No.603 September 2016 www.local.gov.uk
the magazine for local government
Interview:
“STPs are taking the health and wellbeing agenda and moving it from the discussion phase to the action phase� Stephen Dorrell, NHS Confederation Chair
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Party conferences LGA work at key political events
Local government key to recovery Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron
Brexit Keeping you up to date on talks
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Leading innovation The future of culture, tourism and sport LGA Annual Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference Wednesday 22–Thursday 23 February 2017, Bristol Sustaining valued frontline services during tough times is the critical challenge facing local culture, heritage, tourism and sport services. At this national conference we will look beyond local government to how devolution, changes to local government funding and wider public service reform, could open up new delivery and investment models. We will also take stock of what a new government and negotiations to leave the EU mean locally.
To book your place visit: www.local.gov.uk/events 9.8 LGA first CTS_02.indd 1
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Conference season begins
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eptember sees the political party conference season get in to full swing, giving colleagues an opportunity to get back in touch and meet after the summer break. In this issue, we take a look at the vital work the LGA is undertaking at party events throughout the conference season as it stretches into October. Also, Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron looks forward to his event in Brighton which is first up and begins on 17 September. We also have the first in our series of regular Brexit features looking at the role local government will play as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU. Elsewhere in this edition of first, we interview NHS Confederation Chair Stephen Dorrell who discusses the Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) covering the country as they move into action phase to help the integration of health and care. Let us know what stories and issues you want to see covered in future editions by emailing first@local.gov.uk. Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA
contents news
4 Right to Buy
5 EU funding
PrEP victory Calais camp visit
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interview
22 NHS Confederation
Broadband ads Digging up roads
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Chair Stephen Dorrell
“One of the weaknesses of the NHS legacy is that somehow it is separate from the rest of public services”
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Editor Karen Thornton Design & print TU ink www.tuink.co.uk Advertising James Pembroke Publishing Write to first: Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ Email first@local.gov.uk Tel editorial 020 7664 3294 Tel advertising 020 7079 9365 Photography Photofusion, Dreamstime and Ingimage unless otherwise stated Interview Andrew Baker Circulation 18,100 (june 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.
September 2016
12 features
8 LGA at party conferences 10 Tim Farron 11 Brexit update 12 Business rates 15 Leading Places 17 Communications survey
comment 19 Working with the city 20 LGA chairman and group leaders 26 Health and wellbeing boards 27 Health and care integration 28 Light pollution
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regulars
6 Letters and sound bites 29 Councillor – School accountability 30 Parliament – Policing and Crime Bill 31 Elections
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High Court PrEP victory
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news Drop in replacement homes sold under Right to Buy The number of homes sold under Right to Buy (RTB) in England that councils have been able to start replacing fell by more than a quarter last year with national restrictions increasingly hampering their ability to build. Latest figures show 12,246 council homes were sold to tenants under RTB in England in 2015/16 but just 2,055 replacements were started by councils – a drop of 27 per cent on the year before. The LGA warns complex rules and restrictions mean councils are struggling to rapidly replace homes alongside only keeping a third of all receipts from sold RTB homes. It forecasts that 66,000 council homes will be sold to tenants under the existing RTB scheme by 2020 and fear councils will struggle to replace the majority of these homes. Council leaders are calling on government to allow councils to retain 100 per cent of receipts from any council homes they sell and set RTB discounts locally to reflect local house prices.
Cllr Nick Forbes, LGA Senior Vice Chair, said: “RTB will quickly become a thing of the past in England if councils continue to be prevented from building new homes. “Housing reforms that reduce rents and force councils to sell homes will make building new properties and replacing those sold even more difficult. Such a loss in social housing risks pushing more people into the more expensive private rented sector, increasing homelessness and housing benefit spending. “Scotland has scrapped RTB, and Wales is looking at doing the same. Councils in England believe this policy can be made to work if they are able to build the replacements that protect essential local housing, and ensure future generations can also benefit from the scheme. “If we are to stand a real chance of solving our housing crisis, councils need the funding and powers to replace any homes sold under RTB quickly and reinvest in building more of the genuine affordable homes our communities desperately need.”
he LGA achieved a significant milestone on behalf of councils over the commissioning of prevention services at the High Court. On 2 August, the National Aids Trust (NAT), supported by the LGA, was successful in challenging NHS England’s decision that it did not have the legal powers to commission the HIV treatment Pre Exposure Prophylaxis, also known as PrEP. NHS England said the onus fell on councils to fund PrEP, as local authorities are responsible for HIV prevention. The LGA branded this as a “selective and untenable” reading of the Public Health Regulations 2013. Along with the LGA and NAT, the Association of Directors of Public Health, London Councils, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, British HIV Association, and the Terence Higgins Trust each made strong representations in response to NHS England’s decision. It has lodged an appeal.
LGA visit to Calais migrant camp
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embers of the LGA’s Asylum, Refugee and Migration Task Force visited Calais on 18 August to meet the Mayor and see for themselves the conditions in the migrant camp there. Cllrs David Simmonds, Gillian Ford and Chris White discussed with the Mayor how local government in England and France could support each other to keep unaccompanied children and young people safe and make sure they received the care they needed. Cllr Simmonds, Chairman of the Task Group, emphasised the need to protect children wherever they were in Europe, and to reunite them with their families whenever it was safe and possible to do so.
Showcasing Nottingham’s independent shops
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ottingham boasts one of the biggest independent shopping sectors in the country, and Nottingham City Council has funded and commissioned a series of nine high-impact 30-second films, featuring each of the key independent areas of the city centre. The films are designed to be shared on social media. They are being released on a weekly basis throughout the summer. The two films which have been released so far feature Hurts Yard (see image) and Bridlesmith Walk. The films are available to view at www. experiencenottinghamshire.com/nottinghamshire-shopping/ independent-shopping
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www.local.gov.uk
EU funding commitment ‘short’ of what is needed The Government’s EU funding commitment falls “well short” of the guarantee local areas desperately need over the future of regeneration cash, LGA Chairman Lord Porter has warned. Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced the Treasury would cover all structural and investment fund projects paid for by the EU on the condition the agreements were reached before the Autumn Statement. Any projects using EU funds after this date will need Treasury approval. He also announced that EU funding for farmers, scientists and other projects will be replaced by the Treasury after Brexit. The LGA said the failure to guarantee local areas will receive all of the £5.3 billion in EU regeneration funding promised to them by 2020 risks damaging local regeneration plans and stalling flagship infrastructure projects, employment and skills schemes and local growth. It said the vast majority of EU regeneration funding remains tied up in thousands of proposals which are yet to receive government approval. For example, Cornwall and the North-east have both only received 20 per cent of their EU funding allocations so far and Birmingham has only received 25 per cent. Lord Porter said: “The Government’s commitment to honour existing agreed projects reliant on EU money and those signed-off by the Autumn Statement will
help get some vital growth-boosting schemes off the ground across the country. However, as welcome as this commitment is, it falls well short of the full guarantee we are urging the Government to make. “Between now and the Autumn Statement, the Government must pull out all the stops in working with local areas to get the hundreds of projects currently in development and at the cusp of funding agreements over the finishing line. The Government must also use the Autumn Statement to guarantee that local areas will receive every penny of EU funding they are expecting by the end of the decade, as well as honouring commitments to match fund EU monies with domestic funding. “This guarantee needs to be made regardless of whether the money comes from the EU or is replacement funding and even if decisions over which projects it should be spent on have been made or not. Alongside this, local areas now need, more than ever, to be given a formal and decisive role over how to spend vital EU regeneration funding. “Local areas in England are desperate to get on with the job of creating jobs, building infrastructure and boosting growth. With national funding for regeneration increasingly being depleted, all local areas have looked towards EU money. Securing the future of this vital regeneration funding is central to this and key to achieving the Government’s ambition of an economy that works for all.”
Illegal tattooists warning
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llegal tattooists are offering services at “pocket money” prices to children and putting people’s health at risk, the LGA has warned. Unlicensed tattooists are using cheap equipment bought online in unsterilised home ‘studios’ – often just kitchens or garden sheds. The LGA is urging online retailers to provide warnings to children on the dangers of using DIY tattoo kits and for tougher sentences for illegal tattooists. Although you have to be 18 to have a tattoo or tattoo someone else, it is not illegal to tattoo yourself.
September 2016
news in brief ‘Misleading’ broadband ads
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dvertised broadband speeds which are only available to 10 per cent of customers are “misleading” and don’t reflect the experience of many users, particularly those in remote areas. Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board, made the call as part of the LGA’s Up To Speed campaign pointing out that current rules allow providers to promote “up to” download speeds if they can demonstrate that just 10 per cent of their customers can achieve them. However, speeds in many remote rural areas fall well below 2Mbps during periods including when children get home from school, during holidays and after 6pm. This means a typical family household would struggle if the children wanted to watch catch up TV and the parents wanted to browse the internet at the same time. The LGA launched its Up To Speed campaign earlier this year. To find out more, visit LGAUpToSpeed.org.
Let councils charge firms for digging up roads
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he LGA has called on the Government to let all councils charge utility companies for digging up roads without needing Secretary of State approval, to stop some areas of the country facing gridlock. The lane rental scheme in place in london and Kent charges utility companies a daily rate to carry out work on congested roads during busy periods, incentivising them to finish faster. Councils spend nearly a fifth of their maintenance budgets – £220 million – on tackling poorly done utility streetworks, so revenue raised from lane rental charges could be used to fund measures to help reduce future road works disruption. Companies that do a shoddy job can also be compelled to redo the work – paying lane rental prices again.
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Help fund infrastructure to support our ambitions
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letters
Reducing staff absence When I became Watford’s first elected mayor in 2002, absence was costing the council dearly. We not only had to pay out for overtime and cover staff, the high level of absence was also deeply damaging to staff morale and productivity. My colleagues and I set out to reduce staff absence in a way that helped us save money while also making sure employees were given the right medical advice to allow them to get well and return to work as soon as possible. We decided to take an innovative approach to managing sickness, by introducing a telephone-based system staffed by qualified nurses. In the six years since it was introduced, we’ve seen a 37 per cent reduction in absences. The new 24/7 nurse-led absence management system has saved the council the equivalent of more than £250,000 per year. It also ensures staff who call in sick are assessed by a professional and are given advice to help them get the correct medical help for their illness. We’ve now launched a national framework that other public sector bodies, charities and housing associations can sign up to. Organisations can join the Nationwide Public Sector Framework– which replicates the council’s own absence management system – by downloading the form at www.firstcare.eu/public-sector and following the instructions. Our National Public Sector Framework – managed by FirstCare – can help your organisation save money and improve productivity while providing employees with advice from a qualified nurse. The system has contributed greatly to our success in reducing sickness absence at Watford Borough Council. For more information visit www.firstcare.eu/public-sector. Cllr Dorothy Thornhill (Lib Dem), Mayor of Watford Borough Council
reparing for Brexit will require a reevaluation of our infrastructure funding priorities to avoid putting jobs and economic growth at risk UK-wide, as first class businesses won’t stay put for third class infrastructure. Here in the South East we believe that local authorities have a key role in infrastructure and are calling on the Treasury and National Infrastructure Commission for a range of freedoms and powers – including greater retention of local property taxes – to help councils fund local infrastructure that supports our housing and economic growth ambitions. But we also need national investment in large, strategic infrastructure projects such as those identified in SEEC’s recent ‘Missing links’ report, to close the South East’s predicted infrastructure gap of £14 billion over the next 15 years. Companies nationwide rely on South East road and rail routes to reach ports and airports but they are congested, overcrowded and inefficient, damaging business profitability and making the UK less attractive as an investment option. The South East is the ‘engine-room’ of the UK economy, contributing £80 billion more in taxes than it received in public funding between 2002-12 – some £6 billion more than London. Clearly it is important that regeneration projects across the country are funded. However, as we prepare for Brexit this must be balanced with vital investment in high return South East projects that can generate funding to reinvest in other areas’ growth and ensure that increasingly globalised companies continue to choose to invest not only in the South East but the whole of the UK. Cllr Nicolas Heslop (Con), Chairman of South East England Councils (SEEC) and Leader of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
How we’re helping to rethink car ownership
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n Sunderland, where we are famous for making Nissan cars, we’re also helping to rethink vehicle ownership with more environmentally and economically friendly ways to travel. We are doing this with our Co-wheels car club which is part of a wider national network of more than 60 cities and towns across the country. Our club offers four low-cost, lowemission cars that can be hired on a ‘pay as you drive’ basis, and, yes, they include
What do you think? Please submit letters for publication by emailing first@local.gov.uk. Letters may be edited and published online
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www.local.gov.uk
an all-electric Nissan Leaf. Cars can be hired for periods of 30 minutes up to several days at a time, and are charged on a per-hour basis, allowing huge savings compared with car ownership. All you need is a smartcard and when your booking finishes the car is returned to its bay for the next driver. The club is being delivered by Sunderland City Council, managed by Co-wheels – an independent national car club operator and social enterprise based in Durham – and backed by the North East Combined Authority (NECA) which is us in Sunderland, County Durham, Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, Northumberland and Gateshead. Our club allows businesses and organisations to use the cars as an efficient ‘pool fleet’ service for staff, simplifying mileage claims and reducing carbon footprint. Parking pressures can also be eased as people are able to walk, cycle or use public transport to get to work, and know a car is available nearby when needed. All employees of businesses and organisations who use Cowheels for business are also eligible for free personal membership as a further financial incentive to become members. Hire costs from £4.50 per hour, plus a small mileage fee, with discounted day and evening rates. You can find out more, and claim £20 free driving credit at: www.co-wheels.org.uk/northeast. Cllr Michael Mordey (Lab), Cabinet Member for City Services, Sunderland City Council
Clarity needed on EU funding after referendum
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ollowing the EU referendum result there have been questions about what it means for the billions of funding agreed to flow from the EU up to 2020.
September 2016
There is a body called the European Structural and Investment Fund Growth Programme Monitoring Committee, which oversees England’s funding. The LGA has three nominations on it and I represent the Lib Dem Group. Working on the LGA cross-party basis and together with colleagues from the Local Enterprise Network, a letter was sent to government on 29 June asking what it means. In the weeks since then the unanswered question has been pressed, not only by ourselves, but also collectively by the LGA, and even in written parliamentary questions. Effectively the response has been that as soon as it’s been worked out we will be told. This funding matters as it can contribute to important funding packages that impact on the agreed top priorities of: innovation and research and development, support for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), low carbon, skills, employment and social inclusion. Crucially, some of these funds are anticipated to contribute as a match for other funding streams. If the EU funding is lost there is uncertainty as to what impact this might have on these vital schemes. The uncertainty that this brings is unwelcome, and an answer is well overdue. Following the announcement by Government in August, which is a welcome first step, it must be recognised that all of the anticipated resource allocation within the programme will not be committed by the Autumn Statement. There will continue to be uncertainty which will not be removed by this statement for those providers of services in the important areas of business support for SMEs and the improvement of skills, both areas which are vital for the UK in a global economy. I am sure that there will be a pressing need for this clarity from government coming from many directions. Cllr Ian Stewart (Lib Dem), Cumbria County Council and South Lakeland District Council
sound bites Cllr Claire Kober (Lab, Haringey) “In today’s @standardnews I urge firms to move into former BHS stores in London boroughs like Haringey @ES_JoBourke.” www.twitter.com/ClaireKober Cllr Nick Worth (Con, Lincolnshire) “Well done Gary Burton and team at Holbeach Fire Station. Excellent drills and great team work.” www.twitter.com/NickWorth Cllr Gillian Ford (Ind, Havering) “10% drop in London jobs since Brexit. Suggested 80,000 jobs could move out to other financial centres.” www.twitter.com/CllrGillianFord Cllr Phil Bale (Lab, Cardiff ) Congrats to Cardiff’s Elinor Barker as #TeamGB become new world record holders in the cycling team pursuit! www.twitter.com/PhilBale Cllr Harry Phibbs (Con, Hammersmith & Fulham) Great to see a peerage for Philippa Roe, Westminster Council leader. With @garyporterlga helps give upper house a local govt perspective. www.twitter.com/harryph Cllr Martin Tett (Con, Buckinghamshire) “Off to relive my youth at Cropredy Folk Festival in Oxfordshire. Morris on! #cropredy2016.” www.twitter.com/MATatBucks Do you have a blog or a Twitter account we should be following? Let us know. Email first@local.gov.uk For LGA news follow @LGAnews
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features Debating Brexit at the party conferences The LGA will be lobbying national politicians to bring power closer to residents
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his year’s autumn party conferences come at an important time in the political calendar as we prepare for the Autumn Statement and continue to work with central government as the UK exits from the EU. We will be representing local government across the conferences, which come three months after the EU referendum result and will see politicians, commentators and stakeholders alike discussing a range of policy challenges, such as the future of funding for growth and regeneration projects, the impact of Brexit on key services like the environment and waste management, and the importance of central and local government working together to tackle the challenges facing social care funding. The conference season is also an opportunity to promote the innovative work of local government, including how we collaborate with partners in the private and voluntary sectors to deliver high quality services that improve our residents’ lives. Across the conferences our Chairman, Group Leaders and councillors speak at debates and roundtables, meet key influencers and showcase the work of local government. This year will be no different and we have a packed agenda with the LGA hosting debates on the impact on local government of the UK leaving the EU, the future of education policy, councils’ priorities for the Government, and the key role of technology in the public sector. In Brighton, Liberal Democrat delegates
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will be discussing the likely impacts of Brexit on local government. We will explore the need for Government to guarantee the future of all of the £5.3 billion in EU regeneration funding promised to councils by 2020. The debate will also highlight the role councils play in bringing their communities together and the need for the negotiating team to include representatives from local government so that all the talents in the public sector are available to the UK Government. Education policy will feature high on the agenda as Liverpool hosts the Labour conference and we will discuss the important work of councils in school improvement. It will be an opportunity for Labour politicians to discuss their Party’s vision for educational excellence. Conference season will then move to Birmingham as the Conservative Party hears from the new Prime Minister Theresa May. Coming in what is likely to be the weeks before the Autumn Statement announcement, this debate will allow us to focus on the opportunities for central and local government to work together to reform public services, deliver a successful industrial strategy and ensure that we are able to meet the range of policy
challenges, from building more homes to providing care to meet the needs of an ageing population. Across all the conferences we will also be discussing with Huawei – a major ICT investor in the UK – the importance of technology in seeking to improve services and find new efficiencies. These debates will focus on the role of technology in delivering better services as new advancements and access to data present an exciting opportunity for those working for central and local government. Digital innovation, broadband and the shared services agenda will also feature in our discussions. In addition to these debates, our councillors from all of the LGA’s four Political Groups are speaking on agenda-setting debates across the conferences, including at UKIP, Greens and Plaid. These speaking engagements ensure that local government has a high profile with our stakeholders and that we are leading debates on a variety of subjects including social care and health, housing, broadband and digital, the economy, the EU and children’s services. On the 18 November, the Independent Group conference will be held in London and provides a further opportunity for councillors and key decision-makers to discuss the challenges ahead. As the new Prime Minister and her government prepare the Autumn Statement and get closer to triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, it is crucial that the LGA and councils have a voice as key decisions are discussed and announcements made at each conference. Our engagement with the party political conference season is critical to ensuring that councils are in a position to influence policy and build alliances with our stakeholders as these will enable us to shape political debate in the year ahead.
“The LGA will be hosting debates on subjects including the impact on local government of the UK leaving the EU” www.local.gov.uk
LGA events
Prospect Magazine is working with the LGA as a media partner for party conferences to help ensure our debates are promoted to key decision-makers and influencers.
Further highlights from the LGA’s programme of events at the party conferences are provided below. The LGA is also due to publish guides to the party conferences which you can find on our website: www.local.gov.uk/party-conferences
Liberal Democrats Brighton • Liberal Democrat Group Evening Reception Sunday 18 September, 7.45-9pm Ambassador Suite, Hilton Metropole Speakers include: Cllr Gerald-Vernon Jackson, LGA Liberal Democrat Group; and Mayor Dorothy Thornhill, Mayor of Watford • LGA debate: What impact could the UK leaving the EU have on local government? Monday 19 September, 1-2pm Osborne Room, Hilton Metropole Speakers include: Cllr Chris White, Deputy Leader, LGA Liberal Democrat Group (Chair); Catherine Beader, MEP for the South East Region; Cllr Adam Paynter, Deputy Leader, Cornwall Council; and Cllr Ian Stewart, Spokesperson County Councils Network and Cabinet Member, Cumbria County Council • The LGA and Huawei debate, Technology in the Public Sector: Combining Efficiency and Better Services Monday 19 September, 6.15-7.15pm Room 3, Hilton Metropole Speakers include: Cllr David Tutt (chair), Huawei, Julian Huppert; Lord Scriven, LGA; and Jo Casebourne, Programme Director, Institute for Government
September 2016
Labour Liverpool • The ALC Reception Sunday 25 September, 8.30-10.30pm Room 3B, The ACC Expected speakers include: Senior Labour MPs; and representatives from the ALC and the LGA Labour Group • Schools out? The LGA education debate Monday 26 September, 12.151.30pm Meeting Room 12, The ACC Speakers include: Tom Clark, Editor, Prospect Magazine (chair); Cllr Nick Forbes, LGA Labour Group Leader; Angela Rayner, Shadow Secretary of State for Education; and Anna Round, IPPR • The LGA and Huawei debate, Technology in the Public Sector: Combining Efficiency and Better Services Tuesday 27 September, 12.30-2pm Meeting Room 11B, The ACC Speakers include: Jane Dudman, Guardian (Chair); Cllr Nick Forbes, LGA Labour Group Leader; Huawei; Daniel Zeichner MP; and Jo Casebourne, Programme Director, Institute for Government
Conservative Birmingham • LGA debate: Our priorities for the Government Monday 3 October, 12.30-2pm The Darwin Suite, Novotel Duncan Weldon, Prospect (chair); Cllr David Hodge, LGA Conservative Group Leader; Jonathan Simons, Policy Exchange; and The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (invited) • LGA Conservative Group Evening Reception Monday 3 October, 9.30-11pm The Media Suite, ICC Speakers include: Cllr David Hodge, LGA Conservative Group Leader; Lord Porter of Spalding, LGA Chairman; and The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (invited) • The LGA and Huawei debate, Technology in the Public Sector: Combining Efficiency and Better Services Tuesday 4 October, 5.45-7pm Darwin Suite, Novotel Speakers include James Quinn, The Daily Telegraph (chair); Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chair of the LGA People and Places Board; Huawei; Rt Hon Ben Gummer MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office (invited); and Jo Casebourne, Programme Director, Institute for Government
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Liberal Democrat conference preview:
Local government key to recovery Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron looks forward to his party’s September conference
LGA LIB DEM GROUP
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ugust is normally a time to take stock after a busy election period – but political activity this year shows no sign of slowing down and for the Liberal Democrats we are busy getting ready for our autumn conference in Brighton. We’ll be discussing a wide range of issues including several of interest to local government. This will include a motion on homelessness, where proposals will include increasing funding for local councils to meet their duties to house homeless people, and scrapping the Government’s policy of forcing local authorities to sell their higher value council homes. There are still many unanswered questions over the Government’s plans for education and the Lib Dems will be discussing a proposal to ensure parent governors are able to retain their position on school governing bodies. Liberal
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“our recovery must be built from our local government base” Democrats believe parents have vital skills that enable schools to ensure that pupils and the local community are well served. The wider picture over education shows an utterly contradictory picture of the Government’s stance on devolution. It is prepared to devolve some funding and powers to local areas, while carrying out a programme of massive centralisation of power over education. Liberal Democrats know that there is a strong and positive role in our maintained schools remaining part of the local government family. Unless our warnings are heeded, they could be run
by unelected and unaccountable regional schools commissioners who will cover vast areas of the country. We will also be discussing how our country can continue to work with Europe after the referendum vote. Whilst the Government has now agreed to honour existing projects reliant on EU funding and those signed off by the Autumn Statement, this commitment falls well short of protecting projects which are still in development and yet to receive government approval. This continued uncertainty over public sector funding since 23 June has risked damaging local regeneration plans and stalling flagship infrastructure projects, employment and skills schemes and local growth. The Government must now do everything it can before the Autumn Statement to support councils’ bids in order to secure the £5.3 billion of the EU funding that was promised by 2020. But I want to finish this article on a positive note. Earlier this year it was great to see the Lib Dems coming out of the local elections with more seats than we had going into the elections for the first time since 2008 – we had a net gain of 45 seats. These convincing wins were a powerful reminder to our party about how our recovery must be built from our local government base. But perhaps even better was seeing councils on which the Lib Dems had ceased to be represented getting their first Liberal Democrat councillors back onto the benches. Sunderland, Manchester and Knowsley once again have Lib Dem councillors and this should allow us to grow in the future. And since the local elections in May we have continued to make gains – winning nine seats from other parties; holding four seats and no seats lost. We look forward to working with all our newly elected councillors over 2016 and 2017 – and those who have been successfully re-elected. I look forward to seeing some of these new councillors – and no doubt some more familiar faces – at the LGA reception at our Brighton conference.
See p31 Elections for the latest results across the country
www.local.gov.uk
Keeping you up to date on EU exit negotiations Discussions with councils have identified priorities for talks
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ince our annual conference, where the Government announced that local government would have a seat at the table when it came to negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), we’ve started to set out our initial thinking on the issues for local government. Our aim is to provide a series of regular updates on the impact of Brexit on local government and our role in the exit negotiations, to keep you up to date with the work we are doing on your behalf,
ask you to let us know what information you need, and ask for your help to share any local work you are involved in. It is important to us that councils are involved in this process and are kept well informed on the progress of negotiations. We will be doing this
through regular email bulletins, updates in first magazine and on our dedicated website www.local. gov.uk/brexit. If you would like to sign up to our regular bulletins please visit www.local.gov.uk/ ebulletins.
Latest developments Creating a cross-sector team Local government has a lot to offer by the way of experience and expertise when it comes to negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU. To harness this expertise we are keen to develop a ‘Team UK’ with ministers and civil servants to ensure a diversity of talent secures successful Brexit negotiations for local government. We are working with colleagues across local government to identify people with the skills and expertise to join the team. If you are interested, please contact us brexit@local.gov.uk.
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Developing our negotiating strategy Work has started on developing our negotiating strategy, including outlining the key areas of concern for councils we are looking to focus on. The following areas have been identified so far as priorities for negotiations following discussions with councils: • Local economic development: Ensure that the £5 billion of expected regeneration investment from EU funds
September 2016
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to localities to 2020 is secured and start discussions with relevant departments to secure a UK regional aid programme from 2021 of equal value. We will need to redefine state-aid rules which have to date been defined in Brussels. Disentangling councils’ legal base: Develop a new legal framework for local government services which are currently based on EU laws. This work should include environmental policy, air pollution, energy, waste, workforce and employment, procurement, state aid, regional policy, regulatory services, VAT and data protection. Importantly, we need to make sure repatriated laws and regulations are not centralised in Whitehall but are more transferred from Brussels to localities so that we can localise services where it makes sense to do so. EU law/Regulation: We are currently mapping out those aspects of local government service delivery that have origins in EU law or regulation. Constitutional reform: The referendum has already started a constitutional debate.
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The LGA has always championed English devolution and the importance of devolution below the Welsh Assembly to councils in Wales. As the UK’s constitutional framework is reviewed, our voice in this debate will be important and there is the opportunity to seek a debate on the entrenchment of local government within our new constitutional settlement. Wider place representation: Our role at the negotiation table needs to reflect councils’ wider role as the voice of local communities and we need to register and champion that differing localities have different needs.
Media We continue to call on the Government to guarantee that local areas will receive every penny of EU funding they are expecting by the end of the decade. Local areas in England have been allocated a share of £5.3 billion worth of EU regeneration funding up to 2020. To see our media work, please visit our website, www.local.gov.uk/media-centre.
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Reforming business rates Increasing business rates can be used for a range of responsibilities, says Cllr Claire Kober, the LGA Resources Board Chair
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urther retention of business rates by 2020 will require radical reform of the local government finance system. The Government wants the additional business rate income to replace existing government grant funding for specific services, as well as funding a range of new responsibilities that are still to be agreed. This will coincide with core government funding to councils being phased out completely. The LGA is also pressing the Government to allow councils to use some of the extra business rates income to plug existing funding gaps or ease some of the long-term financial challenges they face. The first port of call for the newly retained business rates should be to address the funding gap facing local government by 2020. We estimate that this amounts to at least £5.6 billion in 2019/20 due to inflation, demographic pressures and the National Living Wage. Once existing pressures and responsibilities have been fully funded, we believe the remaining business rates income should also allow councils to be funded for responsibilities linked to driving economic growth in local areas.
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As part of the Government’s formal consultation into the reforms, it has identified a list of responsibilities or policies that could be funded through retained business rates. This list should be seen as a starting point. Councils will want to suggest other areas to be considered. Councils are clear that funding needs to be transferred on the basis of local government being able to decide the best use of the money. It must also not preclude further central government grant funding to be made to support specific needs or react to certain circumstances. In terms of grant funding to be replaced by extra business rates income, paying for Highways maintenance (£725 million), Bus Services Operators Grant (£200 million) and Integrated Transport Block (£250 million) appears to be a good fit as they have a clear link to supporting economic growth and providing improved outcomes for local residents. The inclusion of Public Health Grant is supported by the LGA, but it should be unringfenced and transferred on the basis of no further reductions in funding. Similarly, the grant funding for former Independent Living Fund recipients, expected to be £160 million in 2019/20, could also be
considered suitable for consideration. On service responsibilities, there is a clear link between skills including areas such as adult education and economic growth. This is an area that could have a natural affinity with business rates and where local government could improve services and outcomes. The suitability of the early years element of the Dedicated Schools Grant is less clear. This is a £2.7 billion fund to pay for childcare entitlements, participation funding for two year-olds from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and the early years pupil premium. The link with the drive for economic growth seems less clear and crucially it is an area where fluctuations in demand could lead to significant financial commitments. It is also an area being reviewed by central government and where new responsibilities and funding are expected to be added. Councils do not want responsibility for administering the Attendance Allowance benefit for older people. Responsibility for administering it would create significant cost pressures for councils whose budgets are already under significant strain. That is because cost pressures and applications for demand-led services like Attendance Allowance can go up very quickly whereas it can take much longer for local areas to generate business rates income. No matter which new services councils agree to take on, the LGA is clear that the amount of extra business rates income kept by councils must match the cost now and in the future of paying for them. www.local.gov.uk
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How business rates could change This list of responsibilities or policies contains grants that the Government has identified as a possible fit against the criteria for being funded though retained business rates. Attendance Allowance
£5.5 billion
Public Health Grant
£3.1 billion
Revenue Support Grant
£2.3 billion
Early Years element of Dedicated Schools Grant
£2.7 billion
Improved Better Care Fund
£1.5 billion
Rural Services Delivery Grant
£65 million
Greater London Authority Transport Grant
£1 billion
Youth Justice
£230 million
Independent Living Fund
£160 million
Local Council Tax Support Admin Grant
£77 million
The closing date for the Government’s 12-week consultation is Monday 26 September 2016. The LGA continues to work with councils and the Government to ensure the voice of local government is central in ensuring the new system works effectively and working groups – made up of representatives from the LGA, local councils, the Department of Communities and Local Government and other interested bodies – continue to look specifically at key aspects of the reforms.
The Government is also consulting on whether the responsibilities below are given to devolved areas to be funded through retained business rates. Local growth fund allocations
£2 billion
Adult education budgets
£1.5 billion
Transport capital grants
£1 billion
Single investment funds for devolution deals
£250 million
Bus Services Operator Grants
£200 million
September 2016
The LGA’s business rates hub – www.local.gov.uk/business-rates – is being constantly updated with useful information, including all key papers and materials from the Steering Group and all of the Working Groups so please check on a regular basis.
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Working in partnership to drive growth Councils are working with universities to re-design public services
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he Leading Places Project, which launched in May, aims to encourage councils, universities and other anchor institutions to work together to help drive growth, re-design public services and strengthen the involvement of local communities. Led in partnership by the LGA, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Universities UK (UUK), the project has been developed as powers are increasingly being devolved from national to local government. It builds on research by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE) that underlines the potential of universities to benefit their local areas and the extent to which many councils are now seeking to engage with them more actively. The project aims to spread best practice across the country and transfer learning between pilot areas. Under the guidance of independent facilitators from LFHE, projects are currently underway in six areas: Gloucestershire, Newcastle, Brighton, Manchester, Coventry and Warwickshire, and Bristol. As a first step senior leadership groups, formed of council chief executives, leaders and university vice chancellors in each area, are in the process of meeting to identify local priorities. Whilst partners in Newcastle are looking at urban living and digital access to public services as potential areas, those in Brighton are considering how best to optimise the role of the city pharmacist in supporting GPs and creating safer streets for those with additional needs. Once a priority has been agreed, it will be assigned to a challenge team to take forward. In Gloucestershire, the senior leadership group met in July and identified a theme which will focus on developing the collective leadership necessary to deliver a vision of strategic and economic initiatives designed to transform Gloucestershire in 2050 and September 2016
Cllr Mark Hawthorne is Chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board
beyond. A countywide challenge group involving both the rural-based Royal Agriculture University and urban-based Gloucestershire University will now work to deliver this idea. With continuing support from the independent facilitators, over the coming months each area will work up the detail of their priority project in anticipation of presenting their progress at a peer review event in November. Professor Markku
Sotarauta, Professor of Policy Making in Local and Regional Development at the University of Tampere, will also attend and discuss civic partnerships between universities and local authorities. The HEFCE-funded project will run until spring 2017 and conclude with a national conference event. An additional wave of the project is also currently being considered, with the LGA, HEFCE and UUK potentially looking to recruit participants from across the country who are able to demonstrate an established partnership already in place and who would benefit from targeted support to bring forward their proposals at a strategic level. As the project develops those interested in finding out more should visit the LGA’s Leading Places Microsite www.local.gov.uk/leading-places or email leadingplaces@local.gov.uk.
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THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT EVENT OF THE YEAR
LGA Annual Conference and Exhibition 2017 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, BIRMINGHAM 4-6 JULY 2017 @LGAComms | #LGAconf17 Sponsorship opportunities available, please contact: amanda.spicer@local.gov.uk To book your place: www.local.gov.uk/events
The national voice of local government
The value of strategic communication Just a third of Heads of Communication have a seat at their council’s top table
Cllr William Nunn is Chairman of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board
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arlier this year we ran our annual Heads of Communication survey to determine the state of local government communications. Our research showed, perhaps unsurprisingly, that council communications teams are extremely busy places, covering everything from media relations, public affairs, marketing, design and digital services. But while 95 per cent of survey respondents said that they play a leading role in managing their authority’s reputation, our research also revealed that only 33 per cent of Heads of Communication have a seat at their council’s top table. As a Member Peer this is something that I have often found during our work with councils and something that we encourage leadership teams to think about. While the reasons for this may differ considerably, it does seem that we run the risk of losing valuable insight and influence by excluding our communications leaders from the top table. While communications experts may have been historically seen as broadcasters of information, leaping into action to tackle media storms or create glossy leaflets, their real value is to provide stategic advice on reputational issues and at times, acting as the conscience of the organisation – often speaking much needed truth to power. Councils are recognising the fact that communication teams have some of the most direct access to the audiences we are trying to reach. Our survey shows that more than half (56 per cent) of all respondents conduct residents or reputational surveys, meaning they have direct insight into what local people make of the council’s activities. September 2016
Half also said that they deliver an email subscription service to keep residents up to date, which means that they have access to raw data about the amount and type of information that our audiences are actually consuming. Few among us would dream of developing our business strategies or objectives without empirical evidence, yet how many of us are regularly factoring this type of readership insight into our strategic discussions? Involving our communications teams in helping shape our plans means that we can help ensure our strategy resonates with the people we need to reach. As leaders I think we would all agree that we can sometimes be guilty of assuming that our audiences understand what we do in much greater detail than they do. Having a senior communications presence around our top table is a valuable way of ensuring
that evidence, not our gut feelings, drives our message and how we communicate with our residents and other key stakeholders. They can also play a critical role in supporting councils to make sure that communications and marketing spends are channelled into the most cost effective and impactful projects, improving our bottom line as much as our reputation. Of course, integrating Heads of Communication into our leadership teams is only half the story. Senior communicators need to earn their place around the table in the same way as anyone else and must demonstrate that they can deliver high quality strategic advice. Heads of Communication need to develop communication strategies that align with the council’s key priorities, and ensure that communications are integrated, timely and accessible. At the LGA we offer a range of different support services for councils and communications leaders looking to enhance their strategic communication skills and would encourage Heads of Communications, chief executives and council leaders to contact us if they are interested in more information about that via claire.thurlow@local.gov.uk.
Heads of Communication Survey 2016. Please visit www.local.gov.uk/Communicationssurvey-2016 for more information on this year’s survey and to read our findings in full
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LGA Annual Fire Conference and Exhibition 7-8 March 2017, Hilton Hotel Newcastle Gateshead The LGA’s Annual Fire Conference and Exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to discuss the Home Office’s fire reform programme. Inspection, transparency, workforce, governance, collaboration and the role of Police and Crime Commissioners are all key issues for the fire and rescue sector as we look to the future. Come along to discuss the priorities and challenges facing the sector at this key event.
To book your place visit: www.local.gov.uk/events 9.11 LGA first conf - first.indd 1
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LGA/ADPH Annual Public Health Conference and Exhibition Extending influence to promote health and wellbeing London, 9 March 2017 Keynote speakers: Nicola Blackwood MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Innovation Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director, Institute of Health Equity, UCL Local authorities continue to make progress on improving health and wellbeing and tackling health inequalities since public health was formally transferred from the NHS in April 2013. Join us at our most popular health conference of the year where we will explore and build on the challenging, innovative work being undertaken by councils and public health teams with their partners and local communities.
To book your place visit: www.local.gov.uk/events 2.7 LGA first conf ad_02.indd 1
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comment Working with the city for a better Birmingham Cllr John Clancy is the Leader of Birmingham City Council
The man who was probably Birmingham’s greatest-ever civic leader, Joseph Chamberlain, has been in the news recently. Chamberlain, who was Mayor of Birmingham from 1873-76, was a great reforming politician with a passion for improving the lives of ordinary people – a passion that I firmly believe still thrives in the city today. One major difference as you fast-forward to 2016 is that the council can no longer simply do things ‘to’ the city for the good of the city. We now have to do things ‘with’ the city. Of course that is partly as a consequence of a changing landscape for local government – dramatically shrinking budgets mean we’re no longer the big beast we once were. But working more closely with partners across the city is also the right thing to do, whatever the financial climate. In December last year I followed in Chamberlain’s footsteps as I made the step up from being a backbench councillor in Birmingham to leading Europe’s biggest local authority. One thing I have been clear about from day one is that I see myself as one of many civic leaders in Birmingham and I’m keen to work with anyone who wants to step up and be a civic leader for the good of our city. I don’t want to run Birmingham in the way the council may have done in the past. I want to lead Birmingham. To do so effectively means working with September 2016
communities, neighbouring local authorities, the business community, ward councillors, MPs, charities, schools and others. It’s my view that local government in 2016 is about establishing a common endeavour and working with a large number of partners for the collective good of the city. I’m a proud Labour politician but I’m also a pragmatist and that means, where possible, working with Birmingham’s other political groups. So I stood with Conservative and Lib Dem councillors recently as we launched our Child Poverty Commission report.
“The best possible deal for our city cannot be achieved by working in isolation” In that spirit of cross-party working, I’ve also met, worked with and lobbied a number of Conservative government ministers. I’m determined to get the best possible deal for our city and that simply cannot be done by working in isolation. One important area that absolutely requires collaboration is devolution. Much has been said and written about combined authorities and as a lead member of the newly vested West Midlands Combined Authority, I am working closely with my counterparts from neighbouring authorities. But devolution does not begin and end with government giving regions more powers. The next crucial stage is the devolution of powers and influence to our communities and I firmly believe in giving real power and decision making to neighbourhoods and communities. Our focus does not begin and end with city centre regeneration. We need to make sure we improve the lives of all residents
across the whole of Birmingham by creating jobs, skills and opportunities. With that in mind I recently appointed four assistant leaders in a bid to shift power from the centre of the city and the city council to local communities. Part of their role is to listen to communities and influence what decisions should be made at neighbourhood level. They will challenge the centre to ensure that the voices of people and communities across the city are heard. The over-arching aims of Birmingham City Council probably haven’t changed dramatically since Chamberlain’s day. We aim to improve lives, protect our children, build homes, create jobs and improve skills. I am determined to lead a Birmingham that is a happy, healthy place to grow up and grow old in. I’m sure Joseph Chamberlain would approve of those aims and I hope he would appreciate the collaborative way we’re going about things in 2016.
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group leaders’ comments Local government will help negotiate Brexit
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he start of a new political year is an ideal opportunity to consider some of the key challenges that lie ahead. Whatever your views on Brexit, it will undoubtedly have a major impact on local government. Following the announcement of the result, the LGA pressed strongly for local government to be part of the negotiating team, in both Brussels and Whitehall, which develops the exit plan. The Government has confirmed we will have a seat at the negotiating table which will allow us to ensure that our voice is heard when a variety of issues that affect us – ranging
from the future of EU-supported regeneration schemes to the development of a new legal framework for local government services currently based around EU law – are debated. Secondly, with a new Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in place I am also keen to ensure that we maintain good progress in relation to devolution. The LGA has supported areas in developing their devolution proposals and we hope that this process will continue, with both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas benefiting.
“The Government has confirmed we will have a seat at the negotiating table which will allow us to ensure that our voice is heard loud and clear”
Cllr David Hodge is Leader of the LGA’s Conservative Group
Finally, following the announcement at last year’s Conservative Party Conference that local government will be able to retain 100 per cent of business rates by 2020, the LGA has been working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on its implementation. We will seek to make further progress over the coming months towards creating a business rates system which is buoyant, responsive to local needs and which promotes local growth through incentives. Brexit, devolution and the localisation of business rates are three massive issues for local government and will keep us all busy.
chairman’s comment
Right To Buy must not become a one-off giveaway
Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA
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ith Wales considering joining Scotland in ending Right to Buy (RTB), the LGA has attempted to shine a light on the reform urgently needed for the scheme to work in England. According to the latest figures, the number of homes sold through RTB which councils have started to replace fell by more than a quarter last year. Only keeping a third of all receipts and further complex rules and restrictions around the scheme mean councils are increasingly struggling to rapidly replace homes sold. This is only likely to get worse. Housing
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reforms that reduce rents and force councils to sell homes will make building new properties and replacing those sold even more difficult. RTB can work in England but it must not become a one-off giveaway. That can only be achieved if councils are given the flexibility and resources to quickly build the replacement homes that protect local housing and ensure future generations can also benefit from the scheme. We continue to call on government to ensure councils keep 100 per cent of receipts from any council homes they sell and to give them the power to set RTB discounts locally to reflect local housing markets.
Every day councils are dealing with the fallout of the housing crisis. Thousands of people are struggling to afford to enter the housing market, homelessness is on the rise and the number of people currently waiting for council housing will soon exceed 1.4 million. As set out by our recent Housing Commission, the wider national ambition must be to allow councils to resume their historic role as a major builder of new homes. This has become even more important amid the economic uncertainty created by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
“Thousands of people are struggling to afford to enter the housing market, homelessness is on the rise and the number of people currently waiting for council housing will soon exceed 1.4 million” www.local.gov.uk
group leaders’ comments
Cllr Nick Forbes is Leader of the LGA’s Labour Group
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson is Leader of the LGA’s Liberal Democrat Group
Cllr Marianne Overton MBE is Leader of the LGA’s Independent Group
Government must listen to councils on housing
Plans for more grammar schools will be opposed
An Olympic lesson to learn
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ouncils up and down the country are doing their utmost to tackle the housing crisis. Under the Government Right to Buy scheme, we were promised a like for like replacement for every council house sold – this isn’t happening. The scheme also sees just 20 per cent of the receipts from the sale of a house retained by councils, with the rest going back to government. Councils can’t work miracles – we cannot replace houses sold with just a third of that money available to us. The numbers of council houses being built has fallen dramatically, from five million in 1997 to just 1.6 million now. Couple this with more people moving into the private rented sector, in turn claiming more for housing benefits and driving up the welfare bill and it adds to the budget pressures councils are under. We desperately need to tackle the scandal of homelessness and those left in temporary accommodation. Using temporary housing often costs a council more and causes upheaval and distress to residents placed in it. But councils can come up with practical solutions and ways to solve all of this. We can increase the housing supply and keep properties available for rent at below market rates –good for people on low incomes and we can help get people off the streets and into secure accommodation. There’s just one catch, we need the Government to start listening to us. Theresa May is putting together a new housing team. One of the first things it should look at is not implementing the damaging Housing and Planning Bill. It needs to work with local government to come up with practical solutions to help deliver the housing the country so urgently needs.
“We desperately need to tackle the scandal of homelessness” September 2016
ducation is back in the news as we enter the conference season. Schools could still face the backdoor threat of government intervention to force them to become academies despite a recent government u-turn on the issue. We now hear that Theresa May’s government might attempt to overturn a 1998 law preventing new grammar schools in England. Grammar schools are one of the most contentious areas of British schooling. We believe in an excellent education for all not the few, so any plans to bring in more divisive grammar schools will be utterly opposed. Those who hold up grammar schools as the gold standard are less keen to talk about what happens to those children who, at the age of 11, are told they are not good enough. What does that do to a young person’s confidence and self-esteem? A 2014 round-up of the evidence by the Policy Exchange think tank noted that they do not appear to bring better overall grades, especially in poorer areas, while areas with selective education have a bigger subsequent gap between high and low earners. This rose-tinted view of grammar schools might play well for a nostalgic few on the right of the Tory party but make no mistake about it – they are not the drivers of social mobility they would like to claim.
“Those who hold up grammar schools as the gold standard are less keen to talk about what happens to those children who, at the age of 11, are told they are not good enough”
utting strategy and funds into our future Olympic athletes has demonstrated a winning approach again in Rio, bringing home 41 medals and counting as I write. This formula is not new and one we can all use. Identifying good people who can be great councillors, adding expertise through training, consistent mentoring and support is all easier in a team. That is why some Independent Group members come together to form political parties, yet remain fiercely independent when it comes to listening and acting on behalf of their residents. Olympians need marketing and so do our members. They need good connections with the public. Between Olympics, athletes are asked to not only train and compete, but also to put a little back into their communities by inspiring others. Going into schools and youth clubs to run workshops on the work of our local councils is exhilarating. Olympic athletes accept sponsorship, with care over the choice of agreements to avoid influence. Many Independents will not accept sponsorship, often running their campaigns on a shoestring. However, if we believe in local government that responds to residents, then we need to take on seats at all levels, even covering the unhelpfully large, rural mayoral areas that require proper funding. The sort of team backing given to Olympic athletes may be just what we need for our candidates in local government.
“Olympians need marketing and so do our members. They need good connections with the public” For more information about the LGA’s political groups, see www.local.gov.uk
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interview Bringing health and care together
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NHS Confederation Chair Stephen Dorrell says STPs are moving the health and wellbeing agenda to the action phase
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ctober will mark Stephen Dorrell’s first year as Chair of the NHS Confederation, the organisation which represents both providers and commissioners of health services. The 64-year-old says one of his key aims since taking up the post has been to change the mind-set of the organisation to embrace the move towards joint working and integration that is increasingly becoming front and centre of health and care policy. He told first: “The Confed is the representative voice of the NHS community but probably against the background of all of the uncertainty of health politics over the last few years, the Confed hasn’t had a clear enough voice as the advocate for a joined-up health and social care system that is rooted in local government. “We must move away from national silos towards a more joined up, locallybased, locally-developed view of the ambitions for individual communities. “That’s the agenda we are seeking to develop.” As such, the LGA and NHS Confederation recently outlined their shared ambition for health and social care integration in a new report ‘All Together Now: The future of integration’.
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The report will be used to engage partners and key influencers who work in health and social care to gain support for a joint action plan that will significantly develop how integration is rolled out at national level. “I don’t think there is a Plan B and I don’t think there should be,” said Dorrell. The former Health Secretary is quick to admit to being an “unapologetic defender of the NHS”. But he is just as quick to insist that the health service has to embrace change from within. “One of the weakness of the NHS legacy is that somehow it is separate from the rest of public services, it is a city on the hill,” he said. “The NHS has to come down from the hill and engage in the full range of public services as part of the support mechanism for proper local government. “I think that has become progressively more urgent both because of funding pressures but, more importantly, because the nature of the services provided has changed over the years. It is less about responding to acute care emergencies. Care should be provided on the frontline but with medicine in reserve. “We have inherited a set of institutions which are built to run to acute medical need – which of course has to be met –
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“We have to get away from the idea that there is an NHS budget and a social care budget in a particular locality. There is a health and wellbeing budget”
September 2016
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“One of the weaknesses of the NHS legacy is that somehow it is separate from the rest of public services, it is a city on the hill”
ANDREW BAKER
ANDREW BAKER
but for the majority of the users of our services what is needed is a care system with medicine in reserve. “That is not how the system is designed so rethinking what good care and support looks like is the beginning of good health policy.” Dorrell, who left Parliament at the last general election after 36 years as an MP, not only served as a Conservative Secretary of State for Health in the mid-1990s, but also later chaired the Commons Health Select Committee for four years. His ambition for a more joined-up health and care system can be tracked back almost three decades and he is optimistic that change is coming and that it is being driven locally rather than nationally. Since April, Greater Manchester’s local
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authorities, clinical commissioning groups and hospitals and community services have taken over the region’s annual £6 billion healthy budget. Together they are working on plans to integrate health and social care in a way that keeps people out of hospital for longer and tackles health inequalities. Dorrell says Manchester has “blazed a trail” that “has challenged the rest of local government and the NHS to follow”. At the same time every health and care system in England is producing a multiyear Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), mapping the development of services across 44 areas of the country with a view to implementation starting in Autumn 2016. Dorrell is independent Chair of the Birmingham and Solihull STP and said it
was “insane” that local government leaders, health bosses and other stakeholders had never been around the same table in the second city until the STP process began. He said: “STPs are taking the health and wellbeing agenda and moving it from the discussion phase to the action phase. It has been a learning curve for all of us over the past nine months. “Health and wellbeing is a responsibility of local government and is a responsibility discharged across a wide range of public services – including but not confined to the health service. STPs are simply taking that logic a step further and saying instead of having an opinion and planning function, actually the STP has an execution function. “It brings the major care providers, both in primary and secondary care and in social care, all around the table in order to achieve the kind of service redesign that is often talked about but less often delivered. “This not about public service reform but a way to create a sustainable society where people can have fulfilling lives. It starts with sustainable communities and arranges public services to support that. “I see it is as a huge opportunity and, in particular, it is a huge opportunity for local government. I think local government was always impoverished when it was seen just as the manager of local services. www.local.gov.uk
“STPs are taking the health and wellbeing agenda and moving it from the discussion phase to the action phase” “One of the things that was right about the 2012 Health and Social Care Act was the transfer of public health out of the health service and into local government. Because it recognised that health and wellbeing is at the heart of a proper understanding of local government across the whole range of what it does – planning, economic development, transportation, housing – everything it does is about health and wellbeing.”
Extra money should go to social care That being said Dorrell “wholeheartedly” agrees for the need to adequately fund social care. The social care precept – introduced to help fund care – will generate less that two thirds of the more than £600 million needed just to cover the National Living Wage this year, according to the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services’ recent budget survey. Eighty per cent of adult social care directors reported that care providers in their area were facing financial difficulty. At least 24 per cent of the £941 million savings that will need to be made this year will come from cutting services or reducing personal budgets. Also, local authorities are taking unprecedented cuts to their funding including public health funding which September 2016
will be cut by 9.7 per cent by 2020/21 in cash terms of £331 million, on top of the £200 million cut in-year for 2015/16 announced in the Spending Review. Against that backdrop, NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens recognised the funding pressures facing councils by telling the NHS Confed conference last year that any extra money should go to social care and not the NHS. Dorrell said: “I thought it was quite a courageous thing for Simon to say actually as the Chief Executive of NHS England. In a sense that is what he then chose to do by the increase in the nursing allowance by putting extra money into nursing care to support residential nursing care. There has been since that speech some additional money into the social care sector but that doesn’t resolve the issue. There needs to be more. “In the end we have to get away from the idea that there is an NHS budget and a social care budget in a particular locality. There is a health and wellbeing budget. “I look at health and care as being a single economy. The Spending Review last year created some short-term relief for the pressures in the NHS but didn’t address the issues in local government that relate to the health service. “So if you look at it across the piece
then I think the settlement didn’t address all the range of issues in the sector. “The question has to be what is the most effective intervention? It isn’t to wait until they need a doctor. That’s the wrong answer to the question. Even if it were cheaper, it would still be the wrong answer to the question. “We had someone from the New York Medicaid programme at the Confed conference and he said one of the most effective bits of health expenditure on his budget had nothing to do with health at all. It was installing air conditioning in low income housing in New York. “Now we don’t have hot summers in the same way as they have them but he said people had breathing difficulties and they would present themselves to emergency rooms because they were too hot at home. Was that a health expenditure? If you are the patient at home then yes. “It is about quality and not about cost reduction. “The public service in this space has to exist to support people to be able to live enjoyable, healthy and fulfilling lives.”
Councils’ greater role in integrated health and care, page 27
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How health and wellbeing boards can work Cllr Ruth Dombey (Lib Dem) is Leader of Sutton Council and Dr Ian Orpen is Clinical Chair of NHS Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group
We all talk about the need to better integrate health and social care. We all know it will provide better outcomes for people and probably save a lot of public money. Now is the time to start taking action. Back in July, we co-facilitated a ‘Leadership Essentials’ event for chairs and vice-chairs of health and wellbeing boards (HWBs). It proved to be ground-breaking – precisely because it was co-facilitated by a councillor and a GP. HWBs provide a unique opportunity for clinical, political, professional and community leaders to come together to meet local health
challenges, break down barriers and find solutions that work for the local area. As system leaders, HWBs are instrumental in developing a place-based approach to transformation and integration. Their role is especially critical as NHS organisations and local authorities across the country continue progress on their sustainability and transformation plans (STPs). The STPs aim to address the funding and performance issues in the NHS by driving change at pace and scale over 44 regional footprints. GPs and councillors have much in common – we are in touch with local people and we are rooted in our local place. As one of the delegates said: “We all have the same issues. Doing things together is critical.” NHS and local government have very different cultures and accountabilities and
it is incredibly helpful to gain a greater shared understanding of each other’s worlds. Strong relationships between councils and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are important. This is especially true if we are to successfully tackle the challenges we face. People are living longer but not necessarily more healthily. Public expectations are as high as ever, yet the increasing funding gap in both health and social care is creating the perfect storm. Councils and CCGs need to work more closely than ever before and become more flexible, joined up and responsive to local need.
Free leadership essentials events for HWB chairs and vice-chairs are taking place in October, November and January in Coventry. For more information, please visit www.local.gov.uk/events
Public health innovation Cllr Maisie Anderson (Lab) is Cabinet Member for Public Health, Parks and Leisure at Southwark Council
It has been only three years since public health joined the local government family. In this short time, there have been as many opportunities as challenges arising from this new relationship. At this year’s LGA annual conference, my colleague Dr Gillian Holdsworth and I delivered a presentation on one such opportunity that has arisen from the marrying of public health and local government in Southwark – the SH:24 sexual health service. Responsibility for commissioning sexual health services lies with local authorities and places significant pressure on the public health grant. SH:24 is an online sexual health service, providing free and remote testing, information and advice.
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“The service is both clinically safe and one that service users want and will use” Developed in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, where we have high rates of sexually transmitted infection and insufficient capacity in clinics, SH:24 represents a true collaboration between local government, the NHS and the third sector – its development was funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity. Provision of an online sexual health service in Southwark is enabling the transformation of the traditional clinic model to one that is accessible 24/7, is discrete and convenient. We have seen a rapid take-up by residents who would in the past have attended a clinic. But the real innovation has been the adoption of an agile, design-led approach for SH:24. It has enabled new ideas to be tested quickly, iteratively and collaboratively – keeping users at the heart of the innovation.
This has ensured that the service is both clinically safe and one that service users want and will use. The service has already been adopted in Essex, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Medway. SH:24 could be used by any local authority to tackle the financial pressures of maintaining service levels within a smaller budget. It is an excellent example of Southwark leading the way in transforming frontline services through technology and digitalisation.
You can see how SH:24 works at www.sh24.org.uk
www.local.gov.uk
Councils’ greater role in integrated health and care Cllr Roy Perry (Con) is the Deputy Chairman of South East England Councils (SEEC) and Leader of Hampshire County Council
The number of people in the UK who require both health and social care is increasing rapidly. SEEC figures show that in the South East our population of over 75-year-olds is expected to nearly double to 1.5 million in the next 20 years. This makes existing health and social care provision look financially unsustainable. Integration of health and care services holds the promise of providing seamless care, tailored to the individual’s needs and focused on outcomes rather than the workforce, organisational structures or the setting in which care is delivered. It has the potential to both realise cost savings and dramatically improve the quality of care. Bringing together all tiers of local government and the NHS is the great challenge to achieving meaningful integration. These organisations have such fundamentally different structures, cultures and funding arrangements that there are significant barriers to working together. Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) won’t solve the problem, because they are NHS dominated and remain largely focused on ‘cure’. Opportunities are being missed for a more equal partnership that draws on councils’ skills in delivering efficient, locallytailored services that focus on prevention. A number of solutions have emerged in discussions with South East councillors and officers and at a Health and Social Care Integration Workshop. These include co-chairing of STPs and other initiatives, the establishment of an agreed definition of integration that sets measurable goals for all organisations and ensuring that all government programmes, incentives and guidance align with these goals. Local authorities have a greater role to play in delivering health and care outside hospitals and re-designing of jobs and qualifications to bridge organisational differences will be required to achieve this. A consistent approach to sharing and comparing data between organisations and to measuring savings from preventative initiatives is also needed. September 2016
“Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) won’t solve the problem, because they are NHS dominated” Despite the difficulties posed by integration, there are many examples of council good practice – among others, our recent workshop highlighted the following two cases: The Kent Enablement at Home (KEaH) service provides up to three weeks of help for people who are returning home from a hospital or residential care. The service promotes both wellbeing and independence, allocating resources in line with each user’s needs. As a result of the KEaH service, long-term residential placements from
acute hospitals have reduced by 58 per cent and short-term bed usage has reduced by 44 per cent since March 2015. Care and Repair Elmbridge is a housing improvement agency managed by Elmbridge Borough Council. It helps older and vulnerable people to repair, maintain or adapt their homes so that they can continue to live independently in comfort, safety, and security. Their team of six manages 70 major adaptations a year, which can deliver considerable savings – the cost of residential care being between £35,000 and £45,000 per year in the South East. The goal of health and social care integration is to create a new system of person-centred services that are sustainable and fit for the future. That can only be achieved if we widen the focus of the current ‘curebased’ service approach to acknowledge the significant role that housing, adult social care, youth outreach, public health and other council services play in preventing ill-health and reducing hospital admissions – proving the case for increased funding in these areas.
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Planning for starry skies Emma Marrington is Senior Rural Policy Campaigner at the Campaign to Protect Rural England
When was the last time you experienced a truly dark, star-filled night sky, even in the countryside? Or saw the beauty of the Milky Way clearly? The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has published the most detailed maps ever of England’s light pollution and dark skies – so you will be able to locate the best star views near you. The maps provide a great tool to help councils tackle light pollution in their areas. Many local authorities are already making changes to how they manage street lighting, given that local councils were estimated to spend £613 million on street lighting in 2014/15 and that lights can account
for between 15 and 30 per cent of a council’s carbon emissions. CPRE would like to see local authorities use the maps to help develop local street lighting policies, including environmental lighting zones to ensure that appropriate lighting is used in each area – as has happened in Hampshire and Norfolk. We would also encourage councils to develop policies in local plans to control light pollution which ensure that existing dark skies are protected, and that new developments do not increase local light pollution. Consultants LUC used satellite data to create an interactive map of Britain for us, along with detailed maps of English districts, counties, national parks, and areas of outstanding natural beauty. The data has been analysed for the various boundaries so you can look at the map for your district or county and identify the areas that have the most light pollution, along with existing dark skies that may need protecting from artificial light. Councils have a vital role to play as
the decision makers that can reduce light pollution levels. You can make a difference between skies blighted by light pollution or protect dark skies for the enjoyment of current and future generations.
For more information on reducing light pollution and to look at the maps, please visit www.nightblight.cpre.org.uk
A web guide to alcohol-free venues Laura Willoughby is a former councillor in Islington and co-founder of Club Soda
What do you drink if you’re not drinking tonight? Like many Club Soda members, you may find that alcohol-free options in pubs and bars are limited. Club Soda is a social business helping people change their drinking, whatever their goal. Encouraged by our members moaning about lack of choice at every pub social, we set about discovering what it would take to make venues more welcoming to their customers who want to drink less or not at all. Whether you are moderating, have quit drinking, or are the designated driver, we want to make pubs and bars more inclusive for everyone. Demand for non-alcoholic drinks is increasing. Over five million people are cutting down on their drinking, and under 25-year-olds are drinking less, creating an emerging market of customers that pubs and bars are failing to serve. Behaviour change
research also proves that people will make healthier choices if they are ‘given permission’ to do so. We found the key to getting venues to stock a wider choice of drinks was peer and customer pressure and recognition. So how can we put more power in the hands of customers to influence what pubs and bars do? Our response is the Club Soda Guide, a listings website of pubs and bars for more mindful drinkers. Such guides are already familiar to customers and venues, but we have added some bells and whistles that will nudge pubs and bars to get in more low and no alcohol beers and wines and healthier soft drinks, create special offers for their new drinks range, and get customers reviewing and rating them. Most importantly, we are developing a product that is scalable, affordable and provides detailed data for impact evaluation. Hackney Council has funded the pilot. We plan to go national in 2017.
Want to talk about implementing Club Soda Guide in your patch? Hear more about our research findings. Email laura@joinclubsoda.co.uk or take a look at nudgingpubs.uk
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www.local.gov.uk
councillor The councillor role in school accountability Jacqui McKinlay is the Chief Executive of the Centre for Public Scrutiny
Brexit, a change in Prime Minister and a new Secretary of State for Education mean it is still too early to foresee what changes if any will be made to the Government’s education intentions. Much has been in the news since the Excellent Education Everywhere White Paper was launched by the Government – confirming the ambition for all schools to become academies, and to remove local council involvement. However, five months on and all of the focus still seems to be about structures. Localism, democracy, involvement and communities seem to have dropped off the Government’s gaze: local councils losing oversight of their local school system; parents unsure of what the education system looks like now and who to go to for redress; and isolated schools with no one organisation maintaining an oversight over schools within a locality. ‘Locality leadership’ is a void in the education system. Once the responsibility of the local authority, oversight of schools in an area is now a complex shared responsibility between Regional Schools Commissioners for failing academies and coasting maintained schools; local authorities for maintained schools not falling below the good judgement; and schools themselves where they are deemed good or outstanding. This complex shared responsibility presents problems for complete oversight. Local authorities still have many statutory duties including: promoting academic excellence, protecting vulnerable children and making September 2016
sure there are enough school places. They also still have a responsibility for improving outcomes relating to health, jobs and wellbeing of local people; an impossible aim without a focus on education. Whilst the role of the local authority is the focus of a review, councils still have the dilemma in how they meet their current statutory duties in particular for education. The Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) has long been a supporter of the need for democratic accountability for all public services. We have promoted the role of councillors in building positive working relationships with their local schools and shown how scrutiny can work harder to improve standards. CfPS believes that councillors and their community leadership role could hold the key. The most compelling case for strengthening the links between councillors and schools in their patch is to ensure that the children attending the school have the best possible educational outcomes. Better understanding
and working between the council, councillors, and their local schools can make a significant contribution to creating the right environment to improve outcomes. It also keeps the council in touch with all schools. CfPS believes that accountabilities are not one or even two dimensional, and need to be viewed holistically. To quote a trusted colleague, Professor Chris James from the University of Bath: “Any new role for local authorities in the education world needs to see them very much ‘steering’ the system rather than ‘rowing’ it; having authority ‘with’ schools rather than ‘over’ schools; exercising a new form of public leadership in relation to schools; and being part of a new non-hierarchical middle tier.” This philosophy chimes very well with an enhanced role for local councillors – developing partnerships with local schools. CfPS will be continuing to facilitate this debate with a view to enhance locality leadership and the role of councillors in school accountability.
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parliament The Policing and Crime Bill The Policing and Crime Bill is set to change the democratic control of fire and rescue services by allowing Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to take over responsibility for managing them. The Bill requires emergency services to collaborate, introduces a new inspection regime for fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) and enables a PCC to be represented on a FRA. It will also reform policing, further safeguard children and young people from sexual exploitation in relation to licensing of taxi and private hire vehicles, and extend the powers of councils to restrict the sale of alcohol by people convicted of relevant criminal activity. The Bill is due to start its House of Lords Committee Stage on 14 September where Peers will provide their forensic scrutiny of each clause. Having previously been passed by the House of Commons, the LGA, which represents all 48 FRAs in England and Wales, will continue to make the point that the measures which would allow a PCC
to force through governance changes to FRAs without a local mandate from elected members and communities will undermine existing collaboration arrangements. We are calling for any governance transfer proposals to be supported by a comprehensive, evidence-based and robust business case that demonstrates how it will improve the fire and rescue service, and increases public safety. It is crucial that any transfer of fire governance must be supported by relevant local authorities and their communities following extensive consultation. Fire and rescue services already work closely with other emergency services every day to save lives and protect communities – tackling flooding and responding with paramedics to medical emergencies, for example – and we support improved collaboration. Current governance arrangements have not hampered or delayed this, but hasty, forced mergers risk mismanaging resources and costing the public purse.
Given this important work, the LGA is calling for collaboration agreements between emergency services to be undertaken in a way that supports the ability of FRAs to collaborate on a wider basis, such as with the health service with whom FRAs already run successful and pioneering initiatives. Before introducing a new inspection regime the Home Office should discuss with fire and rescue services, local government and stakeholders how the efficiency and effectiveness of fire and rescue can be improved rather than recreate the fire services inspectorate which will require considerable investment. Furthermore, as the fire service in the 15 county FRAs is integrated with the wide range of other services the counties deliver, the opportunities to find efficiencies and savings from collaboration will be limited. The transfer of governance would also impact on their ability to deliver improvements in adult social care and public health. Aside from fire governance, the LGA supports the Bill’s extension to councils’ powers to suspend or revoke personal licences to ensure that people convicted of relevant criminal activity are unable to sell alcohol. We are also calling for powers to enable councils to consider the cumulative impact of licensed premises when granting further licences. We support the Bill’s capacity to help councils strengthen existing rules on preventing child sexual exploitation by ensuring the Government issues guidance on how taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities can protect children and vulnerable adults from harm. Councils all over the country have been introducing driver training on this subject, but in some areas have encountered opposition and this measure would enhance their ability to take this forward in a timely manner. The Bill is expected to be agreed by both Houses by the end of the year, coming into force from 2017.
For detailed briefings on the Bill visit http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/ briefings-and-responses/-/journal_ content/56/10180/7730394/ARTICLE
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www.local.gov.uk
local by-elections Ashford, Beaver UKIP GAIN FROM LAB 14.7% over Lab
elections Electoral laurels won by Lib Dems Again, the Liberal Democrats take the electoral laurels, gaining three seats from Conservatives and another from Labour. There was a return to the council benches for Brian Markham, a former Mayor and Councillor in Northampton. He lost his seat during the party’s period in coalition government and his attempt to recover it in 2015 ended ignominiously, relegated to third place. Victory was assured this time with a 33 per cent swing against the Conservatives. The party’s second gain from the Conservatives arrived a week later, yet another gain in Cornwall, this time in Newlyn and Goonhaven which the party did not even contest in 2013’s whole council election. Then it was Mebyon Kernow that almost caused an upset, falling just 26 votes short. But in a seven-candidate battle this time the Liberal Democrats edged it by 13 votes. Completing the trio of wins is Eden’s Alston Moor ward where David Hymers’ resignation caused the by-election. This two-member ward was first established in 1973. It was not until 2011 that it elected its first non-Independent councillor. Having successfully broke through then the Conservatives looked to have consolidated their position with Hymers being elected in 2015. Unusually, the by-election featured only two parties with the Liberal Democrats winning after having only once before contested the ward in a by-election in September 1983. The Liberal Democrat gain from Labour is unusual. In May 2015 South Hams’ Totnes ward returned two Greens (who might have won all three seats if another candidate had been nominated) and David Horsburgh, a well-known town councillor and mayor, who became Labour’s solitary representative on the authority. Months later one of the Green councillors September 2016
Professors Colin Rallings (right) and Michael Thrasher are Directors of Plymouth University’s Elections Centre
resigned due to ill-health but the party came close to losing the by-election, defeating the Liberal Democrats by just 12 votes. Following Horsburgh’s own resignation the local Labour party chose not to contest the vacancy leaving the way clear for another struggle between the Greens and Liberal Democrats which the latter won by a comfortable margin. Elsewhere, the battle between Labour and UKIP continues with these by-elections producing a score draw. UKIP’s gain saw Ashford’s Beaver ward switch while Newcastleunder-Lyme’s Silverdale and Parksite ward saw the pendulum swing in the opposite direction. It was third time by-election unlucky for Labour in Beaver who had clung on twice before while defending casual vacancies but a close fought contest in May 2015 saw the two-member ward split with UKIP taking the second seat. The vacancy arose when Jill Britcher, herself a by-election winner in 2013, resigned her seat leaving UKIP’s Ryan Macpherson with a golden opportunity. Eileen Braithwaite, whose death led to the vacancy, first won the Silverdale and Parksite ward whilst standing for the Caring Party in 2003. Four years later she stood and won for UKIP, one of the party’s very few councillors at that time. Although defeated by just 40 votes in 2011 she returned in 2014 when UKIP’s national fortunes took a turn for the better. However, a year later she and two other councillors, following a well-publicised disagreement with the national party, resigned and chose to sit instead as Independents.
See www.local.gov.uk/first for more by-election results
Turnout 21%
Brighton & Hove, East Brighton LAB HELD 37.6% over Con Turnout 25% Cornwall, Newlyn & Goonhaven LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 1.3% over Con Turnout 26% East Devon, Honiton St. Michaels CON HOLD 16.6% over IND Turnout 18% East Devon, Exmouth Littleham CON HOLD 6.6% over LIB DEM Turnout 20% East Riding of Yorkshire, South East Holderness CON HOLD 4.7% over Lab Turnout 20% Eden, Alston Moor LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 9.2% over Con Turnout 32% Gwynedd, Waunfawr PLAID CYMRU HOLD 51.7% over LAB
Turnout 38%
Hackney, Hackney Central LAB HOLD 65.3% over Green Turnout 18.6% Lancashire, Chorley Rural North CON HOLD 3.9% over LAB Turnout 25% Newcastle-under-Lyme, Silverdale & Parksite LAB GAIN FROM UKIP 31.8% over UKIP Turnout 22% Newport, St. Julians LIB DEM hold 29.2% over LAB
Turnout 28%
Northampton, Westone LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 22.5% over Con Turnout 33% Nottinghamshire, Bingham CON HOLD 1.3% over IND Turnout 28.1% Reading, Southcote LAB HOLD 37.9% over Con
Turnout 23%
South Hams, Totnes LIB DEM GAIN FROM LAB 17% over Green Turnout 27% South Staffordshire, Great Wryley Town CON HOLD 18.1% over Lab
Turnout 14%
Sutton, Carshalton Central LIB DEM HOLD 6.6% over CON Turnout 35.3%
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