS is not protected. The living wage is good but not funded and sadly the 2 per cent care tax does not cover the rising demands.

Few of us became councillors to be preoccupied with reducing much needed services. Few voted Conservative expecting that would mean reducing road maintenance, economic development and even taking risks with reduced statutory services. Few expected it meant councils would be forced to fund the sale of affordable housing from housing associations, while meeting increasing demands from more people in need.

Local government has already diminished significantly over the past four years, creating ‘lean machines’. The job is done. There comes a point where our core responsibilities are at risk and a shift in thinking is required.

T

“The council house tax will remove a substantial part of the safety net council housing can provide”

T

“Few of us became councillors to reduce much needed services”

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson is Leader of the LGA’s Liberal Democrat Group

Steep cuts in government grants

A

s I have always said, the devil will be in the detail, and that is exactly what has happened with regards to the Government’s final announcement on the local government finance settlement.

The extra support pledged for local councils must be seen in the context of the steep cut in revenue support grant (RSG) across local government, the cut in public health funding which was sneaked out, and the delay in getting more money into the social care system – all of which will have serious consequences.

While this additional cash announced as transitional funding will help some authorities, other areas in need of extra help will still not get anything. Those getting some extra support will include a number of rural councils who were going to be disproportionately hit by the Government’s cuts to local authority spending. One would have hoped that the Government would have realised this when it issued its draft finance settlement, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Some of the poorest areas in the country will not see a penny of this additional funding, and the announcement raises more questions than provides answers. Councils are waiting to see the detail of the special grants they receive in addition to the settlement. If the cut to public health funding is anything to go by, then the announcement may have a dark side and hidden consequences.

“Some of the poorest areas in the country will not see a penny of this additional funding”

For more information about the LGA’s political groups, see www.local.gov.uk

March 2016

first comment | 23

Standing up to a cyber-attack Cllr Martin Hill OBE (Con) is Leader of Lincolnshire County Council

On 26 January, a council staff member clicked on an email attachment believing it to be an outstanding invoice.

What followed caused major disruption to our IT systems, email and databases, and impacted on our ability to provide services for the best part of a week.

The council was subject to a malicious software or ‘malware’ attack. All of our IT systems had to be shut down, so we could contain it and investigate.

Fortunately, systems and online services were fully restored after being out of action for several days. But because this was a new piece of malware that had not been seen before, a fix had to be developed and tested before we had confidence that we could restore our systems

without causing further harm.

We took quick action to close everything down and as a result very few files had to be destroyed. More importantly, there was no evidence of personal data being lost because of the attack.

This was definitely a relief, but suddenly working without electronic facilities presented a major challenge.

Without email I lost access to a major communication channel with residents and officers. But what happened before email? We picked up the phone. And that’s exactly what we did, and on many occasions issues were resolved over the phone more quickly than in a protracted email conversation.

But new communications methods also proved invaluable, with social media

becoming a major way of informing and talking with residents.

Staff found innovative ways of carrying on delivering services albeit with some restrictions.

We were fortunate that the disruption to residents was fairly limited; computers couldn’t be used in libraries, phone booking had to replace online systems, and responses to some enquiries were delayed.

We had all the right security systems and business continuity plans in place and our staff complete compulsory information governance training, so we certainly weren’t unprepared.

But my advice is that whatever precautions you take, the threat of a cyber-attack is real and increasing. Expecting it to happen is the best preparation.

See www.cert.gov.uk/cisp/ for information and advice on cyber-security and www.cyberriskinsuranceforum.com/sites/default/files/10-steps-to-cybersecurity-executive.pdf for 10 steps to cyber resilience

Improving Northern transport connections Jon Lamonte is Chief Executive of Transport for Greater Manchester and a member of the National Needs Assessment Executive Group

For the cities of the Northern Powerhouse, greater connectivity is vital to securing the prize of economic growth and prosperity.

But only through thorough analysis can the right projects be identified and prioritised to make the transformational changes the North really needs.

Ensuring the right connections are in place and adding value at the point of delivery – not as an afterthought – is the blueprint we need to follow if we are going to address decades of under-investment in our transport infrastructure.

A transport network that supports and encourages growth long into the future is one that dovetails with planned major infrastructure

24 | first comment

projects and investments.

It has the capacity to accommodate growth because it is built to serve the region’s needs; it isn’t playing catch-up. It brings key economic centres closer together by making journey times more realistic. It spreads the benefits of investment even further, and encourages a virtuous circle of growth.

By improving connectivity across the North – connecting our people and places with the right opportunities, in the most effective way – we will add significant value to the major projects being progressed.

That is the mission at the heart of the National Needs Assessment, a project I am working on with a host of other leading industry and business organisations. We are working as one to collectively analyse how we can drive growth by targeting infrastructure investment in the right interventions, transforming links between major cities like Liverpool and Leeds to open up new opportunities linked to key developments.

People and places: the two must go hand in glove to achieve the greatest economic returns, and that’s why bringing our major cities closer together is so vital to the discussion.

The National Needs Assessment, led by the Institution of Civil Engineers, is absolutely fundamental to understanding what needs to happen and where, in order for a targeted, co-ordinated, pan-regional programme to deliver the maximum benefits.

I am delighted to be playing a key role in it.

For more information about the National Needs Assessment, please visit www.ice.org.uk/national-needsassessment

www.local.gov.uk

Tackling child sexual exploitation Cllr Lin Hazell is Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at Buckinghamshire County Council

Last year, two young Buckinghamshire women were brave enough to re-live the details of the horrific sexual abuse they suffered for many years at an eight-week trial at the Old Bailey. They demonstrated great courage and determination in coming forward, overcoming the trauma of giving evidence to help ensure that six men were ultimately handed long prison sentences.

Those events have reaffirmed our commitment to continuing with renewed strength the work we have been doing for some time to tackle child sexual exploitation (CSE) and other forms of sexual abuse in Buckinghamshire; crimes which have a truly devastating impact on young victims’ lives.

We place a clear and absolute focus on, and commitment to, working very closely with all our partner agencies and organisations who are working with children and young people in the county, all under the umbrella of our local safeguarding children board.

We operate a three-pronged approach: prevent CSE from happening and stop existing CSE from continuing; protect those who are at risk of, or who are victims of, CSE; and pursue the perpetrators of CSE and support victims to safely disclose abuse.

What does this look like in practice?

Raising awareness in the wider community is one of the most important things we can do in helping the public understand that child sex offenders can easily hide behind a veneer of normality.

The fact is that any of us could potentially know someone who is an abuser; and this is why it is crucial that we promote awareness of CSE throughout our communities, and work as hard as we can to ensure that everyone is alert to spotting the signs of exploitation or abuse.

For this reason, we run an ongoing dedicated public awareness campaign; this includes a regular programme of information events for parents and the public. These are hosted by local councils, Thames Valley Police, Barnardo’s and health services, and have proved to be popular and well attended.

We’re supporting all of our schools through a programme of staff training and curriculum and lesson planning on CSE and other related topics like healthy relationships.

We also provide the well-regarded, powerful March 2016

and interactive play ‘Chelsea’s Choice’ to pupils in Years 8 and 9 across the county every two years to ensure youngsters see the play as they progress through school.

We continually build in knowledge, selfimprovement and learning to our work; an example being a recent, all-encompassing scrutiny committee review into how we are preventing CSE, the 10 recommendations of which have been accepted by the council and are in the process of being implemented.

The development of our specialist CSE Swan Unit has been a significant investment of staff and resources but is playing a vital role in tackling CSE through bringing together into one dedicated team Thames Valley police officers, children’s social workers and staff from Barnardo’s and health services to work together on CSE referrals and support children and young people.

We always need to do more, however. Next on our action list is taking steps to reach more minority resident groups to raise awareness in all our communities. We are also working to raise awareness of the issue with people and organisations involved in the night-time economy, such as taxi firms and hotels.

“Any of us could potentially know someone who is an abuser; child sex offenders can easily hide behind a veneer of normality” We will also be looking to ensure the sharing across job roles of some of the specific skills which professionals such as police officers and social workers have, thus giving a completely holistic approach across everyone working with children and young people.

We will continue to work with Thames Valley Police, Barnardo’s and our other partners to stamp out CSE, raise awareness of the signs that a child or young person is being sexually exploited, and support victims to rebuild their lives.

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Arlin Rickard is Chair of the Catchment Based Approach National Support Group

Ladywell Fields in Lewisham, London, was a characterless landscape with only 44 per cent of local people saying they felt safe using the park.

That was before the River Ravensbourne was restored to its natural course (pictured) as part of a catchment-based approach to improving the local water environment. Now, 78 per cent say they feel comfortable visiting the park and visitor numbers are up by 250 per cent. Local people care about the river and play an important role in its upkeep through the Ravensbourne Catchment Partnership.

Ravensbourne is just one of 108 catchment partnerships across England, developed as part of a government-backed ‘catchment based approach’ (CaBA) to improving local rivers and the surrounding environment. CaBA brings

local people together to create a healthy water environment, with local authorities working in partnership with businesses, the third sector and local communities. Collaboration has many benefits, including reducing flood risk, improving water quality, increasing biodiversity and creating better places for people to live.

For example, Leicester City Council is working as part of the River Soar Catchment Partnership to tackle flood risk. The local enterprise partnership has invested in the project, which is using the expertise of partner organisations including Trent Rivers Trust to reduce the risk of flooding to 3,000 homes.

Improvements to the Willow Brook, a tributary of the Soar, will prevent sediment loss which blocks pipes and increases the chances of flooding.

A project launched through the Nene Valley Catchment Partnership, with the support of Northampton Borough Council, is hoping to transform Foot Meadow Island, which has been largely abandoned by neighbouring residents as a space for anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and rough sleeping. By volunteering on the River Nene, which flows through the

BILL GREEN

Reviving river environments

area, residents feel they can do something to improve the environment, get active and create a better neighbourhood. Skills, equipment and additional funding have been secured by working in partnership.

To find out how CaBA can help in your area, please visit www. catchmentbasedapproach.org

The local government event of the year www.local.gov.uk/conference to book your place @LGAComms #LGAconf16 | first comment annual conference ad_half_page_first.indd 26L15-554

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www.local.gov.uk 04/02/2016 17:47

Council bonds agency: open for business Sir Merrick Cockell is Chairman of the UK Municipal Bonds Agency and a former Chairman of the LGA

In this time of austerity and persistent budget cuts, local councils need an organisation that can cheaply and efficiently finance investments in infrastructure and other projects.

The UK Municipal Bonds Agency (UK MBA) is that organisation.

And we are open for business.

The agency is the first organisation of its kind in the UK and sits at the heart of local government. We are owned by you, the sector. Our shareholders are local authorities and the LGA. Our board includes senior local government figures.

We were set up explicitly to help local authorities fund their projects at a lower cost than the Government’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB). Money saved by reduced council finance costs can be poured back into local economies, infrastructure and housing.

Today, local councils get 75 per cent of their borrowing through the PWLB, part of the Debt Management Office. At 31 March 2013, local authority borrowing in the UK amounted to £84.5 billion, of which £63.4 billion was from the PWLB. This borrowing comes at a price.

The PWLB charges councils a premium rate above Treasury bond rates, which is set by the Chancellor. This rate adds to councils’ borrowing costs and, in turn, costs council residents.

If half of the outstanding debt with the PWLB was transferred to the UK MBA, councils would save between £1.2 billion and £1.45 billion over 30 years. That’s money that could be invested in housing and other vital local projects.

This reality spurred the creation of the agency in 2012, based on similar success stories abroad. Municipal bond agencies have been set up in Europe (France and several Nordic countries), Japan, New Zealand and Canada. In each country, creating a bond agency allowed local councils to borrow at reduced costs, efficiently and transparently.

We believe that the UK Municipal Bonds Agency will have the same impact here, helping local councils to better finance investments in important and necessary March 2016

“By clubbing together to issue bonds, local authorities can benefit from their collective scale and get a much better rate in the market” projects. The way it works is simple – by clubbing together to issue bonds, local authorities can benefit from their collective scale, and get a much better rate in the market.

We have completed the legal framework that was required prior to us launching. The agency is now open for business and ready to start lending.

This is a ground-breaking initiative for local government and shows the sector at its best, standing on its own two feet. Rather than borrowing from the PWLB, you can now borrow through the agency’s bond issues, or from other councils, for much less. Local economies benefit, councils benefit and residents benefit.

Bond facts and figures Municipal bonds have been a success in many other countries such as France, the Nordic nations and New Zealand.

• Local councils get 75 per cent of their borrowing through the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB).

• At 31 March 2013, local authority borrowing was £84.5 billion, of which £63.4 billion came from the PWLB. • If just half of the outstanding PWLB debt was transferred to the UK Municipal Bonds Agency, up to £1.45 billion could be saved over 30 years.

• See www.ukmba.org for more information.

•

first comment | 27

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www.local.gov.uk

councillor Your role in scrutiny Ed Hammond is Director of Local Accountability at the Centre for Public Scrutiny

The devil makes work for idle hands. Perhaps, then, he was responsible for the creation of overview and scrutiny in local government.

There is a cynical view that scrutiny only exists to keep backbench councillors busy.

Critics claim it is ‘toothless’, that scrutiny committees are ‘talking shops’, that councils’ leadership (cabinet and officer) can and do ignore scrutiny’s recommendations.

These are views with which we have to grapple regularly. At the Centre for Public Scrutiny, our aim is to promote and support excellent governance and scrutiny. We believe it is essential to good decision-making and

“Scrutiny is essential to good decision-making and improving outcomes” improving outcomes, and is becoming more critical as councils deliver significant transformational change and savings.

We provide advice, guidance and support to councils to help them ensure that their governance systems – especially overview and scrutiny – are robust and resilient. We strive to make them vital and valued.

As part of this work, some of the old, discredited tropes about the effectiveness and impact of overview and scrutiny are often presented to us by councillors and officers alike. Given that there are 353 principal local authorities in the country it is inevitable that,

for some people, their experience of scrutiny may not be positive. But by and large it is a powerful and effective tool for councillors to exert influence over cabinet and have a direct, tangible impact on local people.

Over the years we have developed a clearer sense of what it takes for scrutiny to have this kind of effect. First, there is no ‘best way’ to do scrutiny – there is no council which is the ‘best in the country’ at scrutiny.

Solutions and approaches that may work in one council won’t in another, because of local political and organisation circumstances.

Second, good scrutiny is about relationships and constructive criticism.

Scrutiny’s real power lies in persuasion – carrying out research and making highquality recommendations for change public.

A scrutiny function which is merely antagonistic and oppositional will sideline itself.

The independence of the scrutiny function means that it can bring to bear different perspectives and insights to challenge officer and cabinet ‘groupthink’.

But for scrutiny to work well, councillors must have access to the information they need to carry out their role. Councillors must clearly explain what information they need and expect, and others have to provide it.

Where issues like commercial confidentiality come into play, this can be challenging.

Fundamentally, good scrutiny requires everyone in the council (and key people in the wider area) to understand what scrutiny is actually for. Clarity around roles and the aims and objectives of the function make it clearer to identify where it can really add value and make a difference to the lives of local people.

Saying that scrutiny is there ‘to hold to account’ and to ‘act as a check and balance’ is not enough anymore – it’s more and more necessary for scrutiny to have a clear place in the organisation’s approach to change, service improvement and policy-making.

We want to see councils’ leadership welcome and value the challenge that scrutiny can offer. To achieve this will require that the overview and scrutiny function of every council in the country recognises and tackles these issues. Traditional approaches to scrutiny will need to adapt as councils and public services themselves transform.

We are helping this to happen by providing support to councils and councillors over the phone, by email, by going into councils and providing national practice guides – see www.cfps.org.uk/practice-guides

For more information please visit www.cfps.org.uk, email ed.hammond@cfps.org.uk or telephone 020 7187 7369

March 2016

first political | 29

parliament Devolution ‘requires public engagement’ Government and local leaders must do more to engage the public in devolution proposals, negotiations and outcomes, according to MPs. In an inquiry into the Government’s Devolution Bill, the Commons’ Communities and Local Government Committee found a “very significant lack of public consultation and engagement” at all stages of the devolution process.

As an immediate first step, the committee has suggested the Government set up a website giving comprehensive information about devolution and details of deals, along the lines of the LGA’s DevoNext resources hub (see www.local.gov.uk/devolution) which is cited as performing a similar function.

Elsewhere, the committee’s report says there has been a failure to set out clear, measurable objectives for devolution, rushed timetables for negotiation, and a lack of openness about deal negotiations. ‘Devolution: the next five years and beyond’ recommends the Government makes clear that devolution will take place at different speeds in different areas, and that agreed timetables are set out for negotiations and agreeing deals.

The committee also recommends local areas should be able to acquire further devolved powers over time. Where an area asks for particular devolved powers but is refused, the Government should ensure powers are available to it if they are given to other similar areas at a later date. By the end of this Parliament, the Government and local

authorities should move to a position of ‘devolution by right’ with the Government announcing a package of powers on offer to local government.

Responding to the report, LGA Chairman Lord Porter said: “Devolution is a massive opportunity to help ensure services are tailored to best meet the needs of local people and we want to see ambition from government departments that matches that of local places in considering the powers devolved and different models of governance appropriate to both cities and county areas.

“Places should also be able to build on their initial deals and take advantage of a broader range of powers to fully capitalise on the opportunities for their communities and businesses.

“While it is right that devolution deals are not imposed, but negotiated and secured by local places, we recognise the need for greater public engagement throughout the deal-making process and are working with councils to support them in this.”

Clive Betts MP, Chair of the committee, said: “We believe that the current arrangements should only be a first step towards a much bigger devolution settlement and that devolution should be the default across all Government departments.”

Mr Betts said the committee would continue to press for fiscal devolution: it has already begun an inquiry into councils retaining 100 per cent of local business rates.

“Devolution is a massive opportunity to help ensure services are tailored to best meet the needs of local people” 30 | first political

Maiden speech

L

GA Chairman Gary Porter has been introduced to the House of Lords, and gave his maiden speech on devolution.

He told fellow peers he was proud to come from a district council and to be the first LGA chairman to do so, and that he was passionate about local democracy.

“This comes from my desire to get things done for local people and communities, to improve things for people and generally to make a positive difference,” he said.

“We all know that empowering people at a local level is good for our democracy and for our economy. It improves services and saves money, and that is good news.

“Who would have thought, a year or two ago, that we would see devolution deals agreed with central government or that councils would be able to keep the money that they raise from business rates? These are major achievements, and we should not underestimate the scale of such changes.

“The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act is a positive step to give areas the range of powers they need to create jobs, build homes, strengthen communities and protect the vulnerable.

This is critical, as it allows local leaders to start delivering on the devolution deals that can unlock growth and improve public services in their areas.”

See www.parliament.uk/business/ committees for more information

www.local.gov.uk

local by-elections Bolton, Crompton LAB HELD 59.3% over UKIP

elections Local government: a two-party state With four of this month’s by-elections being caused by the resignation of sitting councillors in controversial circumstances, it is perhaps surprising that there were not more turnovers.

Among these cases, only in Oswestry, where the Conservative leader of Shropshire Council stood down over a perceived conflict of interest, did another party take advantage. There it was the Greens, who had finished in a respectable second place in 2013, who triumphed. In Thanet, where UKIP seized overall control of their first council last year, the loss of a seat to Labour amounted to the reassertion of the status quo. The Newington ward had been a traditional Labour stronghold, and the internal machinations within the UKIP group can scarcely have aided their cause. UKIP still have the whip hand, but now only as the largest single party.

And in Hexham, Northumberland, there was a little more than meets the eye behind the ‘Independent’ gain. The successful candidate had been a Liberal Democrat councillor for the area until boundary changes and his party’s national troubles led to his defeat in 2013. This time he campaigned on name recognition alone – eschewing any form of description on the ballot paper – and in the absence of any Lib Dem opponent nosed ahead of the Conservative.

Yet these isolated successes for smaller parties cannot disguise the fact that local government in England is currently more dominated by Labour and the Conservatives than it has ever been. Following the 2015 local elections they have overall control in 17 of every 20 councils, and their representatives comprise 81 per cent of all councillors. There is little reason to expect that position to change much this May. Under our first past the post electoral system a party usually needs at least March 2016

Professors Colin Rallings (right) and Michael Thrasher are Directors of Plymouth University’s Elections Centre

30 per cent of the vote to win a seat, and that is a goal that the Greens, UKIP, Independents and now even the Liberal Democrats find hard to meet. In by-elections contested this year, UKIP are averaging 13 per cent of the vote and the Greens just 9 per cent.

The coincidence of the second round of police and crime commissioner (PCC) elections with this year’s local (or, in Wales, National Assembly) contests may see a further increase in two-party hegemony.

When the PCC elections were first held in splendid early winter isolation in November 2012, they attracted a turnout of just 15 per cent. Twelve of the 41 available positions were won by Independent candidates compared to 16 Conservative and 13 Labour successes.

Several of those Independents may now find it hard to hang on following a more familiar, locally focused spring campaign with many voters sticking to a party slate at both council and PCC level.

Proponents of electoral reform bemoan what they see as the skewed and unresponsive nature of the present situation. But unless and until another viable ‘third’ party emerges and acquires the skill of translating votes in to seats, the new era of two-party run local government looks set to continue.

Turnout 28.3%

Cornwall, Launceston Central LIB DEM HELD 35.3% over Con Turnout 27.3% Coventry, Lower Stoke LAB HELD 41.3% over CON Turnout 15% East Cambridgeshire, Bottisham CON HELD 2% over Lib Dem Turnout 31.2% Eastleigh, West End North LIB DEM HELD 24.3% over CON Turnout 27% Hertfordshire, Bushey North CON HELD 32.7% over Lib Dem Turnout 17.1% Hounslow, Cranford LAB HELD 27.1% over CON

Turnout 26.3%

Northumberland, Hexham West IND GAIN FROM CON 3.4% over CON Turnout 40.5% North West Leicestershire, Measham South LAB HELD 9.2% over CON

Turnout 30.5%

St Helens, Thatto Heath LAB HELD 57.7% over UKIP Turnout 13.9% Shropshire, Oswestry South GREEN GAIN FROM CON 14.1% over CON Turnout 31% Southwark, Faraday LAB HELD 46.4% over Lib Dem

Turnout 21.8%

Stockton-On-Tees, Parkfield & Oxbridge LAB HELD 20.6% over CON Turnout 21.3% Thanet, Newington LAB GAIN FROM UKIP 7.7% over UKIP

Turnout 24%

Wealden, Crowborough East CON HELD 39.5% over Lib Dem Turnout 19.5%

See www.local.gov.uk/first for more by-elections data. See also the Elections Centre website at www.electionscentre.co.uk for a wealth of information on all aspects of local elections in Britain, including detailed results for individual local authorities dating from the 1970s onwards

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