LGA first magazine April 2017

No.610 April 2017 www.local.gov.uk

the magazine for local government

Interview:

“My job is to make sure local government’s voice is being heard in every department” Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

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Budget 2017 analysis £2bn for adult social care

School improvement The power to offer a helping hand

Uncharted territory Support for older people with HIV

Vital to councillors, directors, senior officers, directors of public health, policy makers and service managers as well as organisations with responsibilities for children and adults in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors, the conference will include a mix of keynote and ministerial addresses as well as plenary sessions by expert representatives from the adult, children and education sectors.

There will also be opportunities to participate in a wide range of workshops and networking sessions.

In addition, delegates will be able to visit the exhibition and speak with suppliers and providers of relevant services. #ncasc17 Book your place at www.local.gov.uk/events

Spring Budget

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fter the announcement of an extra £2 billion for adult social care, the Budget is – unsurprisingly – the main focus of this month’s edition of first.

You can find out more about the key points for councils on p10, our ongoing parliamentary work in this area on p30, and read political comment from the LGA’s group leaders on p24.

Housing may have been the other big issue missing from the Budget, but in our interview with Communities Secretary Sajid Javid he says he is willing to hear from individual councils that want to make the case for more borrowing powers to fund new house building.

Mr Javid says fixing the social care funding crisis is a government priority, but warns that the extra cash coming to councils when business rates are localised in 2020 is for new responsibilities – not to plug existing funding gaps.

Elsewhere in the magazine, we look at how North Somerset Council used street artist Banksy’s Dismaland exhibition in Weston-Super-Mare to help boost the local economy and change people’s perceptions of the town (p15), while Dr Andrew Furber, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, is among those commenting on aspects of public health (p23).

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

contents news 4 Rural health

5 Social care funding

Modern slavery Industrial strategy

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Editor Karen Thornton Design & print TU ink www.tuink.co.uk Advertising James Pembroke Publishing Write to first: Local Government Association Layden House, 76-86 Turnmill Street London EC1M 5LG Email first@local.gov.uk Tel editorial 020 7664 3294 Tel advertising 020 3859 7100 Photography Photofusion, Dreamstime and Ingimage unless otherwise stated Interview and cover Andrew Baker Circulation 18,300 (March 2017) 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.

10 features

10 Budget 2017 12 School improvement 13 Education funding 14 Employment and skills

15 Cultural regeneration 16 Local Government Challenge

April 2017

interview Children’s services Care contracts Drink drive limit Firefighter diversity Deprivation of liberty Housing shortages Pavement parking Sex education

18 Sajid Javid MP,

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

“Hopefully there is a lot more to come in terms of devolution because there are many more areas interested in it”

6 23 18 29 comment 23 Health in all policies 24 LGA chairman and group leaders 26 Small housing sites Stop smoking services 27 Older people with HIV 28 Early debt advice

regulars 8 Letters and

sound bites 29 Councillor – using data to improve services 30 Parliament – debating the Budget 31 Local by-elections

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‘Raise public awareness of modern slavery’

news

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‘Idyllic’ countryside masking poor rural health Poor health in rural areas is being “masked” by idyllic images of the countryside, the LGA and Public Health England have warned.

Their new joint report says not enough is known about the health and wellbeing of people living in the countryside. Official statistics are failing to paint an accurate picture of people’s health outside our cities and this lack of information is masking pockets of significant deprivation and poor health in rural areas.

The report – ‘Health in rural areas’ – aims to dispel the myth of rural areas being affluent and idyllic communities by warning around one sixth of areas with the worst health and deprivation levels in the country are located in rural areas.

Councils are warning of the increased pressures they face in meeting the needs of an ageing rural population, which is also a longer distance from health services.

Rural areas make up 85 per cent of the land in England and 9.8 million people (19 per cent of the population) live there – a number that is increasing and ageing.

They have on average 23.5 per cent of their population over 65 compared with 16.3 per cent of urban areas aged over 65.

Some rural parts, for example in the South, South West, and East Anglia, have the largest proportion of ‘oldest older’ residents, aged 85 and over. The LGA said this is creating further challenges as older people generally experience worse health and have a greater need of health and care services.

“Although many rural areas are affluent, this is not the case for everywhere,” said the LGA. “The North-South divide can be seen in the countryside as well as the cities.

And within even the wealthiest rural areas, there are pockets of real hardship, ill health and inequalities.

“We are also concerned that the makedo attitude and reluctance to make a fuss

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of some older rural residents means they may not seek out health care or treatment when they need it. This stores up worse problems for later on where they require far more serious and emergency care.

“The remoteness of our rural communities from their nearest point of contact with a GP or hospital can leave those residents cut off from getting vital support.

“The health of our rural residents is just as important as those in our towns and cities.

They must not be forgotten or left behind.”

eople need to be more aware of modern slavery to help tackle criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable workers living in squalor and on scandalous wages, as latest figures show council referrals of potential victims have soared by 78 per cent.

Councils and fire and rescue services have taken part in major operations to rescue workers being paid as little as £1 an hour and sleeping on cardboard. Suspected brothels have been shut down, arrests made and convictions secured after car wash operators, nail bars and fast food outlets were all visited.

The LGA says many people may unwittingly come into contact with potential victims of modern slavery while going about their daily lives, and need to report their suspicions to help better expose this hidden crime.

The LGA is urging the public to look out for tell-tale signs, such as large numbers of people being ferried to and from properties in vans or minibuses early in the morning and returning late at night.

Cllr Simon Blackburn, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Councils will not tolerate the exploitation of people in their communities and are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society.

“Criminal gangs are making large sums of money on the back of others’ misery by forcing people – often by threatening or using physical violence – to work for little or no pay, or to pay off outstanding debts. By contrast those taking advantage of these people are often living luxury lifestyles.

“Councils are determined to identify these ruthless profiteers and rescue their victims from lives of servitude – and communities can really play a big part to help.

“Tip-offs from communities can help councils work with partners to better tackle slavery and exploitation. A simple phone call could make a world of difference to people living wretched lives at the hands of heartless gang masters.”

Industrial strategy report

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mall and rural towns in England deserve radical new powers to revive moribund local economies, according to a new report from think tank Localis. But the LGA has rejected its call for the immediate establishment of 47 ‘strategic authorities’ across England (incorporating existing combined authorities), saying we need to build on existing, locally-led economic

strategies and partnerships. The LGA said: “We can only truly build a world-class economy if every local economy is firing on all cylinders.

For that to happen, all councils need greater freedom and funding from central government to build more homes, secure the infrastructure essential to economic growth, improve our roads and equip people with the skills they need to succeed.”

www.local.gov.uk

Councils need ‘full flexibility’ on new care cash The LGA has called for “full flexibility” in how councils use the £2 billion in new social care funding announced in the Budget, ahead of government guidance on how it should be spent – due to be published as first went to press.

The LGA also said that while the money will make a significant contribution to protecting services that care for older and disabled people, particularly in 2017/18, it is not enough to address the wider pressures across the sector, nor is it planned to continue after 2019/20.

While there is an expectation that the funding should be used to reduce the immediate pressures on the NHS, the LGA is clear that councils, who are best placed to understand the needs of their communities, should remain free to determine which social care services should be targeted.

With hospitals accounting for one in five of social care referrals, other areas of social care are also under great pressure and in need of adequate funding. These include services that support people with physical and learning disabilities, and people with mental health conditions.

The funding announced in the Budget will help councils in the short-term, but the LGA warns the social care system remains in need of a massive overhaul if we are to deliver a long-term sustainable solution to how we care for people. It says the Government’s Green Paper, due later this year, is “the last chance to get this right”, but must have the involvement of local government leaders.

The LGA said: “The £2 billion of extra funding

announced over the next three years, while not the solution to the crisis, is a significant step towards helping councils plug some of the social care funding gaps they face in the coming years.

“But we want assurances from ministers that councils will retain full flexibility to decide how best this money is used, so we can provide much-needed care and support for our older and disabled residents.

“Councils know where the pressures are in their local areas better than anyone else.

It is also essential that there are no delays in releasing the money so that councils can provide extra care and maintain the services that would otherwise have been cut.

“Reducing pressures on our hospitals is important, but we must also remember that social care is about much more than just freeing up hospital bed space.

“It is about providing care and support for people to enable them to live more independent, fulfilled lives, not just older people, but those with mental health conditions, learning and physical disabilities.”

Home care contracts

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BBC Panorama investigation has found that 95 councils have had home care contracts handed back by private companies. Research commissioned by the programme suggests that one in four of Britain’s 2,500 home care companies are at risk of insolvency.

Many companies say their biggest problem is recruitment and retention of carers. The LGA responded by saying: “We have warned that the combination of the historic underfunding of adult social care, the significant pressures of an ageing population and the National Living Wage, are pushing the care provider market to the brink of collapse. These figures show the enormous strain providers are under, and emphasises the urgent need for a long-term, sustainable solution to the social care funding crisis.”

April 2017

Children’s services under pressure

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ncreasing demand and cuts to funding are putting children’s social care services under immense pressure, according to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APGG) for Children.

The APPG’s inquiry into the social care of children and young people found the system is struggling to keep pace with the rising numbers of children and families who need help, with nearly 90 per cent of senior council managers saying they find it increasingly difficult to provide children ‘in need’ with the support they require.

Its report calls on government to review the resourcing of services, and to develop a plan for incentivising investment in early intervention and prevention. LGA analysis suggests that councils face a £1.9 billion funding gap for children’s services by 2020, with pressure on children’s budgets even greater than that faced by adult social care in many areas.

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils have been warning government for some time that the pressures facing children’s services are rapidly becoming unsustainable, with a combination of government funding cuts and huge increases in demand leaving many areas struggling to cope.

“The number of inquiries into child protection concerns undertaken by councils has increased by 124 per cent over the past decade, and the number of children needing child protection plans has increased from 26,400 to more than 50,000 over the same period – an increase of more than 23,000 children needing social work support to stay safe from harm.

“Councils have worked hard to protect funding for child protection services in response to this rapidly rising demand, but ongoing cuts to local authority budgets are forcing many areas to make extremely difficult decisions about how to allocate increasingly scarce resources.

Councils have responded by reducing costs and remodelling services, but there are very few savings left to find without having a real and lasting impact upon crucial services that many people have come to rely on.

“Despite these huge pressures, it is important to recognise that social workers continue to provide heroic levels of support in local authorities throughout the country, and their tough decisions and swift actions are saving children’s lives every day.”

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news in brief BT and Openreach

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T has agreed to legally separate from Openreach, its broadband division, which will become a distinct company. The LGA, which is campaigning on broadband speeds, said: “For residents and businesses, the ultimate test will be whether this move improves the level of broadband provision and the quality of service they receive. Councils have played a major role in campaigning to raise awareness of the need for fast broadband. We look forward to working with an independent Openreach, as well as other alternative network providers, to deliver fast and reliable connections everywhere, particularly in more rural areas.”

Audit scheme

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ore than 98 per cent of local authorities – 483 out of 492 – have opted to join the national auditor appointment scheme developed and managed by Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd (PSAA), set up by the LGA. The national scheme will ensure the delivery of a cost-effective, quality audit service for councils and other local authorities, with the first appointments commencing in 2018/19. LGA Chairman Lord Porter said: “The LGA has been extremely supportive of this option and we are very pleased to see such a high take-up from authorities. This approach will ensure they get the best value for money while maintaining a high standard of service.”

Law ‘not protecting vulnerable people’

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he Law Commission has said that the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) law is “unfit for purpose”, and that as a result thousands of people with dementia and learning disabilities are being detained in hospitals and care homes without the appropriate checks. It is proposing a new system designed to ensure that vulnerable people are no longer denied their rights. Since a 2014 Supreme Court judgement, councils’ DoLS assessments have risen significantly, adding to pressure on council budgets. The LGA said it fully supports the need for reform, having long highlighted “the need to overhaul the system so that everyone who lacks mental capacity is at the heart of decisions made about their care”.

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‘Lower drink-drive limit to cut accidents’ The LGA has called for the legal drink-drive limit to be lowered in England and Wales to help cut alcohol-related accidents, which recent provisional figures show have risen.

Councils and fire and rescue authorities are calling on the Government to drop the current limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

England and Wales have one of the highest drink-drive limits in the world and the highest in Europe, with the exception of Malta who have announced plans to lower their limit to 50mg. Northern Ireland is also due to introduce a lower limit this year.

Between 2010 and 2015, the number of people killed in reported drink-drive accidents has remained between 220 and 240 each year.

It is estimated that lowering the drink-drive limit could save up to 170 lives in the first year of implementation. A lower limit would also save £300 million annually by reducing the number of 999 responses and hospital admissions.

Provisional government figures show that reported ‘serious’ drink-drive accidents between 2014 and 2015 in Great Britain have risen from 880 to 980 – an increase of 11 per

cent, while total reported drink-drive accidents have risen from 5,620 to 5,740, a 2 per cent increase.

The same figures show the number of people seriously injured in reported drinkdrive accidents between 2014 and 2015 has risen from 1,070 to 1,170 – up 9 per cent, while the number of drink-drive casualties has risen from 8,210 to 8,480, up 3 per cent.

Scotland, which has lowered its limit to 50mg, saw a 20 per cent reduction in fatal road accidents in the first year after the new limit was introduced.

Cllr Simon Blackburn, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “England and Wales will soon have the highest drink-drive limit in Europe which is not sending the right message to motorists and safety campaigners.

“The Government should be leading by example by toughening up drink-drive laws in line with other European countries, which will make roads safer and save lives.

“A lower alcohol limit would help to deter motorists from drinking at all before getting behind the wheel and encourage them to have ‘none for the road.’”

Changing how firefighters are recruited

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he fire and rescue service is shaking off its outdated image in a major drive to change the public’s perception of firefighters.

While the role of firefighters has changed dramatically in the last few years, many potential recruits are deterred by outdated perceptions of the job, according to a new report from the LGA, which represents all fire and rescue authorities in England and Wales.

As the number of fires has more than halved over the past decade, the 21st century firefighter’s role has focused on community safety and harm prevention, with home safety visits – expanded to become ‘safe and well’ visits in several areas – going beyond fire risk to address social care issues such as falls prevention or alcohol use.

Most fire services in England expect to recruit firefighters during the next five years.

With a firefighter workforce that is approximately 95 per cent white and male, 80 per cent of fire

and rescue services are planning recruitment initiatives to encourage diversity.

‘An inclusive service: the twenty-first century fire and rescue service’, launched at the LGA’s annual fire conference in Gateshead last month, is designed to encourage and assist this trend.

The LGA said: “We want the 21st century firefighter to be perceived as just as likely to be a woman as a man, free of racial and identity stereotypes, as likely to be visiting schools to provide fire safety advice as running into a burning building.” www.local.gov.uk

Housing shortage leads to £2m-a-day bill A chronic shortage of affordable housing is forcing cash-strapped councils to spend more than £2 million a day on temporary accommodation for homeless families, LGA analysis has revealed.

The LGA continues to call on government to free councils from borrowing limits hampering their ability to build new homes, and to adapt welfare reforms to protect families at risk of homelessness.

The number of affordable homes built in 2015/16 fell by 52 per cent and was the lowest number in 24 years. Just 6,554 social rented homes were built in the same year.

A steady decline in affordable housing and squeezes on household incomes have seen the number of households local authorities have been forced to place in temporary accommodation rise by 50 per cent since 2010. Almost

75,000 households are currently living in temporary accommodation, including bed and breakfasts, hostels and private rented accommodation. This is bad for families and communities and expensive for councils. Since 2010, the use of temporary accommodation has gone up 44 per cent in London and 67 per cent across the rest of England.

LGA analysis reveals councils have been forced to spend £2.6 billion to house people in temporary accommodation in the past three years.

Lord Porter, LGA Chairman, said: “Homelessness is spreading across all areas of the country. Funding pressures are combining with a lack of affordable housing and private sector rents rising above household incomes to increase homelessness. It is also leaving many councils struggling to find suitable accommodation for those in need, particularly those who are young, vulnerable, or with families.

“With councils continuing to face huge financial pressures, it is unsustainable for them to have to spend £2 million a day to house vulnerable people at the sharp end of our housing crisis. Councils would much rather invest this scarce resource in building new affordable homes and preventing homelessness happening in the first place.”

‘Ban pavement parking everywhere’

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aws allowing local authorities to ban pavement parking in London should be rolled out across the country to crack down on inconsiderate motorists endangering lives, the LGA has said.

All councils need extra flexibility to introduce bans if needed. This could free up congested pavements and stop pedestrians – particularly the blind and parents with prams and babies – from having to walk out into roads, risking their lives.

London’s pavement parking ban has been in place for 40 years. Under existing measures, motorists are barred from pavement parking unless expressly permitted by a council in the capital.

However, outside London mounting the kerb is generally allowed apart from where vehicles are causing an obstruction, for example forcing some vehicles to wait while others pass, or on roads with other April 2017

restrictions such as double-yellow lines. Local authorities can use existing traffic regulation orders to ban pavement parking on certain roads but it is a time-consuming, expensive and bureaucratic process.

The LGA said: “Councils in the capital have been able to ban pavement parking for many years and it seems a nonsense that local authorities outside London remain unable to do this.

“Councils need this power to respond to concerns raised by their communities, for example if a street is becoming dangerously congested or pedestrians are being forced to step out into the street to get round parked vehicles.

“In addition, repairing kerbs, verges and pavements damaged by pavement parking is expensive at a time when councils continue to face huge funding pressures as a result of further cuts to funding from government.”

news in brief Sex education

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ex and relationships education (SRE) is to be made compulsory in all schools in England, after the LGA lobbied for the subject to be required in academies and free schools. The LGA said making SRE compulsory could help to reduce the high number of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses in young people. “We believe this could make a real difference by preparing pupils for adulthood and enabling them to better take care of themselves and future partners. While parents should have the right to remove their children from SRE, the evidence suggests that it can have a really positive impact on a pupil’s development.”

Teenage pregnancies

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uts to councils’ public health funding could put at risk continuing reductions in the teenage pregnancy rate in England, which recent statistics show has fallen again. The LGA said: “There is still work to be done, not just to continue this downward trend, but also to do more in areas with a higher rate and to narrow the inequalities we see between wards. However, we are concerned that all this good work could be put at risk by the false economy of government cuts to councils’ public health funding, and that the drop in teenage conception rates will be even harder to sustain.”

Free school transport

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hanges to councils’ transport policies are having an increasing effect on children trying to get to school, according to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils are working hard to ensure suitable travel arrangements are made for children who could not reasonably be expected to walk or would otherwise find it difficult to attend school because of distance, mobility, special educational needs or the routes they have to take.

However, this is becoming increasingly difficult in the face of such sustained financial challenges.”

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letters

A result for recycling

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ochford District Council is thrilled after being named third best in the country for recycling.

The Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs placed Rochford District third in the league out of more than 350 local authorities across England, with a recycling rate of 66 per cent.

Since 2008, Rochford District has gone from being one of the lowest performing local authorities in the country on recycling, with a rate of under 20 per cent, to one of the best, and it’s all because of the commitment shown by residents to recycling as much as possible.

The district has been in the top three for the past seven years and has topped the table on two separate occasions.

The main success of the scheme has been due to residents embracing the simple ‘three bin’ system – with one bin for non-recyclables, one for recyclables and one for compostables.

I hope Rochford can maintain its status as ‘the green district’.

Cllr Dave Sperring (Con), Portfolio Holder for the Environment, Rochford District Council

Working to tackle domestic abuse

Business rates appeals While the Valuation Office Agency currently has a reported backlog of some 280,000 appeals, a new wave of submissions following revaluation may well greatly exceed that number.

Over the last year, the agency resolved 64,000 appeals – well below its own target of 153,000. Of concern is that, while the agency tries to deal with a mountain of appeals, it too, like local government, faces funding cuts and must reduce its resources by a third by 2020.

Similarly, by 2020, full retention of business rates will become an even more crucial funding stream for local authorities. As such, it is vital that the agency is adequately funded and so has the capacity to deal with its workload in a timely manner.

Not to do so not only creates uncertainty for the business sector and local authorities, but also means that councils are compelled to set aside significant levels of provisions against potentially successful appeals.

Fully retained business rates is a welcome concept, but it requires all the parts working together to make it a success.

Cllr Clarence Barrett (Residents’ Association), London Borough of Havering

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e have agreed to continue to provide funding for domestic abuse work in Ashford and to make permanent the post of domestic abuse co-ordinator.

Demand on services has increased as more victims are gaining the confidence to come forward and seek help.

The charity Ashford Domestic Abuse Forum (ADAF) leads services across the borough and created the One Stop Shop, a weekly drop-in centre where victims can receive advice and support.

At a time when resources are reduced and there are added caseloads, it is important that victims of domestic abuse can get the help they need.

The council also helped to fund an

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

sound bites Cllr Phil King (Con, Harborough) “Attended reception at No 10 to hear PM talk about plans for education reform.” www.twitter.com/CllrPhilKing

independent domestic violence advisor (IDVA) to act as a primary contact to address the safety of those affected by abuse, to explore their options and provide support.

Receiving around 50 to 60 referrals each quarter, latest figures show the Ashford IDVA helped 91 per cent of those referred, resulting in a crucial 94 per cent reduction of risk to their safety.

In spite of the success of the programme there is still a long way to go as the council and ADAF work towards a combined bid to fund services to reach those in rural communities.

It’s important that victims are supported to build a better future for themselves and their families, which could mean the difference between life and death.

Cllr Brad Bradford (Con), Portfolio Holder for Highways, Wellbeing and Safety, Ashford Borough Council

People get power over planning

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esidents in two parts of Wychavon have backed plans giving them more say in how their area is developed following a historic vote.

People living in Drakes Broughton and Wadborough with Pirton and North Claines went to the polls last month, to take part in a referendum on whether or not to approve their respective neighbourhood plans. They are the first two communities in Wychavon to put their plans to a public vote.

April 2017

Neighbourhood plans were introduced as part of the Localism Act 2011. They allow communities to draw up their own development management policies and even allocate land for new homes, shops and employment. It also gives them more of a say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided. If at least 50 per cent of local voters support the neighbourhood plan in a referendum then it can be adopted by the local planning authority.

The respective votes in favour in these two areas were 93 per cent and 85.2 per cent.

My fellow councillors will now be asked to recommend that these neighbourhood plans are adopted on 26 April. Once published, these neighbourhood plans will have the same status as the local development plan and be used in the consideration of planning applications for development in these areas.

I want to congratulate those who prepared these neighbourhood plans and the people of Drakes Broughton and Wadborough with Pirton, and North Claines for supporting them. They have voted for greater influence and a greater degree of control over how their communities develop in future.

There are a number of other communities across Wychavon currently undergoing the neighbourhood plan process and we look forward to putting them to a public vote at the earliest possible opportunity.

Cllr Bradley Thomas (Con), Portfolio Holder for Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Wychavon District Council

Cllr Jon Burke (Lab, Hackney) “Great work from @feryaldemirci > #Hackney Council could lobby to ban diesel cars to tackle air pollution...” www.twitter.com/jonburkeUK Cllr Anood Al-Samerai (Lib Dem, Southwark) “Off to do our regular mobile advice surgery on Dickens Estate. Fighting the corner of local residents all year round #se16.” www.twitter.com/cllr_anood Cllr Suzanne Brimm (UKIP, Thanet) “@pettheftaware @Streetkleen @ ThanetCouncil TDC embraces dog DNA technology in order to promote a clean and welcoming environment #KENT.” www.twitter.com/CllrS_Brimm Cllr Warren Morgan (Lab, Brighton & Hove) “More of our 500 new council homes for #Brighton and #Hove on the way.” www.twitter.com/warrenmorgan Cllr Andrew Kelly (Con, Elmbridge) “At @ElmbridgeBC for update from licensing officers on the Council’s taxi licensing policies.” www.twitter.com/CllrAndrewKelly

Do you have a blog or a Twitter account we should be following?

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

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features Budget 2017 The Chancellor announced more cash for adult social care but was silent on housing

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he LGA led national efforts to highlight the huge pressures facing adult social care ahead of the Budget, which saw £2 billion of new government funding invested into the system over the next three years.

In his final Spring Budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that councils will receive £1 billion this year, followed by £674 million in 2018/19 and £337 million in 2019/20. This represents vital funding for services caring for the most vulnerable in our communities over the next few years.

In its response, the LGA insisted councils must have full flexibility over how they use this funding. Adult social care is vital in its own right as it helps people of all ages live independently in their communities and any measures associated with the funding must be proportionate and agreed with local government leaders.

Alongside the new funding, Mr Hammond also announced that a Green Paper will be published to explore a sustainable, long-term solution to the social care funding crisis. The LGA is calling for local government leaders to play a fundamental part in that review and says all options must be on the table.

The Government also announced £435 million to support businesses facing increases in bills following the latest revaluation. This includes £300 million devolved to councils to provide discretionary relief. The LGA said local authorities are well placed to identify who needs this funding the most.

Council leaders remain hugely concerned about the large number of business rates

appeals as a result of the latest revaluation.

It is vital that the Government works with councils and the LGA on how the provisions to allow central government to pay local authorities for any losses on appeals, as set out in the Local Government Finance Bill, can protect councils from the growing and costly risk of appeals.

School funding

The Budget announcement that additional funding will be provided to establish new schools and repair existing schools was positive but, to meet rising demand for school places, councils must be given back powers and be appropriately funded so that they can directly commission the building of new schools.

New funding for councils to tackle urban congestion is also recognition of the LGA’s call for greater investment in local roads.

However, competitive bidding is a timeconsuming process and does little to provide the certainty of funding needed to bring our roads up to scratch or plan vital roads infrastructure for the long term.

Despite a number of positive announcements in the Budget, the LGA was disappointed with the decision not to reverse damaging reductions in the New Homes Bonus this year. The Budget also failed to bring forward measures to hand councils desperately-needed freedoms to borrow to invest in house building, and the flexibilities to retain and to use 100 per cent of sales receipts to rapidly replace homes sold through Right to Buy. Local government continues to face

Spring Budget 2017 – key poi nts for councils Business rates •

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Support for small businesses losing Small Business Rate Relief, to limit increases in their bills to the greater of £600 or the real terms transitional relief cap for small businesses each year.

Discretionary relief of £300 million to be given to English councils to allow them to provide support to individual hard cases in their local area.

A £1,000 business rate discount for public houses with a rateable value of up to £100,000, subject to state aid limits for businesses with multiple properties, for one year from 1 April 2017.

significant funding pressures over the next few years. Cost pressures associated with homelessness and temporary accommodation, and children’s and adult social care, are particularly acute.

The LGA continues to argue that plugging this overall funding gap must be a priority to allow councils to continue to deliver much valued local services including those that contribute to wellbeing in its wider sense, such as maintaining our parks and green spaces and running leisure centres and libraries.

For the LGA’s comprehensive on-the-day briefing on the Budget, please visit www.local.gov.uk/parliament

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www.local.gov.uk

Adult social care

Public health

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The Government will provide an additional £2 billion to councils in England over the next three years to spend on adult social care services.

The Department for Education will get £1 billion from the soft drinks industry levy this Parliament, to invest in school sports and healthy living programmes.

Education •

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Extension of the free schools programme with £320 million in this Parliament to help fund up to 140 schools, including independent-led, faith, selective, university-led and specialist maths schools.

A further £216 million investment in school maintenance, to improve the condition of the school estate.

Connectivity •

A new 5G Strategy and £200 million to fund a programme of local projects to test ways to accelerate market delivery of new full-fibre broadband networks.

Health

Skills

•

•

An investment of £325 million over the next three years to support NHS sustainability and transformation plans that have made the “strongest” case to deliver real improvements for patients.

Funding to increase the amount of training for 16 to 19-year-olds on new technical education routes (‘T levels’) by more than 50 per cent to over 900 hours a year, including completing a high-quality industry work placement.

Transport •

April 2017

£690 million for new local transport projects, to reduce congestion on roads and improve public transport. Councils will be invited to competitively bid for the money.

first feature | 11

Councils should be freed from the bureaucracy that prevents them helping failing academies and sponsoring ‘orphan’ schools

School improvement Cllr Richard Watts is Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board

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ith 91 per cent of councilmaintained schools rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted, the time has well and truly come for government to recognise the important role local authorities play in school improvement and how they can help in supporting better outcomes for children and young people in all local schools.

Since 2014, it has been the responsibility of government-appointed regional schools commissioners to hold academies and free schools to account. With such a large, remote and diverse range of schools under their watch, we’ve been concerned that they lack the capacity and local knowledge to tackle the challenges facing the academies programme.

There is a severe shortage of high performing academy sponsors: the most recent Department for Education research tells us that more than half of secondary multi-academy trusts (MATs) performed “significantly below average”.

With a number of struggling schools facing an uncertain future, we believe that councils and maintained schools should have the power to offer a helping hand.

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As it currently stands, however, schools must convert to academy status before they can sponsor a failing academy or an inadequate maintained school that has to, by law, become an academy.

This is overly bureaucratic and unnecessary. We have been clear that government needs to cut the red tape and give councils the power to turn these schools around as well as giving them the ability to sponsor ‘orphan schools’ which cannot find a sponsor because they are considered to be unviable. This is particularly important if we’re to protect the struggling small rural schools our communities rely on.

Only last month, the Commons’ Education Committee joined our call, stating that government must allow local authorities with a track record of strong educational performance to be able to set up their own MATs. We have always said that schools should be given the freedom to choose, in partnership with parents and councils, whichever structure is most appropriate for local children and if that means councils setting up their own MATs then they should be able to do so.

At the moment, if parents are concerned about an academy all they can do is raise

their concerns with a distant regional schools commissioner or the remote Department for Education. Allowing local authorities to set up MATS would ensure the council and its directly elected councillors, who know their local schools and the communities they serve better than anyone else, would be able to step in and help.

Improvement partners

Across the country, hundreds of schools, often in disadvantaged areas, are being turned around thanks to our intervention. Despite Ofsted introducing their tougher inspection regime in September 2012, more than 91 per cent of council-maintained schools have gained good or outstanding judgements, compared to only 85 per cent of academies.

It’s not that councils are anti-academy, anti-free school or anti-commissioners. In many cases, we have worked with schools to convert to academy status if required.

However, we do believe that councils need to be regarded as education improvement partners and recognised for their wealth of intelligence and years of hands-on experience in working with local schools, as well as their local democratic accountability.

Our question is, now that the community, Ofsted results and MPs recognise the valuable contribution councils have made, will government?

“With a number of struggling schools facing an uncertain future, we believe that councils and maintained schools should have the power to offer a helping hand” www.local.gov.uk

Grant cuts threaten school safety standards

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he Government’s ‘Education excellence everywhere’ White Paper set out plans to end the Education Services Grant (ESG) for schools in 2017. The LGA has been working hard to highlight the impact this reduction in funding will have on children’s learning and educational outcomes.

We have previously warned that the £600 million reduction proposed to the ESG will leave councils with little resource to perform their statutory duties and should be reversed

to maintain improvement capacity within the schools system.

This month we’ve renewed our call for the grant to be reversed and highlighted the risk to pupils and teachers as a result of the changes, particular in respect of maintaining health and safety standards in schools.

The new government rules will see councils having to seek the permission of schools if they are to provide essential services such as criminal record checks of staff, safeguarding, managing asbestos risk

in school buildings and ensuring adequate water supplies are available.

The changes will also affect student welfare services, mental health support, fire safety and escape routes, air quality, maintenance of school buildings and playing fields, as well as other general health and safety requirements.

From September 2017, councils will continue to have a statutory duty to provide these services but will no longer have the money to fund them. Nearly five million pupils could be put at risk as schools are forced to decide what services they are able to maintain.

These new regulatory changes will place further burdens on schools and will mean that such services will now have to be paid for from school budgets, in turn putting additional pressures on already overstretched budgets.

Councils are committed to ensuring all children get access to high quality education and that they can learn in a safe and healthy environment. But these changes will mean that councils could fail to meet their legal duties, putting children and teachers at risk.

The LGA will continue to stress to government that if councils are to continue to provide these vital services then the £600 million proposed cut to the Education Services Grant needs to be reversed immediately.

A D V E R T I S I N G F E AT U R E

We are Bloom.

Our approach to procuring professional services is different.

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e live and work in unprecedented times. A time that presents public sector procurement teams with complex and difficult decisions to make to ensure the estimated £40 billion UK procurement budget is spent wisely.

Bloom’s approach to procuring and managing professional services is different.

Formerly known as NEPRO Ltd, Bloom aims to drive value at every stage of the procurement process saving buyers up to 19% in reduced costs. Whilst providing buyers with real time control through its compliant route to market, Bloom neutral vendor solution.

Bloom’s Value Formula is based

April 2017

on 4 principles which support the Government’s agenda of controlling spend and boosting the use of SMEs: 1. Outcome-based procurements: Adopting an outcome-based model of procurement is the first step to achieving real value. This rewards results not inputs, negotiates the best rates from suppliers and provides assured delivery.

2. Dynamic supply chain: Bloom provides choice with a quick, effective way to access a community of nearly 2,000 suppliers. This can be achieved in 10 days or less.

3. Collaboration: Bloom seeks collaborative opportunities for Contracting Authorities to share best practice and advice on common procurement projects, offering

the chance to replicate previous successes and reduce costs.

4. Social value: Achieving value in procurement doesn’t stop there. Bloom is proud that 70% of its projects have been awarded to smaller suppliers. Not only does this open up procurement, it drives growth back into the local economy.

The Bloom Value Formula has real potential to change how professional services are procured and managed.

For more information about how Bloom can help, get in touch; www.bloom.services or follow us @TalkBloom

first feature | 13

One-stop shop for work and training Employment and skills support should be localised to help boost economic growth Cllr Sir Richard Leese CBE is Chair of the LGA’s City Regions Board and Cllr Gillian Brown is Vice-Chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board

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cross the country, there are significant employment and skills challenges which the current system is failing to address and which, we argue, it is contributing to.

On employment, despite a strong recovery from the recession, many of those out of work are either not receiving support or face penalties in the labour market.

Half of all unemployed people receive no support from Jobcentre Plus (JCP) to move into work. Achieving the Government’s objective of halving the disability employment gap will mean getting 1.1 million more disabled people into work, and on current trends that could take more than 200 years. At the same time, low pay and insecure employment is growing.

While unemployment has fallen, 5.5 million people – or 16 per cent of the working age population – has spare capacity, defined as

14 | first feature

actively looking for work, wanting to work or having a job but wanting more hours.

On skills, the challenges are even starker.

Nine million people lack key literacy and numeracy skills. Those without good GCSEs at grades A* to C (Level 2) are nearly three times more likely to be out of work than their counterparts qualified to Level 4 (higher apprenticeships, higher national certificates, level 4 NVQs) or above. There are significant inequalities in access to intermediate apprenticeships, while 97 per cent of young apprentices are studying at the same level as their previous qualification.

Previous LGA research revealed that the failure to move beyond a ‘five GCSE’ economy would put at risk between a sixth and a quarter of future economic growth. Looking to the future, we must encourage more people to secure higher level vocational qualifications as well as pursuing academic routes.

Importantly, the employment and skills picture also varies significantly between areas – with some places at or close to full employment and with skilled workforces, while others are still recovering from recession and facing challenges in employment, pay and productivity.

Yet both the employment and skills systems are highly centralised, with little or no scope for local areas to influence priorities or funding choices. At the same time, accountabilities between central government agencies are often highly fragmented – with £10.5 billion of employment and skills funding commissioned nationally by Whitehall or its agencies, and scattered across 20 different national schemes.

There are clear potential benefits – for the economy, residents and delivery organisations – in improving how employment and skills services respond to local needs and how they are organised and delivered locally.

This is why the LGA’s City Regions and People and Places Boards have initiated a wide-ranging project to develop an LGA vision for what a locally accountable employment and skills system could look like in the future, working with 12 councils and the Learning and Work Institute.

Improving outcomes

We are looking to provide a more coherent offer and improve outcomes for the unemployed and low skilled of all ages, while at the same time supporting local economic growth by forging better links between education and training providers and employers. We will make the case that the entire skills and employment system is not working for local places or residents, and why reform is needed.

We believe an integrated, one-stop shop bringing together employment, skills, apprenticeship and careers guidance services in each area could be the solution, with groups of councils and combined authorities (where established) working in partnership with local stakeholders to design, commission and have oversight of the service.

We will develop this thinking further over the next few months, including how it will be funded, and launch our vision at the LGA’s annual conference in Birmingham from 4-6 July. If you would like to contribute to this debate or have examples of good practice to share, please email jasbir.jhas@local.gov.uk www.local.gov.uk

Hosting a major exhibition by the street artist Banksy has been a catalyst for cultural renaissance and economic regeneration in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare

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n the summer of 2015, North Somerset Council played host to the year’s biggest art exhibition when the street artist Banksy brought his ‘Dismaland’ show to Westonsuper-Mare. For the five weeks it was open, this seaside town became the centre of the contemporary art world, with 15,000 visitors from across the UK and around the world.

Due to the artist’s hidden identity, the project had to be developed in complete secrecy. Right up until the event launched, only a few people at the council knew it was coming, which made it impossible to work with partners in the usual way. When it finally became public knowledge, a lot of work was done in a short space of time to gain as much community involvement as possible.

Dismaland delivered an immediate £20 million boost to the local economy, but more importantly it helped to change people’s perceptions and engender a new-found confidence in the town. It showed just how much is possible with ambition and imagination, and gave the town confidence to try new things and take a few risks.

Regeneration

In the following 18 months, the pace of change has accelerated and there are significant signs of regeneration across the town: physical projects, business investment and new cultural events. Public and private sector investment can be seen everywhere, including a new £18 million cinema and leisure development opening in the summer of 2017, and a £20 million Homes and Communities Agency phase one investment which will ultimately create 700 new homes in the town centre.

The Tropicana, the venue for Dismaland and a former lido site, received £500,000 of investment from the council following the event and has been reborn as an arts and entertainment venue, welcoming 200,000 visitors in 2016.

The renewed focus on Weston-super-Mare April 2017

Cultural catalyst has provided an opportunity for the town to celebrate its heritage and, at the same time, reposition itself as a significant and growing urban centre within the West of England city region. Culture and the creative sector are now firmly established as essential building blocks for a vibrant offer across North Somerset. The council has submitted a bid to the Great Places pilot programme and is working with the local players in arts and culture to ensure that the cultural offer is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Mike Jackson, Chief Executive of North Somerset Council, said: “Hosting Banksy’s Dismaland was an opportunity to reach out to a wider audience and let people know what the town and area has to offer. We wanted to use the ‘Banksy effect’ to attract

investment to help us with our ambitious plans for the development of the town.

We are keen to harness the potential of the creative economy and nurture local talent through the development of a town centre creative hub. Alongside this, the continued improvement of the Tropicana site has added further momentum to our major programme of regeneration, attracting new interest and investment in the town and expanding Weston’s cultural offer for residents and visitors.”

Key learning points •

• •

Have a clear shared vision that the right people can work together to achieve – but be bold, take risks and seize opportunities.

Don’t under-estimate the power of art in motivating people and change.

When you have got some momentum, ride it as far and as fast as you can.

For further information contact Vanessa Andrews, Marketing and Communications Manager, at vanessa.andrews@n-somerset.gov.uk

first feature | 15

Local Government Challenge 2017

Meet the contestants Katherine Heffernan Barking and Dagenham Borough Council

Aspiring council chief executives are vying to prove their worth and win the LGA’s eighth Local Government Challenge

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arlier this year, ten contestants descended on a corner of the north Kent coast to kick off the start of this year’s Local Government Challenge.

Now in its eighth year, the competition sees aspiring future chief executives from across the country take part in a series of tough, real-life tasks over six months, with the prize of a £10,000 Bruce-Lockhart scholarship to spend on their own project in their authority up for grabs.

The setting for the first round of this year’s challenge was Swale Borough Council, home to a diverse population and a range of industries, from manufacturing, transport and logistics to tourism and farming.

The candidates were divided into two teams and heard from Swale Chief Executive Abdool Kara and Leader Cllr Andrew Bowles about the history, demographics and challenges facing the area.

They were then presented with their challenge: to come up with proposals for pathways back into employment for ex-offenders and other vulnerable groups.

Each contestant would be observed and scored on innovation and problem solving; political awareness; ability to inspire and motivate others; business acumen; and communication.

Over the two days of the challenge, the teams – Dynamic, led by Wiltshire Council’s Emily Higson, and Inspire, headed up by Georgia Faherty from Coventry City Council – met with Swale officers covering a variety of services, from housing and benefits to community services and skills, and with other local partners. These included a community rehabilitation company, the probation service, HMP Standford Hill, training providers, and volunteer and community sector partners who work with current and ex-offenders, including Cook Food, a local frozen food business which hires those coming out of prison.

Dynamic’s presentation to the judging panel focused on creating a ‘Team around

16 | first feature

the person’ (TAP), involving a review of the most intensive families in terms of combined cost to the council, and providing a wider support network, drawing on best practice from different services. Key workers would support people with two or more complex needs, such as mental health issues or those who are at risk of offending, followed by a comprehensive health and wellbeing assessment backed up by a TAP forum.

Team Inspire presented a narrative in the form of ‘Lucy’, a young woman who is seeking help and recovery after coming out of prison and suffering from alcohol addiction, with no qualifications and never having held a job before. She was helped by her ‘Swale Angel’, who provides a single point of contact for all services and who would also have had a similar background and experiences. The ‘angel’ would engage with employers, encouraging them to offer opportunities for work experience or training to local vulnerable people and ex-offenders, with a view to hiring them permanently.

Inspire were crowned victors of the Swale challenge, with the judges highlighting the quality of their written submission, how it addressed the potential risks and how well their team worked together.

As first was going to press, Breckland Training Services, a division of Breckland Council, was providing the next challenge for our ten candidates. The overall winner of LG Challenge 2017 will be announced at the LGA’s annual conference in Birmingham from 4-6 July.

“I am the Group Manager for Finance Services. I joined the council last summer, having previously worked in two other London boroughs. I lead the Finance Business Partner team which provides financial support and advice (and challenge sometimes!) to the council’s services, helping them spend money wisely and get the best value for money for our residents”

Austin Rodriguez Birmingham City Council

“I work as an officer in the Neighbourhood Development and Support Unit. I’ve previously worked in a number of roles and areas covering community safety, improvement and change programmes, neighbourhood management and development, early help and safeguarding concerning children, young people, families and adults – so I’ve had a diverse experience in local government to date”

For more information about the Local Government Challenge, please visit www.local.gov.uk/lgchallenge You can follow the individual events on Twitter @LGChallenge. To book a place at the LGA’s annual conference, please visit www.local.gov.uk/events

www.local.gov.uk

Denise Blair Croydon Borough Council

“I work as a Public Health Principal within Croydon’s Public Health Department. I work on the areas of sexual health and children’s health and I’m looking forward to being part of the LGA Challenge 2017!”

Georgia Faherty Coventry City Council

“I am a Programme Manager working in Public Health. My role is to lead work to reduce health inequalities, including Coventry’s award-winning Marmot City programme.

This is my first role in local government, having previously worked at national charity Marie Curie, and professional services firm Deloitte”

Catherine Anderson Doncaster Council

“I’m a CIPFAqualified accountant and I’ve worked in local government for 15 years. My current role involves heading up the council’s programme management team, supporting the delivery of projects and programmes that make a contribution to budget savings and act as enablers for change”

April 2017

Mark Albiston Trafford Council Catherine Shutt Wigan Council

I’m the Business Partner for Organisational Development at Wigan. I’ve worked at the authority for two years and I’m passionate about pushing the boundaries in the public sector and making a real difference to our people”

“Aspiring future chief executives from across the country take part in a series of tough, real-life tasks” Daniel Clark Doncaster Council

“I work in the Performance Unit as a Senior Strategy and Performance Manager. We work to drive improvements for the borough and its people through working across the local authority and with our Team Doncaster partners. My specific focus is on building effective partnerships, working on joint initiatives with the private sector, statutory partners, the voluntary and community sector and parish and town councils”

“I am employed as an integrated all-age Service Manager responsible for services provided by Trafford Council and the Trafford division of Pennine Care. I am also responsible for professional standards across all adult social care, as my role includes lead professional for social work”

Alison Millbourn Kirklees Council

“I am an Advanced Health Improvement Practitioner, and have been working at this level for 12 years. My current post is in Public Health and I am in the Wider Factors Theme”

Emily Higson Wiltshire Council

“I work as a Corporate Support Manager, which means that I provide support to the leader, cabinet and leadership team on a variety of initiatives and programmes. Most recently I’ve been involved in the One Public Estate programme and delivering the Armed Forces Covenant. I also lead on the council’s equality and diversity agenda” first feature | 17

interview

ANDREW BAKER

An advocate for councils

18 | first interview

www.local.gov.uk

Individual councils can make the case for additional borrowing to build more homes.

But Communities Secretary Sajid Javid is adamant that localised business rates must pay for new services, not plug existing funding gaps

April 2017

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t has already been a busy 2017 for Sajid Javid MP: a Housing White Paper, the Local Government Finance Bill making its way through Parliament, and a Budget which provided councils with £2 billion of extra funding for social care over the next three years.

There was therefore plenty to discuss with the Communities and Local Government Secretary when he sat down with first in his Westminster office just days after the Spring Budget.

The LGA led national efforts to secure genuinely new government funding for social care. In the Budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced councils would receive £1 billion this year, followed by £674 million in 2018/19 and £337 million in 2019/20.

Mr Javid said the funding “will make a difference” and was “a very clear signal” that the Government sees fixing the social care crisis as “a priority across the country”.

He said: “I expect to see local areas working with the local health service so they can provide a more integrated service and work towards our goal that, by 2020, we see much greater integration between local health services and adult social care.”

The LGA has warned short-term pressures remain and there is a huge challenge to find a long-term solution to the social care funding crisis. The Government has acknowledged this by announcing it will publish a Green Paper later this year to explore ways to provide care and support for our ageing population in the future.

Mr Javid said: “Like any Green Paper, we want to have a debate and speak to people in local government and experts in this field and take their views into account.

“Then the Government will come forward with more long-term policies. We want to look at a number of options and make sure we take into account previous work that has been done by government and, for example, the work Andrew Dilnot did. It is important for people in the local government and health sectors to come forward with ideas, and for us to look at how other countries have dealt with these challenges.”

Boosting house building levels and increasing affordability are key priorities for councils, who eagerly awaited the Government’s Housing White Paper, ‘Fixing our broken housing market’, published in January. Mr Javid said the Government’s strategy for building more homes set out in the paper has been received positively with his Housing Minister Gavin Barwell touring the country to gauge the views of local authorities and stakeholders.

“As a country for decades we have just not built enough homes”, said Mr Javid. “As a result there is a shortage and prices are much higher than they would be otherwise.

There is no magic bullet and not one simple answer. What we have tried to do with the White Paper is to focus on three key areas.

“One is to say to local authorities – all of you should do a much more honest assessment of what your local housing need is. Secondly, we want to see delivery a lot quicker and that asks more of local authorities and developers as well. Thirdly, we want to see a more diversified market.

I would like to see more factory and modular build and more small and medium-sized builders in the market.”

The Government’s strategy for building more homes included a number of recommendations made in the LGA Housing Commission’s final report (see first 607), including removing the starter homes requirement, increasing funding for planning departments, and measures to get homes with planning permission built sooner.

However, the LGA felt the White Paper lacked substantive measures needed to allow councils to resume their historic role as a major builder of affordable homes.

It continues to call on government to lift borrowing restrictions hampering the ability of councils to invest in desperatelyneeded new housing.

Mr Javid insists he wants councils to play a “huge role” in house building. But he

first interview | 19

rules out the blanket lifting of the housing borrowing cap, instead opening up his door for individual negotiations with local authorities.

He said: “I don’t think it is going to be a blanket approach to all local authorities.

In the past, we did give more borrowing powers to councils. There is some £400£500 million of headroom already available to them. Councils should use what they have already got, in terms of headroom, but if they need more then they can come to us, make a case and we will listen.”

May will see mayors elected in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Tees Valley, Liverpool, Peterborough and Cambridgeshire, and the West of England.

This, says Mr Javid, will lead to the “biggest devolution of power to local areas in a generation”, with power and funding over transport, skills and health and care services

all set to be handed over by Whitehall.

But getting similar deals agreed in other areas – particularly non-metropolitan two-tier areas – has proved more problematic. This has led to calls for the Government to be flexible in its negotiations and open to a debate about different governance arrangements in different areas.

“We were willing to do the same types of deals with other areas,” said Mr Javid. “They turned the deal down. Now that’s up to them.

If they didn’t want the deal with the extra cash, you wouldn’t want to impose that on anyone.

“But hopefully there is a lot more to come in terms of devolution because there are many more areas interested in it. We are willing to work with people across England and listen to what they think they need and what can make a difference.

“A local area must recognise the benefits of devolution for itself. If it does then we are a willing partner to work with them. If you are imposing it on someone then you have to step back and ask yourself, if they can’t see the benefits themselves then will they actually use their powers in the way you would expect them to?”

Fair funding

“If councils need more [borrowing powers for house building] then they can come to us, make a case and we will listen”

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The Communities Secretary is under no illusions that the challenges ahead for local government are no less complex. With the move to further localisation of business rates earmarked for 2019/20, Mr Javid’s focus is on ensuring he gets the impending fair funding review and needs assessment process right.

“This is about how you take the existing pot of money that is allocated to local government and divide it more fairly,” he said.

“By definition that means there will be some areas that will get more than they do today and others will get less.

“To gain acceptance it has to be open and transparent. There has to be consultation so that everyone can be convinced, regardless of the outcome, that it has been fairly done based on actual need.

“I am not pretending it’s going to be easy, there will be intense lobbying around it but it does need to be done. Not just for the reasons of the business rates retention but it has been a long time since there has been a proper review of this.”

Dropping plans to devolve responsibility for Attendance Allowance and making provision to manage business rates appeals centrally show that government is listening

to the views of councils when it comes to designing the new business rates system.

But Mr Javid refuses to budge on the call for local government to plug the funding gaps it faces with its extra business rates income before any new devolved responsibilities and services are considered.

Asked if this was on the table, the Communities Secretary gave an unequivocal www.local.gov.uk

ANDREW BAKER

“My job is to make sure local government’s voice is being heard in every department”

“no”. He added: “It is going to be fiscally neutral. We have been pretty clear about that. The intention from day one has never been to provide fresh funding to local authorities.

“However, it is the case that once you have 100 per cent retention of growth there is clearly a possibility there for the enterprising and innovative councils, April 2017

as they work hard to attract more businesses to their area. That upside can help them.”

Mr Javid concludes with a final message to councillors: “I am your Secretary of State in government. When I sit around that cabinet table, my job is to make sure local government’s voice is being heard in every department. I am your advocate and always will be.”

first interview | 21

Know your patch

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How does that compare to other places?

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Whether you’re interested in scrutiny, a particular service area, or simply need an overview, it can help you review and compare performance with other authorities and assess whether your council is meeting your residents’ needs.

In addition, we now offer LG Inform Plus to complement LG Inform. This subscription service gives users the power to drill down from authority wide information to much smaller areas.

The service offers more detailed performance and contextual data helping you to make the right decisions about the services you provide to your residents.

It provides direct support, online tools and a data feed to use in your corporate systems and external apps. www.local.gov.uk/lginformplus

To view LG Inform and register visit: www.lginform.local.gov.uk

comment Health in all policies Dr Andrew Furber is President of the Association of Directors of Public Health UK and Director of Public Health at Wakefield Council

Einstein is said to have defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The transfer of public health to councils in England in 2013 provided an opportunity to re-think how health can be created, rather than just illness treated. Last month’s annual public health conference, held by the LGA and the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), was a great chance to hear how much progress has been made.

The answer was, in short, much. From increasing physical activity in schools through The Daily Mile in Wigan to evidence-based reprioritising of how the public health grant is spent in Wakefield, it is clear that councils are doing things differently, and expecting better results. But it was also clear that public health skills are being applied across broader portfolios.

Published at the conference, the LGA’s annual report on progress in public health looked at how health was being included in all policies, from children’s services in Sheffield to reducing social isolation in Somerset.

We heard from Coventry City Council looking to apply ‘Marmot Principles’ across everything they do. We also heard from Sir Michael Marmot himself, who reminded us that it isn’t doctors who make us healthy, but the circumstances in which we live. Talking to him afterwards, he was very impressed at how positive delegates were.

Of course, the circumstances in which we are working are very difficult. Reductions to the public health grant as well as wider reductions to local authority funding seem like a false economy when the health and care system is under such pressure. Councillors are facing very difficult decisions about what can be funded.

Public Health Minister Nicola Blackwood, acknowledged these pressures and was very clear that she recognised and respected the extraordinary work of local councils. She announced an extension to the ring fence on the public health grant to support councils in making the transition to funding through business rate retention from April 2019.

While health by most measures is improving in England, we have failed to significantly reduce the health gap between the most and least affluent. This is not only an avoidable human cost, but also a major drag on our economy.

The evidence tells us that if we are to do better in the short term we need to tackle the illnesses that disproportionately affect those living in more disadvantaged communities.

These include chronic lung and heart disease, diabetes and some cancers, and their immediate causes including smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and alcohol misuse.

But in the longer term we need to ensure children grow up well, achieve at school and can get good jobs and housing. To ensure these factors address unfair health outcomes will require the wider application of public health skills to deliver reformed services.

The Association of Directors of Public Health has captured some of these ideas in a paper published at the conference.

The reasons for success range from use of evidence to evaluation of what is working. While written in the context of the system in England, directors of public health throughout the UK are using these principles to change the ways things are done.

Whether historians look back at the next 40 years as a golden era for public health will depend on how well we can apply this ‘health in all policies’ approach. Their judgement is unlikely to be favourable if we carry on doing the same but expect different results.

‘Public health transformation four years on: maximising the use of limited resources’, the LGA’s annual public health report, is available at www.local.gov.uk/publications.

For the ADPH’s ‘Public health in local government: a model for public sector reform’, please visit http://bit.ly/2nlGr6n

April 2017

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group leaders’ comments New social care cash – with strings?

“The funding pressures on local authorities are severe and the need for new money immediate”

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he Government’s Budget 2017 led with a rise in national insurance contributions for the self-employed. The dissent in the Tory backbench was as swift as it was severe; and calls to drop the manifesto pledge-breaking policy were aplenty.

Despite a few days of insisting it wouldn’t happen, the Government hastily abandoned and sunk their flagship announcement.

There is now a gaping hole in the Budget to the shape of £2 billion, which by Chancellor Philip Hammond’s own admission makes it “no longer broadly fiscally neutral”.

The biggest cause of concern is regarding the £2 billion pledged for the social care crisis – the money generated from the national

insurance rise was allocated for this.

The Government is yet to tell us where the £2 billion for social care is now going to come from.

The Budget was also a huge missed opportunity to embed devolution principles ahead of Brexit. The extra money pledged for social care must be seen in the context of the £4.6 billion in funding that councils have lost since 2010 – and the £5.8 billion needed by 2020.

The funding pressures on local authorities are severe and the need for new money immediate.

Councils have been told how much they will each get for social care. The crucial factors

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

to consider are around the funding distribution formula – we don’t know how this money was allocated and we don’t know how many strings come attached with it. The LGA must be strong and robust on this over the next few weeks.

As I write this, the headlines are about care providers cancelling contracts for 95 councils. In January, we asked Communities Secretary Sajid Javid MP what contingencies the Government has in place should this happen. He had no answers for us then and the Government has no answers for us now.

We will keep asking these difficult questions and do our duty to get these vital answers for our communities.

chairman’s comment

Budget eases social care pressure

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

T

he LGA has been leading efforts to highlight the significant pressures facing adult social care and secure desperately-needed new government funding for the system.

So we were pleased that Chancellor Philip Hammond announced £2 billion in his last Spring Budget to help councils plug some of the social care funding gaps they face in the coming years.

This is the single biggest lump of money going into adult social care for years, and we should not downplay that.

It marks a significant step towards protecting the services caring for the most

24 | first comment

vulnerable in our communities over the next few years.

But councils must have full flexibility over how they use this funding to ensure it helps people live independently in their communities, and to provide support to older people and those with mental health conditions, learning and physical disabilities.

Adult social care is vital in its own right, as well as easing the pressure on the NHS. With local government facing an overall funding gap of £5.8 billion by 2020, all councils will need to make continued cutbacks to local services, including social care, over the next few years. As helpful as the Budget announcement is, short-term pressures remain and the challenge of finding a long-term solution to the social

care crisis is far from over.

So it’s important that the Government’s proposed Green Paper exploring options for a long-term solution is not kicked into the long grass like other social care reviews and commissions from the past.

This is the last chance we have to get this right. For that to happen, local government leaders must play a fundamental part. All options must be on the table and it needs cross-party national support. This is the only way we will find a solution that ensures our future generations enjoy a care system which doesn’t just help them out of bed, and get them washed and dressed, but ensures they have dignified and fulfilling lives.

“This is the single biggest lump of money going into adult social care for years” www.local.gov.uk

Cllr David Simmonds CBE is Acting Leader of the LGA’s Conservative Group

Cllr Mike Haines is National Lead Member Peer of the LGA’s Independent Group

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

LGA lobbying pays off in Budget announcements

Peer support to plan for the future

The Budget and funding for schools

“I am delighted that the Government has found a way to help councils plug some of the gaps”

“Sector-led support allows us to learn from each other and share good practice”

“Schools in some areas are warning they may have to introduce a four-day week”

T

H

T

he Budget included announcements on a variety of policies important to local government, ranging from adult social care to business rates, education and broadband.

The most important of these was undoubtedly that councils will receive £2 billion in extra funding for social care over the next three years, including £1 billion in 2017/18. This is a clear vindication of the LGA’s strong and consistent lobbying on this subject. I am delighted that the Government has listened to us and has found a way to help councils plug some of the gaps they face in the coming years.

The commitment to a Green Paper to explore the options for a long-term solution to the adult social care funding gap is also a welcome development and something that the LGA will obviously wish to be very closely involved with.

Other positive developments included £300 million for councils to provide discretionary business rate relief to small businesses affected by the revaluation; £216 million of extra funding for school repairs; and funding for 5G technology trials in both urban and non-urban areas.

These issues are all ones that the LGA has strongly lobbied on and I believe that the progress that has been made clearly demonstrates the value of LGA membership to both councils individually and to the sector as a whole.

as your local authority had a corporate peer challenge recently?

As someone who has been involved in corporate peer challenges, both as a peer and a recipient, I can attest to the benefits they bring to local authorities in regards to helping councils plan for the future, address concerns, improve performance and demonstrate where the strengths of the authority lie.

I can also speak very highly of the peer support available via members of the Independent Group. Over the course of the year our pool of peers has worked with councillors to provide mentoring and advice on issues including leadership and cabinet roles, finance, planning and social care.

The importance of sector-led support cannot be underestimated. It not only allows us to learn from each other and share good practice, but demonstrates to central government that sector-led support and improvement is a far better approach than the inspection regime that it replaced. It also delivers better value for money. However, the ongoing success of this approach will require all councils to participate periodically.

I would therefore like to encourage all members of the LGA’s Independent Group to take advantage of the support on offer via our network of regional and expert peers, eager to help and able to respond to issues from the diversity of members within our group.

he crisis in adult social care is a hot topic of discussion. However, I am becoming increasingly concerned about the looming schools crisis, which deserves equal attention.

Last month, the Government announced its ‘Brexit black hole’ Budget, which laid out plans for an increase in spending on grammar schools during a time when schools in some areas are warning they may have to introduce a four-day week.

It was also disappointing to hear the Government promising yet more money for free schools while council-maintained schools are left struggling for cash for buildings and equipment. This is an issue that cuts across party lines. We simply cannot cut any more from schools’ budgets, and in any case the changes to the funding formula will not adequately address the funding gaps that our primary and secondary schools are facing.

I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues have called for any extra money for education to be spent on reversing the devastating £3 billion of cuts to school budgets that will see an 8 per cent cut in per pupil funding by 2020.

Councils must also be given back powers to build new schools and decide where they go in order to provide suitable school places.

The Government must listen to concerns expressed by council leaders from all parties on matters of education.

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

April 2017

first comment | 25

Delivering more homes through small sites Brian Berry is Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders

There has been a lot more focus recently on the need to diversify the house building sector by removing barriers to small house builders.

This was reflected in the Government’s Housing White Paper and it was also true of the LGA’s Housing Commission report (see first 607).

To help achieve this goal, the Federation of Master Builders partnered with the Local Government Information Unit to produce a piece of research – ‘Small is beautiful: delivering more homes through small sites’ – on how local authorities and small builders can work together to enable more small-

scale development. Our research found that small builders see the uncertainties and risks involved in getting planning permission for small sites to be a major barrier. There are also some clear tensions between what small builders need – more allocated small sites – and what councils with stretched resources are able to deliver.

The report puts forward a range of recommendations, from the embedding of a more strategic approach to small sites in local plans, to more innovative uses of council-owned land, to more systematic methods of engaging with small and medium-sized builders.

You may ask why you should take an interest in which sorts of firms build our homes, so long as homes get built. You should take an interest because the benefits from the local community’s point of view are significant.

Locally-based construction firms make a strong contribution towards local economies as drivers of growth and creators of skilled jobs. They don’t tend to compete on volume and price and therefore tend to have a greater focus on quality and a greater sensitivity to the needs of local residents. And where good relationships with these firms are established they can provide a pool of partners able and willing to deliver a council’s long-term housing and regeneration goals. Please email externalaffairs@fmb.org.uk for the report.

“Small builders see the uncertainties and risks involved in getting planning permission for small sites to be a major barrier”

Stop smoking services The UK has made steady progress in reducing smoking rates. Smoke-free indoor spaces, standardised packaging and increasing taxes, have encouraged people to quit and discouraged young people from starting.

One of the biggest challenges we face at Cancer Research UK is the idea that smoking will simply wind down over time. It bears repeating that tobacco remains the biggest preventable killer in the UK, costing the NHS and wider society £12.9 billion a year in England. Sobering stuff.

To help those trapped in tobacco addiction, support is crucial. Smokers are around three

“Councils are on the frontline in the battle against tobacco, and we know they face significant budget pressures” 26 | first comment

Stacey Arnold is the Local Public Affairs Manager for Cancer Research UK

times more likely to give up when using a stop smoking service, compared to going it alone.

And while footfall has declined in recent years, this is not solely caused by e-cigarettes – and is not inevitable. Targeting hard-to-reach groups, increasing NHS referrals and media campaigns that drive smokers to these services, are all part of the solution. In Liverpool, the stop smoking service saw an 86 per cent rise in referrals after they ran a local campaign.

Councils are on the frontline in the battle against tobacco, and we know they face significant budget pressures. Our recent report, carried out by Action on Smoking and Health, showed that, despite strong support, 60 per cent of councils in England cut stop smoking services. And yet, we know that services are cost effective: every £1 spent saves £10 in

future health care costs and health gains.

When tough decisions must be made, we urge councils to retain a core stop smoking service that can effectively target the hardest to reach. This deep support is the most effective way to tackle health inequalities and relieve the most deprived from the burden of tobacco.

The need for action is clear. That’s why we’re running the ‘Don’t Quit on Us’ campaign: www. cruk.org/dontquitonus. By adding your support, you will be joining more than 780 councillors sharing this message with the Chancellor: these services are vital, so don’t quit on us.

www.local.gov.uk

Supporting an ageing HIV population Cllr Jonathan McShane (Lab) is Chair of the Terrence Higgins Trust and Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Devolution at Hackney Council

Awareness training But while the stories of stigma within care settings were perhaps the most stark and saddening, they’re also the most easy to fix – with knowledge and awareness.

People in the social care industry want to do a good job. Stigma is not born out of malice, it comes from a lack of information.

Carers are busy and they aren’t expected to become HIV experts, but they do need the right training and advice to do their jobs.

Terrence Higgins Trust’s ‘Health, wealth April 2017

“Going into a care home is a big fear for me. I used to live in sheltered housing and I couldn’t be open about my HIV status there, so I know what it’s like to have to lead a different life in your home.

I wouldn’t want to have to do that again” Kevin Burgess, 65, Manchester, living with HIV since 1991

J. MCGILL WINSTON

People with HIV are living longer than ever before, and this is extremely positive. The over-50s are now the fastest growing group living with HIV, representing one third of everyone living with HIV in the UK. But we know very little about the issues they face and how living with the virus interacts with old age, both medically and socially. Within a few years, councils will have an acute problem in terms of how we support this population and, as a society and as the public sector, we’re not ready.

In response to this, the Terrence Higgins Trust recently published ‘Uncharted territory’, which captured the reality of what it means to be part of this fast-growing and yet largely invisible population. We found that nearly six out of ten over-50s living with HIV were on or below the poverty line. Perhaps more shocking were the stories of discrimination and stigma within social care settings.

We heard stories of how older people with HIV searching for care homes have been turned away or treated like a burden. Some worried they would need to hide their medication from home carers for fear of their reaction.

One lady living with HIV in a care home was encouraged to spend as much time as possible in her room to avoid contact with other residents. When she did leave, she was only allowed to sit on one chair and the television remote was cleaned with antibacterial wipes after she’d used it.

People who were diagnosed in the 1980s were told they only had a couple of years to live. Thirty years on, 88 per cent of those in our report haven’t made any financial plans concerning their future care. A quarter said they would have no-one to help them with daily tasks if they needed support.

and happiness’ project is designed for over-50s living with HIV and helps them to live well, while facing the uncertainty ahead. The team works closely with care homes to deliver training to staff, and often comes across questions such as ‘do I need to wear two pairs of gloves while giving personal care if my client has HIV?’, or ‘do I need to disclose the client’s HIV status to all staff working in the care home?’.

These questions show a worrying lack of understanding about HIV in 2017. You cannot transmit HIV from skin-to-skin contact or from saliva. The virus does not survive outside the body so you cannot get HIV from towels, toilet seats or any other household item. But most importantly, people who are on effective HIV treatment cannot pass on the virus at all.

If more people working in social care knew this, the stigma faced by older people living with HIV in care settings would surely decrease.

Councils can and must do more to support care providers to bring their knowledge of HIV up to date. This can be simple and doesn’t have to break the bank.

Like many councillors, I used to think about HIV in relation to public health and prevention.

But a huge part of it is adult social care and supporting older people. The public sector needs to rise to this challenge, before it hits crisis point.

‘Uncharted territory: a report into the first generation growing older with HIV’, see http://bit.ly/2jscLCH

first comment | 27

Over-indebtedness in England and Wales East England

London

North West

South West

West Mids

East Mids

North East

South East

Wales

Yorks & Humber

14.4%

17.4%

16.2%

17.7%

16.9%

14.0%

14.5%

19.6%

Families in the red need early debt advice Caroline Siarkiewicz is Head of Debt Advice at the Money Advice Service and a councillor at Wolverhampton City Council

Living with unmanageable debt not only affects individuals, but also their families, their local communities and their creditors – including councils.

The factors that lead to over-indebtedness are complex, but commonly include divorce, separation or the death of a partner. Other income ‘shocks’ include a reduction in working hours, redundancy, an accident or the onset of illness that prevents people from working.

The data shows that around 3.3 million working-age people suffer a negative income shock each year. The changing nature of work patterns with a combination of low, uncertain and insecure income streams can also result in people not being able to meet their outgoings and repayments regularly.

Anyone can fall into debt but our research has identified five groups of people who are at much higher risk.

People living in rented accommodation, for example, are twice as likely to be over-indebted than those who own their homes. Other at-risk groups include single parents and larger families, particularly where there are three or more children.

People who are in crisis debt have an average of six different debts, often with six different debt collection strategies in play. Over the last five years, we have seen an increase in housing-related debts, council tax debt, and debts arising from benefit overpayments.

In 2015, Citizens Advice’s network advised more than 210,000 people on their council tax

arrears, and council tax debt is the largest single debt-related issue seen by Citizens Advice Wales.

But councils, unlike many financial services creditors, have a dual role – as a creditor, and as a service provider with statutory duties to families and children living in their area.

Joining up the dots between the effect of enforcement action to recover debts from a family and the potential to then have to provide other expensive services to those families as a result can sometimes get lost. The impact of losing your home when you have children can be devastating but it also has implications for councils in terms of providing additional highcost support services for that family.

On average, people wait a year before they seek debt advice and often their situation gets worse. Improving people’s awareness of debt advice services and getting them to present earlier is something that councils can play an important role in. The many touch-points that local authorities have with their citizens present a real opportunity to reinforce the message that debt advice is available and it works.

18.0% 17.1%

UK Average 16.1%

An independent evaluation of our funded debt advice services showed that after receiving debt advice, nine out of ten people take action, 76 per cent start to repay their debts, and 81 per cent feel more in control of their finances and less stressed.

Debt advice has benefits for the individual and their creditors, and a number of housing associations are now funding and in some cases providing debt advice services. A report from Hyde Housing and the Provident Foundation found that for every £100 invested in debt advice, there was a £122 return in reduced arrears and costs.

The scale of over-indebtedness reaches across the UK, with stark differences in the proportion of over-indebted people at country, regional and local authority level. Sandwell in the West Midlands has the highest proportion of adults (24.7 per cent) who are over-indebted, while in the South East of England, Hart has the lowest (10.1 per cent).

The mapping of over-indebtedness across the UK is useful in identifying where resources are needed most. But it also helps organisations across areas to identify how they can play their part in getting people to advice earlier, so that the benefits are felt by individuals, their families – and their creditors.

“Councils, unlike many financial services creditors, have a dual role – as a creditor, and as a service provider with statutory duties to families and children”

28 | first comment

‘A picture of over-indebtedness 2016’, giving details for each local authority area, is available at www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/corporate/a-picture-of-over-indebtedness

www.local.gov.uk

councillor Using data to improve services

legacy systems to integrate their data in one place. This avoids duplication of effort and of data, increasing the efficiency of processes.

Automated data integration also reduces the amount of time consumed by manually processing data from one system so that it can be used in conjunction with another, in order to check eligibility, detect fraud, provide business insights or diagnose service failure.

For example, the Camden Residents Index (CRI) collates data from 16 systems and, as a result, enables the council to reduce administration, provide a more streamlined service and detect fraud.

Testing hypotheses

Councils collect swathes of useful information about local residents, their areas and the services they provide as part of their day-to-day work. But are they making the most of that data to improve services, develop policy or make savings?

With decreasing budget and resources, councils will need to find innovative ways to reduce costs while maintaining service quality and meeting their statutory obligations. Data plays an important role in making informed decisions. When used effectively, data can lead to new insights that can lead to unexpected benefits.

So the LGA, in partnership with The Open Data Institute, has developed a series of free online e-learning modules to help encourage and support local government’s better use of data. Designed for councillors as well as officers, the six modules describe the stages necessary to prepare, manage and make best use of the data collected on a daily basis by local authorities undertaking their business operations.

The first three modules consider the benefits of, and strategies for, being more transparent and open with data, taking on board the stages leading to publishing April 2017

in accordance with national information standards.

But probably of more interest to councillors are the last three modules, which encourage better use of data already collected. They make the case for data and draw upon a wide variety of examples and case studies where councils are already introducing innovative and efficiency saving practices through increased data use and re-use.

Module 4, ‘Making your data work for you’, looks at why local government is turning to data to solve problems and improve processes, some of the tools used to do it, and how success is being measured.

Among other things, it considers the difficulties of pulling data together when it is held on different IT systems and the technology available to overcome this.

Some councils are beginning to use specialist software, which can work with multiple

‘Making an impact with data’, the fifth module, highlights where and how exemplary work is being done, inspiring other councils to make working with data a core part of their practice.

For example, to help inform changes to long-term social work in Newcastle, data analysts worked alongside social workers to look for hypotheses to test and to analyse those strategies which offer insight into how best to support families, and looked at patterns of outcomes. This enables data analysts to test what works best, and develop a ‘data dashboard’ for social workers to manage their caseloads.

Finally, module 6, ‘Making the case for data’, gives advice on clear, effective communication of the benefits from better use of data to help you deliver a pitch to secure buy-in, support, and financial help to move your ideas forward.

The LGA and the Open Data Institute have already run a series of online ‘webinars’ to support the first three e-learning modules, and similar sessions are being held on the last three modules in the coming months.

You can register to take part in these webinars via the LGA website at www.local.gov.uk/events

For quick access to the modules, please visit http://lga.learndata.info/ or go to http://about.esd.org.uk/news/elearning-modules-help-local-government-makebetter-use-data for more information

first political | 29

parliament Debating the Budget The LGA has been leading efforts to highlight the significant pressures facing adult social care and we are pleased that the Government has started to act on our concerns.

The announcement in the Budget of £2 billion for adult social care marks a significant step towards protecting the services caring for older and disabled people in our communities – but our work continues on both the details of the deal and on finding long-term solutions to how we meet the needs of an ageing population.

The LGA issued an on-the-day briefing on the Budget itself, and further briefings to MPs and Lords for the various related parliamentary debates that followed. In the Budget Resolutions debate the day after the Chancellor’s statement, LGA VicePresident Bob Blackman MP (Con, Harrow West) asked questions about the social care funding announcements which we set out in our briefing.

In response, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid MP confirmed the £2 billion is all new money, that it will be added to every local authority’s baseline over the next three years, and set out details as to how it will be allocated (mostly via the improved better care formula).

He told the Commons: “Every single

council in England responsible for adult social care will benefit from this additional funding, rural or urban, north or south, Labour or Conservative. This additional money, front-loaded for 2017/18, will make an immediate difference to people in our communities who need care and support.”

But he warned that demand for adult social care and the challenge of paying for it are “not going to go away”. The Government will publish a Green Paper later this year setting out a long-term plan for reforming the funding model.

Elsewhere in the same debate, Angela Eagle MP (Lab, Wallasey) looked for a guarantee from the Government on the future of European funding for local areas. As we stated in our briefing, it is disappointing there were no measures to address EU regional regeneration funding in the Budget.

In the Lords, LGA Chairman Lord Porter told Peers that “the £2 billion is the biggest single lump of money going into adult social care for years, and we should not downplay that”.

But he regretted that the Budget missed out housing. “We should be encouraging councils to build more council homes,” he said. “If the Government’s intention is to do large-scale system-build, the only way of doing that is through the State getting back into housing.”

parliamentary round-up As first was going to press, the Bus Services Bill was due to have its final stages in the Commons. In the past month MPs have been debating amendments on bus franchising, traffic management powers and transport partnership schemes. We briefed MPs in support of the Bill and highlighted the importance of mayoral combined authorities gaining immediate access to franchising powers. We also argued that all government decisions on franchising for other areas should be transparent, timely and achievable. For more information, please read our briefings at www.local.gov.uk/briefings-and-responses.

30 | first political

The Neighbourhood Planning Bill has completed its Third Reading in the Lords. As first was going to press, it was due to start the process of ‘ping pong’ whereby the Lords and Commons agree the final amendments. As the Bill passed through the Lords, LGA Chairman Lord Porter spoke in favour of an amendment giving local authorities powers to create new towns. He noted that it is welcome that the Government has agreed to this proposal as it means powers will be ceded from Westminster. In response to concerns about the impact of office-to-residential conversion is having in some local areas, the Government has now committed to making it easier for councils to manage conversions locally.

www.local.gov.uk

elections Weighing up electoral opinion February saw the Conservatives lose two council by-elections to the Liberal Democrats and one to Labour.

However, these events were eclipsed by the historic outcome of the Copeland parliamentary by-election, where Labour was unseated by the governing party – an event that has happened on only a few occasions since the war.

Another by-election in the Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency saw Labour’s vote fall but there it did manage to thwart the ambition of UKIP’s national party leader to secure a seat in the House of Commons.

Since then, Labour’s stock has well and truly fallen, suffering two additional losses to the Conservatives.

It is, of course, an over-simplification to draw generalisations about the national state of electoral opinion from a handful of council by-elections. The challenge is to weigh local and national factors in the balance before drawing conclusions.

The contest in Basingstoke and Deane’s Winklebury ward was ‘old school’ – with Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates only. The Conservatives won the ward easily in 2015 but previous elections had been much closer. UKIP’s withdrawal from the fray appears to have assisted a notable Labour victory.

It was Labour’s turn to by-pass the contest in Barton ward, Kettering, despite being ever-present since the current ward’s establishment in 2007. Liberal Democrats, absent from the contest in 2015, do not pass on such opportunities and easily defeated the Conservative candidate.

The result in South Hams’ Charterlands followed a similar pattern – Liberal Democrats winning a seat having not contested it at the previous election. This may bode well April 2017

local by-elections Basingstoke & Deane, Winklebury LAB GAIN FROM CON 26.3% over Con Turnout 28.6% Broxbourne, Waltham Cross CON GAIN FROM LAB 0.3% over Lab Turnout 20.9% Derby, Derwent CON GAIN FROM UKIP 8.4% over Lab

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

for the party at the forthcoming county council elections where it will be seeking to recover ground lost in 2013 when it was part of the coalition government.

These results confirmed a developing sequence of Liberal Democrat successes (another would occur in West Oxfordshire in early March) but Copeland ensured that attention was drawn immediately to how Labour candidates were doing in council by-elections. Not well, it seems.

Salford’s Kersal ward was another to transfer to the Conservatives from Labour. But, almost certainly, the dynamics of the Kersal result are different to those prevailing in Copeland. The ward has a large Jewish electorate and charges of anti-semitism among some sections of Labour will have been noted. The Conservative candidate was local Rabbi, Arnie Saunders.

Additionally, the Independent candidate, who polled a healthy 17 per cent vote share, stood in protest at a football stadium development.

While the Conservative vote did rise it was most likely the swing from Labour to the Independent that probably accounted for this result.

Further negative headlines for Labour came a week later when electors in Waltham Cross plumped by just four votes in favour of Conservative Patsy Spears over Labour’s Christian Durogo. The vacancy was caused by the death of long-standing councillor Malcolm

Turnout 21.9%

Kettering, Barton LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 28.5% over Con Turnout 25.6% Salford, Kersal CON GAIN FROM LAB 14.7% over Lab

Turnout 24.1%

South Hams, Charterlands LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 6.7% over Con Turnout 46.5% West Oxfordshire, Hailey, Minster Lovell & Leafield LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 5% over Con Turnout 38.1%

Aitken, re-elected as recently as last May in a straight fight with the by-election winner.

These outcomes do suggest that Labour is struggling to appeal to voters but they do not point unequivocally to a swing towards the Conservatives.

In some quarters, the result for Derby’s Derwent ward is given as a Conservative gain from Labour but Bill Wright, whose death prompted the contest, had been elected under UKIP’s banner. Indeed, Wright had explored the possibility of defecting to Labour but had changed his mind. The movement of votes was rather small but sufficient to tip the highly marginal ward into the Conservative column.

This confirms UKIP’s failure to consolidate – since 2015 the party has defended six but lost 17 seats in council by-elections.

For a full list of recent by-election results and a spreadsheet with detailed data on each election, please visit www.local.gov.uk/first

first political | 31

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Cllr Sir Richard Leese CBE Leader, Manchester City Council and Chair, LGA City Regions Board

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