First Magazine - January 2016

No.595 January 2016 www.local.gov.uk

the magazine for local government

Interview:

“I consider local government to be, next to the NHS, the jewel in this country’s crown” Lord Adebowale, Chief Executive of Turning Point

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The funding settlement Four-year deals on offer

Preventing extremism Help with the new duty

Creating community Giving art back to the people

NEW HORIZONS: TRANSFORMING CULTURE, TOURISM AND SPORT LGA Annual Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference 2016 24-25 February 2016, Leicester From the implications of the the Spending Spending Review Review to the government’s Government’s new new sport sportstrategy, strategy,Culture Culture White Paper and opportunities from devolution, from devolution, we will discuss the biggest issues, issues, share share innovative innovative practice and give you the opportunity opportunity to to network network with colleagues and partner organisations. organisations.

Newly confirmed speakers: Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, Chair of ukactive Stella Duffy, Co-Director of Fun Palaces Victoria Pomery OBE, Director, Turner Contemporary Viscountess Penelope Cobham CBE, Chairman of Visit England Jennie Price, Chief Executive, Sport England Sir Laurie Magnus, Chairman of Historic England For more information or to book visit www.local.gov.uk/events

Funding and budget setting

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ndividual councils finally found out what funding they can expect from Whitehall in 2016/17, courtesy of last month’s local government finance settlement.

Importantly, and after years of lobbying by the LGA and the sector, the Government has said it will offer a four-year settlement to any council that wishes it. This is great news and will help you plan better for the future of your local areas and residents.

You can find out more about the settlement in this edition of first, and hear from our new(ish) Chief Executive Mark Lloyd.

Elsewhere in the magazine, we have an update on devolution, guidance for councils coming to grips with their new duty to help prevent extremism, and take a look at the Armed Forces Community Covenant.

You can also hear from Stella Duffy, Co-Director of Fun Palaces, on its campaign for culture at the heart of every community.

Stella will be one of the keynote speakers at our annual culture, tourism and sport conference next month (see www.local. gov.uk/events).

We also have comments from members on food poverty, business planning and climate change.

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

contents news

4 Children’s services

5 Funding settlement

Flooding

Retro cars

New Year honours Cosy Havant

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Email first@local.gov.uk Tel editorial 020 7664 3294 Tel advertising 07917 681135 Photography Photofusion, Dreamstime and Ingimage unless otherwise stated Cover and interview Chris Sharp Circulation 18,100 (January 2016) first is published online at www.local.gov.uk/first at least two days before the magazine. To unsubscribe email first@oscar-research.co.uk The inclusion of an advert or insert in first does not imply endorsement by the LGA of any product or service. Contributors’ views are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the LGA.

January 2016

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features 8 Finance settlement and future funding 11 Devolution update 12 Prevent duty 13 Managing risk in social care 14 Armed forces covenants 15 Graduate trainees

Chief Executive of Turning Point and social justice campaigner

“There is a big challenge for local government which is about redesigning services”

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Design & print TU ink www.tuink.co.uk Write to first: Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ

16 Lord Adebowale,

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Editor Karen Thornton Advertising Ottway Media Solutions

interview

comment 21 Creating community life

22 LGA chairman and group leaders 24 Food poverty 25 A business-like approach 26 Planning fees and climate change 27 Housing 28 District view

regulars 6 Letters and sound bites 29 Office-councillor relationships 30 Parliament – devolution 31 Local elections

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Funding promised for flood-hit areas

news Plans to intervene in children’s services Failing children’s services must improve or they will be taken over by high-performing councils, charities, and teams of experts, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

The new plans mirror the approach taken to failing schools, with authorities rated ‘inadequate’ by inspection agency Ofsted given six months to turn things around or face intervention.

The Government also announced more than £100 million for attracting high-calibre graduates into social work.

Cllr Roy Perry, Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “It is right that the best performing councils are able to support those struggling. However, it is important that capacity and resources are fully provided as transforming a hugely complex child protection system takes time and additional funding. Evidence suggests that transforming services often takes longer than six months and a flexible approach is required.

“Across the country, social workers are striving to improve the lives of vulnerable children and work closely together to maximise

expertise and knowledge. Where change is needed, learning from within the sector from the best councils is paramount. If extra external assistance is required, it must only be for a period of time to help bring a council back on its feet.

“A recent study from independent researchers Impower highlighted the impact an inadequate Ofsted inspection can have on a council, which can often see areas stuck in a vicious circle of staffing shortages combined with rapidly increasing demand. Councils, government and Ofsted must work together to ensure the inspection system helps drive improvement rather than simply exacerbating existing problems.

“High-profile crimes of abuse and neglect mean that there are rightly thousands more children on the radar of social services now.

Councils are currently supporting over 49,700 children on child protection plans, an increase of more than 20,000 since 2008. It is absolutely vital that they and partner agencies have the resources needed to deal with this huge increase in demand.”

Flood defences ‘overwhelmed’ by recent record rainfall will be fixed and bolstered in a £40 million package of spending, the Prime Minister has said.

Thousands of homes across northern England and Scotland were affected after they were hit by storms and heavy rain over the Christmas and New Year holidays. The £40 million package for Yorkshire comes on top of £50 million funding to help local authorities’ response to the floods.

The LGA said council staff continue to work around-the-clock to protect communities and help them cope with the devastating and unprecedented flooding, keeping residents up-to-date via their websites and social media.

Local authorities across the country have come forward with offers of help for affected councils.

Lord Porter, LGA Chairman, said: “Councils have been doing everything in their power to help their communities cope with the heartbreaking devastation caused by the flooding over the Christmas period.

“Roads are being cleared, highway teams are trying to pump and drain floodwater and councils continue to work closely with affected residents. The sense of community spirit across the country and huge efforts of council staff working long hours and with little rest in the face of this unprecedented emergency has been inspirational.”

• It may have been one of the warmest Decembers on record, but councils are ready for when the cold weather finally arrives. The LGA’s Winter Readiness Survey shows that councils nationally are geared up for plummeting temperatures with a substantial stock of 1.2 million tonnes of grit, with 80 per cent placing community grit bins for residents to use on pavements and side streets.

Rocking retro festival returns

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loucester City Council’s classic and retro vehicle festival is to return this summer after being named best community event in the local Believe in Gloucester Awards 2015. The first festival took place during the August bank holiday last year, and attracted vintage cars, motorbikes, scooters and commercial vehicles to city streets and visitors from all over the country. Cllr Colin Organ, Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, who came up with the idea, said: “I am so pleased that the festival was recognised with the award as best community event. It was really good fun and lots of people got involved which was fantastic. The festival was also really positive as it helped local businesses to promote themselves and take part and supported local charities at the same time.”

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www.local.gov.uk

Four-year funding deals in ‘historic’ settlement An “historic” funding settlement will usher in a new era of long-term financial certainty for councils, while prioritising adult social care for the nation’s ageing population, according to Communities Secretary Greg Clark.

His pre-Christmas announcement gives councils the option of signing up to a four-year funding deal, subject to an ‘efficiency plan’ agreed with ministers.

On social care, Mr Clark said councils less able to raise funding from the new council tax precept (see first 594) will get a bigger share of the Better Care Fund, which will have an extra £1.5 billion by 2019/20.

LGA Chairman Lord Porter said: “Giving councils the option to fix longer-term funding settlements is hugely significant. The LGA has long argued that it is crucial for councils to be able to plan ahead for more than 12 months at a time.

“Having increased certainty over resources for more than one year will enable longer term planning, especially as 2016/17 looks set to be the toughest year of this four-year Spending Review period for local services.

“This is an important step towards the financial certainty councils need to run important local services to the high standard our residents deserve and will allow councils to review the level of financial reserves they need to hold.”

On social care, he said: “Greg Clark has responded to our call for greater flexibility for councils in setting council tax levels. The settlement recognises the varying impact

of these measures across the country in the way it distributes the remaining government grant to councils and we’re also pleased that our call for low-taxing councils to be able to raise a minimum of £5 extra per household per year has been agreed. Both measures are for the lifetime of this Parliament.

“Our spotlight on social care funding pressures has been acknowledged, but councils remain concerned that they won’t see the benefit of the £1.5 billion extra investment in social care until the end of the decade. Services caring for our elderly and vulnerable people are under pressure now.”

Lord Porter added: “Despite receiving a flat-cash settlement over the next four years, there are still significant challenges ahead for councils who will have to make efficiency and other savings sufficient enough to compensate for any additional cost pressures they face.

“These include those arising from general inflation, cost pressures in the care sector, increases in the number of adults and children needing support and rising levels of need, increases in demand for everyday services as the population grows and pressure on homelessness budgets, and increases in core costs such as national insurance, the National Living Wage and pension contributions.”

Cosy scheme wrapped up

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£2.9 million government-funded scheme has helped hundreds of Havant residents improve the energy efficiency of their homes and saved them money on energy bills by offering them cash-back for installing new boilers, insulation, and solar panels.

The borough council is now looking for alternative funding sources to help continue Cosy Havant. Cllr David Guest, Cabinet Lead for Planning, Economic Development and the Built Environment, said: “Cosy Havant has been a massive success and has exceeded all our expectations. I am delighted we have helped so many residents save money as well as reducing energy use. Although we have been quickly over-subscribed and used all the allocated funding, we have not given up and will continue to seek alternative funding streams for energy-saving measures.”

January 2016

See p8 for more on the local government finance settlement

Honours for council leaders The New Year honours list saw more than 30 medals awarded to former and serving politicians and officers in local government.

There was a knighthood for Alan Yarrow, lately Lord Mayor of London, for services to international business, inclusion and the City of London.

Cllr Simon Henig (Lab), Leader of Durham County Council, and Cllr Sue Murphy (Lab), Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, both received CBEs for political and public service.

Other CBE recipients included Paul Fuller, Chief Fire Officer at Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service; Sandie Keene, former Director of Adult Social Services at Leeds City Council and the LGA’s Adult Improvement Adviser; and Andrew Smith OBE, former Chief Executive of Hampshire County Council.

There were OBEs for Cllr Tudor Evans (Lab), Leader of Plymouth City Council; Cllr Peter Fleming (Con), Leader of Sevenoaks District Council; Cllr Peter John (Lab), Leader of Southwark Council; Cllr Keith Wakefield (Lab), former Leader of Leeds City Council; and Cllr John Weighell (Con), former Leader of North Yorkshire County Council.

Cllr Sandra Samuels (Lab), Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing at Wolverhampton City Council, and Cllr Kathy Tracey (Con), Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services at Wandsworth Borough Council, also received OBEs for services to local government.

Two other Wandsworth councillors were recognised in this year’s honours, with Cllr Martin Johnson (Con) and Cllr Marie Hanson (Con) receiving MBEs. Other MBE recipients included Cllr Brian Edwards (Con), of South Staffordshire Council, and Salford City Council’s Cllr David Lancaster (Lab).

Cllr Sylvia Emmott (Lib Dem), Chairman of South Lakeland District Council; Cllr Paul Myers (Con), parish councillor and Mayor of Midsomer Norton, as well as a member of Bath and North East Somerset Council; and Cllr Linda Smith (Con), parish and district councillor for Chalfont St. Peter (Chiltern District Council) were also recognised with BEMs.

For all local government honours recipients, see www.gov.uk/ government/publications/newyear-honours-list-2016

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Search for civic activists

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e should thank the film Suffragette for telling us more about the diverse lives and locations of women who fought for the right to vote.

In reality there were a lot of everyday women, and men, who were involved in furthering the cause of universal suffrage.

Many of those women also contributed to their local communities in other ways.

With the centenary in 2018 of when older women and most men received the vote, should we now be acknowledging those that not only worked hard to further the struggle for the vote but also then went on to use their new-found roles?

The fight for the 1918 Representation of the People Act was always part of a wider struggle and one that carries on today.

The Women’s Local Government Society (WLGS), working with Buckinghamshire County Council, the LGA, the National Association of Civic Officers and Civic Voice, have come together to seek 100 women who were suffragists and then took part in civic life. We know there are many across the country who deserve to be recognised.

Perhaps this could be your grandmother, aunt, or family member? If so let us have their supportive information and perhaps they will be one of those 100 we are hoping to recognise in October 2018?

Please send your information to me at: wlgs2018@gmail.com Cllr Lesley Clarke OBE (Con, Buckinghamshire), Chair, Women’s Local Government Society

letters

Further education policy lacks vision We currently have the bizarre situation of a government that rails against local authorities having any say at all in schools, but actively courts councils to take on a bigger role in post-16 skills provision.

College provision is being reviewed with seismic upheavals promised, but sixth forms in schools are not. Apprenticeships are being increased, but the cost is being shunted onto large companies and public sector organisations via a new tax – the ‘apprenticeship levy’.

The Government appears to have neither strategy nor vision for further education (FE) in England, but instead flails around attempting to implement a whole series of disconnected policies.

Increasingly it is not just young people but adults who are missing out. The people who want to retrain, to change career. The people who feel they set their sights too low in their younger days and are now prepared to put in the work to raise themselves up.

There is little space left for these people in the modern education sector.

Adult education has long been poorly funded and, as budget cuts bite, it is adult education that FE colleges are often cutting first. It is easy to cut and almost no-one is fighting its corner.

The answer is to follow Chancellor George Osborne’s devolution through and give local authorities – either individually or as combined authorities – more influence over the provision of post-16 FE in its entirety. That way, there is at least some chance of coherent plans being developed that meet the needs of local populations.

Cllr Iain Roberts (Lib Dem), Deputy Leader, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

A home for life

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am dismayed by the Government’s proposals to end the right of new council tenants to have a home for life.

The Government says it wants people to go out and buy their own home, as though they have thousands of pounds stacked away behind the sofa.

But buying a home isn’t for everyone.

Some people can’t afford one or don’t want to be in a position where they struggle to keep up with the mortgage repayments.

People come to social housing because they want an element of security for themselves and their family. Lifetime tenancies not only give them that security but they also allow tenants and their children to build roots in a local area and become part of the local community.

If you look at an area like Grange Park in Blackpool, which is predominantly social housing, there is a really strong community there who look out for each other and

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

support themselves when times get tough.

That only happens because the families have been there for a long time and grown up together as a community.

Our housing market has already been failed by bad private landlords, who we are still cleaning up after. Shorter tenancies will just play into their hands, creating even more transient populations.

Ultimately, it will end up with councils and social housing providers picking up the pieces.

Cllr Gillian Campbell (Lab), Deputy Leader, Blackpool Council

Restorative justice

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n 2014, funds from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall helped Torbay Council implement a local restorative justice scheme called Make Amends.

Restorative justice brings together those who have been harmed by crime, conflict and anti-social behaviour with those responsible.

This approach is effective for giving victims a voice and affords offenders the opportunity to understand the impact that their actions have on others.

Positively, restorative justice has been shown to reduce reoffending, improve victim satisfaction and reduce the social and economic cost of crime.

The success of this scheme is that Make Amends accepts referrals from all statutory agencies, the community and self-referrals, either from those harmed or those responsible.

This ensures all victims of crime have access to local restorative justice services regardless of the extent of the harm caused or the seriousness of the offence. This way, victims are supported to make an informed choice and get what they need to cope and recover.

During the first year, Make Amends has had a positive impact within the community.

Victims have had questions answered, talked about the harm caused and on occasion had stolen property returned.

Offenders have heard the extent of the

January 2016

harm they have caused, which they say they had not thought about before or been willing to acknowledge.

All of this has been effective in helping both victims and offenders move on. Service users said it has been ‘life changing’, ‘helped them sleep again’ and ‘made a real difference’.

To see more information about Make Amends visit www.safercommunitiestorbay.org.uk/ index/makeamends.

Cllr Robert Excell (Con), Executive Lead for Community Services, Torbay Council

Recycling requires more political leadership

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he Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ figures on household waste recycling, published last month, show that the UK is by no means certain to reach the EU’s 50 per cent target by 2020.

It is interesting to see that while recycling rates in Wales and Scotland have increased by about 2 per cent a year for the last five years, in England – which makes up over 80 per cent of the UK figures – the annual rate of increase in recycling has been below 1 per cent.

This lends support to the view that the devolved administrations are doing far more to support their councils in raising recycling rates and achieving a more circular economy where we make better use of our resources.

Lower commodity prices and strained local authority budgets are putting huge pressure on councils’ recycling performance, which has improved remarkably during the past 15 years. But we still need to do more to meet our European obligations.

In this context, more political leadership will undoubtedly be needed to ensure that England makes its due contribution to the UK’s recycling performance over the next five years.

Jacob Hayler, Executive Director, Environmental Services Association

sound bites Cllr Michael Headley (Lib Dem, Bedford) “Headline from today’s finance settlement for Bedford Borough is a £3m bigger CUT than we had forecast in main government funding.” www.twitter.com/michaelheadley1 Cllr Shabir Pandor (Lab, Kirklees) “Govt says it will give councils a new funding settlement. But what about the cuts to Government grants that will cut 40% off our budget?” www.twitter.com/clrSPandor Cllr Nadia Cenci (Con, Ipswich) “Social mobility Comm – incentivise good teachers to move into deprived areas with higher salaries & support for housing. Good idea?” www.twitter.com/StokeParkCllr Cllr Joe Dromey (Lab, Lewisham) “Government announced funding cuts for councils yesterday. And it’s grim. Lewisham funding to be cut by a further 24%.” www.twitter.com/Joe_Dromey Cllr Martin Tett (Con, Bucks) “Looks like Bucks is 1st county in the country to lose ALL Gov Grant.” www.twitter.com/MATatBucks Cumbria County Council “Outstanding work from our highways crew! #A686 at Langwathby to reopen in early hours Friday morning. #cumbriafloods.” www.twitter.com/CumbriaCC 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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local government finance settlement

Core settlement funding •

features

The funding settlement

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The offer of four-year funding deals and greater flexibility on setting council tax levels were the key features of a ‘flat cash’ funding settlement

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he provisional local government finance settlement for 2016/17, setting out indicative figures for council spending in the coming financial year, was published just before Christmas.

Unusually, though, this settlement included figures up to 2019/20 – a four-year deal, something the sector has long lobbied for. The longer-term figures are part of an offer to any council that wishes to take it up, and will be conditional on them publishing an efficiency plan. But this is an important step towards the financial certainty councils need to run high quality services.

Following on from the announcement of the 2 per cent social care council tax precept in the November Spending Review (see first 594), the funding settlement announced a further flexibility for shire districts – allowing them to raise their council tax by £5 if this is greater than what a 2 per cent increase will deliver.

The Government will also consult on whether the social care councils least able to raise additional funding through the precept should get a bigger proportion of the additional £1.5 billion to be allocated to the Better Care Fund (BCF) by 2019/20.

However, this may lead to some social care councils receiving no additional BCF money, and the LGA would encourage individual councils to respond to the Government’s

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consultation on the distribution of additional money for social care through the BCF. Different councils will also have different views about proposed distributional changes in the settlement, including an equal percentage reduction in settlement core funding for different authorities of the same type.

Overall, though, the Spending Review and settlement add up to a ‘flat cash’ deal for councils over the next four years, at a time when significant challenges lie ahead and savings will have to be made to compensate for additional cost pressures.

Those costs pressures arise from general inflation, cost pressures in the care sector, increases in the number of adults and children needing support and rising levels of need, increases in demand for everyday services as the population grows, pressures on homelessness budgets, and increases in core costs such as national insurance, the National Living Wage and pension contributions.

The LGA will continue to work with government to help shape the details of its funding announcements, ensuring that the views of councils are heard and understood.

Councils’ ‘core spending power’ is defined as revenue support grant, retained business rates, income from the New Homes Bonus, the local government element of the improved Better Care Fund, and the rural services delivery grant as well as income from council tax Core spending power, as calculated above, will fall by an average 0.5 per cent over the next four years Revenue support grant to individual local authorities to be reduced in a way that ensures that councils delivering the same set of services receive the same percentage change in settlement core funding

The LGA says: “Taking council tax into account when calculating this adjustment [to revenue support grant] is a significant change in central government policy. Some individual local authorities in later years will be required to contribute funding from other elements of their settlement core funding if their revenue support grant amount is reduced to a level below zero.”

The New Homes Bonus • •

Provisional £1,461 million for New Homes Bonus (NHB) in 2016/17 This breaks down as £210 million in specific grant and an expected £1,275 million in top-sliced funding

The LGA says: “The NHB represents a considerable addition to funding for some authorities. However, for many other authorities the effect of the NHB being mainly funded through top-sliced funding is a net reduction in resources. The LGA will be responding to the NHB consultation.”

The provisional local government finance settlement: England, 2016 to 2017 is out for consultation until 15 January. The final version will be published in February

www.local.gov.uk

Care Act implementation funding •

Business rates • •

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Funding earmarked for implementation of the Care Act 2014 will be included in the baseline for calculating revenue support grant

The LGA says: “We have consistently called for the £6 billion earmarked funding for phase 2 of the Care Act to be reinvested in the social care system: this was central to our call for a delay to phase 2 in the first place.

This announcement, along with the increases to the Better Care Fund, goes some way to meeting our proposal.”

No changes to current business rates retention scheme for 2016/17 Consultation on giving councils responsibility to support older people with care needs, as part of the move to 100 per cent business rates retention by 2020 Government to pay in full for extension of small business relief

The LGA says: “While we will engage in discussions about the proposals to give more responsibility to councils to support older people with care needs, we believe that councils and businesses paying rates would like some of this extra local income to be invested in services that support local economies and drive local growth, such as skills and transport. The LGA and local government need to be fully engaged in all relevant discussions on the move to 100 per cent business rate retention.”

Schools and children’s services funding • • •

Education Services Grant retained duties rate remains at £15 per pupil The general funding rate for 2016/17 will reduce from £87 to £77 per pupil Government to consult on further changes to reach £600 million reduction announced in November’s Spending Review

The LGA says: “Continuing reductions to council education grants and early intervention funding risk underresourcing local authorities in their delivery of early support to children, young people and families. Reducing core funding is counter-productive and will lead to significant cost pressures in the longer term, due to increased demand for more costly longer-term and/or life-long interventions. We want to understand how the Government expects to find the £600 million and whether it intends to reduce statutory duties for councils.”

Council tax •

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Council tax referendum limit remains at 2 per cent, except for police and crime commissioners and shire districts in the lowest council tax areas for which the higher of 2 per cent or £5 (on a Band D bill) applies Officers to notify government of amount intended to be raised via the social care precept, which will be verified

The LGA says: “The Government should ensure the administrative burden on councils of assurance regarding the social care flexibility is kept to a minimum. A referendum on council tax increases is an unnecessary burden and real local accountability should be through the ballot box.”

This is an edited version of the LGA’s on-the-day briefing on the provisional local government funding settlement 2016/17. See www.local.gov.uk/briefings-and-responses for more details on the above and on funding for homelessness, local welfare provision, flooding, fire services and police

January 2016

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local government finance settlement

Devil in the detail Mark Lloyd is the LGA’s Chief Executive

Following publication of the Spending Review and the provisional local government funding settlement, what does the future hold for councils’ finances?

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ovember’s Spending Review and last month’s local government settlement together set out the financial context for the sector over the coming year and up to 2020.

The big win of the funding settlement was the arrival of four-year deals – something that has been a long time coming, and will certainly help with forward planning.

Through the work we have been doing over many months, the Government recognised the pressures in social care. It announced that councils with adult social care responsibilities will be able, should they wish, to raise council tax 2 per cent above the current threshold; and ministers also found more cash for the Better Care Fund (BCF).

Councils less able to raise cash from council tax will get a bigger cut of the BCF. All this will go some way to help councils deal with some very difficult financial challenges.

But whenever you hear £2 billion mentioned as locally generated social care cash, it assumes that every council with the new precepting power uses it in full for four years. We all know the realities of the demand pressures that will need to be met within the new resource limits. Viewed in the round, the next four years will be tough.

If I were still in my old job, I’d be particularly exercised by the early years of this so-called ‘flat cash’ Spending Review period, when the cumulative impact of possible council tax increases are low and

because of the back-end loading of the £1.5 billion of extra Better Care Fund money.

I’m sure colleagues are also modelling the likely implications of the New Homes Bonus changes. The 3.9 per cent annual real terms reduction to public health grants was particularly disappointing.

I’m pleased the Government is taking its time to consider the implications of the transfer of responsibility that will accompany the move to 100 per cent business rates retention, and that councils’ reserves levels

“We all know the realities of the demand pressures that will need to be met within the new resource limits.Viewed in the round, the next four years will be tough” 10 | first feature

and their utilisation remain a local decision.

And the flexibility around use of resources from asset sales has been welcomed by colleagues I’ve seen in the last few weeks.

Looking ahead, like the whole of local government, we will have to look at the detail. The Spending Review and funding settlement are just one part of our negotiations with government and our wider work, and there is still much to do on some very big issues such as further fiscal freedoms, business rate retention, devolution deals, social care and a host of other areas.

We’re now ploughing through the fine details of all the measures and will be working with government ministers and officials to make sure they are sensibly implemented.

We will update you regularly. And, of course, we will continue to support councils right through this Parliament as they change and adapt to the new financial environment. www.local.gov.uk

Devolution deals Seven areas have so far agreed deals on devolved powers and responsibilities, with many other proposals in the pipeline.

The LGA will keep pressing for ambitious deals in all parts of the country

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hen the Chancellor invited local areas to come forward with proposals for devolution last July, he must have been impressed by the overwhelming response that he received.

Thirty-four areas involving more than 300 councils with a number of other partners including local enterprise partnerships, clinical commissioning groups and universities came forward with submissions in September.

Since then, five new devolution deals have been announced, adding to those previously agreed with Greater Manchester and Cornwall Council.

Sheffield City Region’s deal majors on its position as a world class centre for advanced manufacturing and engineering. The North East Combined Authority’s deal recognises its central role in delivering the ambitions of the Northern Powerhouse. The Tees Valley deal gives local partners powers to drive the transition to a high value, low carbon economy.

The West Midlands Combined Authority deal aims to capitalise on the gamechanging potential of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail link for the wider area. Liverpool City Region’s deal builds on the area’s role in the Northern Powerhouse and HS2, drawing in the economic potential of the new Superport.

January 2016

Although each deal has some elements tailored to the specific conditions of the area’s economy, they also have a great deal in common, signalling that central government seems open to devolving particular funding and functions. These include: • a single investment fund, ‘seeded’ with an annual allocation of central government funding for 30 years • full devolution of the adult skills budget by 2018/19 • co-design of future employment support for harder-to-help claimants • Intermediate Body (IB) status for the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund • power to pursue bus franchising • multi-year local transport funding settlements • introduction of smart ticketing across local modes of transport • devolved approaches to business support • greater tailoring of UK Trade and Investment services.

The governance arrangement that has been agreed for all five of these deals is a mayoral combined authority, with the first elections for directly-elected mayors set for May 2017.

More detail on all of the deals and many of the proposals that are still under negotiation is available on the LGA’s DevoNext hub (see www.local.gov.uk/ devolution), along with a range of tools and resources.

The strength of the sector’s collective lobbying through the LGA is evident in a number of the functions that the Government is now starting to devolve.

For example, the LGA has long campaigned for localisation of EU funds, devolution of skills funding, powers over bus franchising and greater local influence over trade and investment programmes.

A number of other places, particularly in two-tier areas, have been in advanced negotiations and further announcements about new deals are expected early this year.

The LGA will be keeping up the pressure for negotiations to result in ambitious deals for all parts of the country. We will also continue to push for local partners to have full flexibility in determining their governance arrangements, so that any arrangements are appropriate to the areas that they cover and the powers being devolved.

Over the summer, the LGA also secured confirmation from government that this was not a one-time process and that areas would be able to bring forward proposals as and when they were ready. We have been working with a number of places to help them prepare bids that are expected to be submitted in the coming months.

When the Chancellor launched the Spending Review, he declared that “devolution has only just begun”. In the months and years to come, the LGA will be holding the Government’s feet to the fire on this pledge.

“The LGA has long campaigned for localisation of EU funds, devolution of skills funding and power over bus franchising” first feature | 11

Preventing extremism Cllr Simon Blackburn is Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board

All councils now have a duty to prevent local people from being drawn into terrorism.

Areas with less expertise can learn from others with more experience of this agenda

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he appalling and tragic events that took place in Paris in November horrified us all.

Perhaps one of the most shocking aspects of these attacks was that, of those so far identified, all the attackers were European Union nationals. This throws into sharp relief the importance of preventing our young people from being drawn to extremist ideologies and terrorism, both Islamist and on the extreme right.

This is a key role for local government.

Our position at the heart of our communities gives us a unique reach. Our experience in engaging our communities and keeping them safe gives us the knowledge and skills to help engage and protect those vulnerable to extremism.

The Government has recognised this as all councils are now subject to the new ‘Prevent’ duty enacted by the CounterTerrorism and Security Act 2015. This set out the need for all local authorities to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.

While some councils have been working on this for a while, for others it is a new area of work. The Government has produced guidance which outlines what councils should be doing to meet the new duty.

However, there is a great deal of experience from around the country that councils with less expertise in this area can draw on. And this experience is not just limited to those areas which have attracted a good deal of publicity because they have seen residents involved in extremist activity or leave for Syria or Iraq.

To assist in sharing this good practice, the LGA has collected a number of case studies outlining the different ways in which local government has been responding to the need to tackle extremism in their local areas using a diverse range of avenues and programmes.

Bristol, for example, is building on a successful partnership it had already created with the city’s Muslim community to increase

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“Our position at the heart of our communities gives us a unique reach” community cohesion. That scheme is now being redeveloped so it has a wider focus around Prevent. It will be led by two community co-chairs – a man and a woman – supported by a statutory deputy chair. The membership has also been widened and now includes representatives from the community, voluntary and community sector providers, council, police, fire and rescue service, health, education and probation service.

An immediate focus will be on training not just for public sector bodies but also for

community groups. The partnership also wants to ensure it gets its communications right, and to do that is broadening the involvement of the local community so specific issues that sections of the community have can be addressed.

In another part of the South West, Cornwall Council has been putting an emphasis on tackling dangerous internet use. It has been using an EU guide to e-safety products and encouraging schools to talk to parents about e-safety.

Other examples include the work Calderdale is doing with taxi drivers, the use of football as a way to bring people together in Greenwich, and Birmingham’s work with schools. These diverse projects show the different ways in which local government can provide different and innovative ways to engage with their local communities on these issues.

‘Councils’ role in preventing extremism’ is free to download from www.local.gov.uk/ publications. For more general information about community safety, please visit www.local.gov.uk/community-safety. For the Government’s guidance on the Prevent duty, go to www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance

www.local.gov.uk

Managing risk in adult social care From budget pressures to staffing shortages, the pressures on social care can seem overwhelming. But practical help is available to keep services on track

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hat keeps lead members and directors of adult social 1 services awake at night? leadership and governance Is it the potential for 6 2 financial meltdown after culture and performance years of austerity, the possibility that challenge and outcomes people receiving care might be abused (including or neglected, or the growing instability safeguarding) of the care market?

The answer is all of these – and more. All adult social care activity 5 3 carries risks – to people’s safety and resource and commissioning wellbeing, to your council’s reputation, workforce and quality and to its financial position. And, of management course, a range of statutory requirements 4 must continue to be met. What varies from national priorities place to place is the immediacy and intensity and partnerships of all these risks.

However, a practical tool for councils is now available that seeks to identify early While some risks were council-specific, warning signs of problems – the things that other worries also included: councils should be most vigilant about. It • concerns about the quality and can help directors and lead members review sustainability of care services, including their risks, and assess how they compare gaps in supply with other councils. The aim is to raise • recruitment and retention of care understanding of risk and to promote the staff, including home carers, residential sharing of learning about how these risks care workers, nurses and qualified can be mitigated, in very tough times. social workers The tool, published by the Towards • pressures on front line services, including Excellence in Adult Social Care Board excessive caseloads and long waiting lists (TEASC), looks at six broad areas – leadership • partnerships with the NHS, especially and governance, performance and outcomes where there are financial stresses or the (including safeguarding), commissioning and local hospital is in trouble quality, national priorities and partnerships, • organisational capacity – a mounting resource and workforce management, and agenda being delivered by fewer managers, culture and challenge (see diagram). with reduced back office support.

The tool has been trialled by 18 adult social care directors, and versions of it are As local leaders and elected members, you now being adopted in all regions. can help manage these risks by making The trial confirmed that budget sure you are asking your directors the right pressures were the universal concern questions. For example, have they completed keeping those 18 directors awake. All of a risk assessment, using the TEASC tool or them were preoccupied with the challenge something similar? Has that assessment been to reduce or contain their budgets in the challenged to test its robustness? What does face of escalating demand – although the the assessment tell you about the headline immediacy of the financial risk varies from risks to your service, how you compare one place to the next. It seems some of with others, and what you should be most the most high-performing councils might concerned about? actually be the first to run out of money.

RISK AREAS

January 2016

Plans will need to be put in place to address those risks, and the wider implications for the council and its budget considered. Do you need to take immediate action or make urgent decisions, and are there policy or other changes that should be considered, to ensure that risks in adult social care are managed more effectively?

The trials found that a sound grip on risks can be achieved by being self-challenging and honest – having a ‘no blame’ culture in which risks can be openly discussed and confronted. Keep a wide perspective, use a range of evidence, invite regular peer challenge – and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

The TEASC risk awareness tool can be accessed at http://bit.ly/1IRxXam

first feature | 13

Service and support Every council in the country has now signed up to the Armed Forces Community Covenant – but what does this mean for the lives of our service personnel and their families, and what do councils do differently as a result?

Cllr Shannon Saise-Marshall (Con) is Armed Forces Champion for Runnymede Borough Council

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t first, I didn’t think that we would have many members of the armed forces needing support in the area, as we don’t have a military base within the borough.

However, when I took up the role in July 2015, I was concerned that although we had signed the community covenant in 2013, we didn’t have a website setting out what we were doing.

Putting together the website meant that we really had to think about what the community covenant meant and what we were offering. It is a voluntary statement of mutual support between our community and the armed forces locally, including their families, reservists and veterans.

We decided that a key area where we could offer support here in Runnymede was in housing. With the simple inclusion of a tick box within the housing application, we’ve already had 40 families come forward in the area, who we now know about and can support. Members of the armed forces bring desirable skills, often becoming valuable local key workers, so we want them to live and settle in the area, and become active members of the community.

One of our veterans, who I remember as a local cadet attending our remembrance services, is Matt Fisher, who sadly had to have his foot amputated as a result of injury on active service. He has gone on to inspire us and raise money for charity as part of the team of wounded veterans who walked 1,000 miles across Britain as part of the Walk of Britain expedition. I was able to organise a march out of his town of Chertsey – it’s only something small, but it brings the community together and people remember it and identify with it.

For me, part of being an armed forces champion is about championing them in our local community and, although not included in the official community covenant, championing the cadets as an excellent youth organisation, and an important local asset for our young people.

About the covenant The Armed Forces Community Covenant is a local partnership agreement that brings together charities, local authorities, other public sector organisations, businesses, communities, individuals and the military in a pledge of support between local residents and the armed forces community.

Lord Porter, LGA Chairman, met with Mark Lancaster MP, the Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State for Defence Personnel and Veterans, to discuss the best way to understand what is being done to support the community covenant at a local level, and how the LGA can help councils by sharing good practice and facilitating an Armed Forces Community Covenant Champions network.

Mr Lancaster said: “The covenant is not about special treatment; it is about recognising the unique nature of service life – dislocation from family, regular operational postings, increased mobility for personnel and their families – and providing a level playing field, making sure the armed forces community is treated fairly.

“There are some excellent examples of where this is happening across different local authorities and I would like to ensure that this best practice becomes the norm.

“If you’re doing something good, tell us about it. This is about creating armed forces champions, so please be the best champion that you can be.

“I am keen to support local authorities in ensuring that the policies they have put in place are understood and working.

“On behalf of service personnel, veterans and their families, thank you for your commitment. It is very much appreciated.”

If you’d like to share a story of what you are doing on the community covenant, email info@local.gov.uk

www.local.gov.uk

Future leaders In tough financial times, it’s even more important that local government is recruiting and developing the best graduates to become the council managers of the future

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he National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP) attracts top graduates to work in participating local authorities, bringing fresh talent into the sector and helping ensure long-term management succession.

Since the programme began in 1999, 1,200 graduates have been recruited, with more than 100 expected to sign up this year alongside more than 50 councils.

All graduates take part in a rigorous, twoyear training programme, leading to a Level 7 Diploma in Leadership in Management from the Institute of Leadership and Management.

This qualification is widely accepted as onethird of the credit towards a master’s degree at UK university business schools.

Feedback from participating councils emphasises the high calibre of gradates (see below). In particular, they are described as being prepared to work with a large degree of autonomy, without the need to be micro-managed – thus freeing up senior management for other tasks – and providing a welcome injection of talent, ideas and energy which contributes to councils’ overall success and vitality.

The programme actively encourages graduates who are both confident and enthusiastic, and able to offer fresh pairs of eyes to challenge accepted processes

– finding new perspectives on old council problems. Keen, ambitious and able to work pro-actively, they are the future high-level council managers of tomorrow.

Participating councils show their faith in the NGDP programme via retention rates, with 77 per cent of recent alumni securing a permanent position at the council where they completed their training.

“Councils are desperately in need of young, dynamic and IT-savvy workers to challenge the status quo,” says Jonny Pearce, an NGDP trainee with Wolverhampton City Council.

“Due to financial challenges, local government needs to start doing things differently and embrace technology in order to serve the public as well as it has done historically. For graduates, this is an excellent opportunity to gain a breadth of experience and skills, while making a valuable contribution to organisations that need their help.”

Registration for councils wishing to take NGDP trainees this year is now open and closes on 1 April. For more information and to register, please visit www.local.gov.uk/ngdp or email Sadie Kerr at sadie.kerr@local.gov.uk

‘Bright and ambitious’ Surrey County Council has participated in every year of the NGDP since 2010, taking on 22 graduates in that time.

The NGDP interview process enables us to recruit bright and enthusiastic university graduates who have a lot of ambition and motivation for working in the public sector.

Passion for working in the public sector is key to why our graduates thrive in their placements, and through the recruitment process we actively look for graduates who we feel will champion the values and behaviours we look for from all our employees.

Following the programme, the vast January 2016

Cllr Denise Le Gal (Con) is Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience at Surrey County Council

majority are successfully recruited into successful roles within Surrey and beyond.

A key benefit of having graduates is we can use them as a flexible resource against some of our biggest challenges.

Through their placements in different teams in the council, graduates have

contributed to projects including health and social care integration, setting up a local authority trading company, expansion of Surrey’s family support programme, developing the Shift Surrey innovation programme (see www.shiftsurrey.org) and youth restorative justice.

The majority of trainees have gone on to work on transformation programmes which are directly contributing to meeting our savings targets. Their experience and exposure to different areas of the council during the placements means that they bring a broad and open perspective on transformation.

first feature | 15

interview In the misery business Improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable is “not just a moral crusade, it is basic economics”, according to Lord Adebowale, Chief Executive of Turning Point

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urning Point, the social care organisation Lord Adebowale has run since 2001, has been providing services to those with complex needs, such as supporting disadvantaged jobseekers into work or helping people overcome addictions, for half a century.

For decades, Lord Adebowale has been a champion for those within society affected by poverty, mental health issues, drug and alcohol dependency and learning disabilities.

As a result, it is no surprise that the 53-year-old is critical of the way government spending cuts have been “carried on the backs of the poor” over the past five years.

He adds: “Turning Point is in the misery business and sadly business is booming.”

Improving the lives and life chances of those trapped in poverty or in need of targeted or specialist support “is not just a moral crusade, it is basic economics”, Lord Adebowale declares to first.

The Government’s decision to cut public health grant funding to councils over the next five years is of particular concern for Turning Point.

The organisation highlighted the disproportionate impact it will have on the most vulnerable

www.local.gov.uk

PHOTOS CHRIS SHARP

“I cannot see any way out [of the housing crisis] that doesn’t involve building lots of mixed use, rented property for people”

people in our society in its response to the Spending Review, announced in November.

Lord Adebowale said: “I can see how the Treasury discussion about measuring prevention would go. The difficulty comes from being able to prove on the balance sheet that money spent in one area will save money in another.

“In a sense, public health had the weakest argument and the weakest lobby. There is no doubt in my mind that it is a short-sighted cut, and we will rue the day if the impact of those cuts lead to a direct cut in services to the most needy. That’s a cut to society.

“It is short-term cash we might save but in the medium-term you are spending the same money. Unless you accept that you are going to be stepping over people in the street. Unless you accept that some people don’t matter. Unless you accept the luck of being born in the wrong place, at the wrong time and to the wrong parents is exacerbated by society. I don’t accept that and I don’t think society should either.

“If you want to save money then it’s not rocket science. There are 8,000 children leaving care each year, we know where they are and when they are leaving and yet we let them fall into the most horrendous and expensive lives. Even if you don’t care about kids in care and January 2016

only care about the cost to the taxpayers, what a bizarre way to spend money.

“Don’t get me wrong, there is a presumption from what I am saying that I am a deficit-denying spendthrift which I am not. I often say it is not the money that is important but what we have done with it and what we intend to do with it that matters.”

Joined-up services Lord Adebowale says he has enormous respect for the efforts of local government to keep services running despite huge financial pressures over the past five years. But he is adamant that councils must do more to join up services locally around individuals rather than age-old institutions and structures.

He said: “I consider local government to be, next to the NHS, and I mean right next to it, the jewel in this country’s crown. We see them as our partners and I think they have done an amazing job in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, it has been quite astonishing.

“For which their praise is to be hammered even more. The reward has been more cuts.

That isn’t to say there is more they could do.

There is a big challenge for local government which is about redesigning services.

“One of the frustrations I find is when I walk into some of Turning Point’s services for alcohol misuse is that they are the same people going into the sexual health clinic, they are the frequent flyers in the A&E

departments, they are the same people that will have the mental health challenges, whose kids will be on the at-risk register.

“There is something about service design that shows we could be doing more.

“We are right to protest about the cuts and I would be alongside any local authority that wishes to do so. But I often sit in rooms with people who are paid too much to be pessimistic and have got too much power to be pessimistic.”

Following the Spending Review, the LGA calculates councils will receive 24 per cent less core central government funding over the next five years. This follows 40 per cent funding cuts since 2010.

When setting budgets next year and with the scope for efficiency savings fast running out, councils across the country are warning about the difficult decisions they now face about how to plug funding gaps and protect life and death services, such as caring for the elderly and protecting children.

Lord Adebowale said he would urge any council to think long and hard before stripping back discretionary services that support the most vulnerable.

He said: “There is a step before pulling out of running a service or only providing statutory services which is – how do we know we have to do that? Who have we engaged and what is possible? What service structures can deliver the same outcomes for a lot less money?

first interview | 17

“You need to go into communities with a really clear, well-researched model of engagement. You get them to design the services and design what is needed in that area with the people who pay for the services.

You have to give up some power in order to do that.”

This year Lord Adebowale, an LGA Vice-President, will celebrate a number of landmarks as 2016 sees him reach 15 years at the helm of Turning Point and as a cross bench peer in the House of Lords.

The Yorkshire-born social justice campaigner was one of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s first people’s peers in the first open contest for membership of the Lords in 2001. While the pomp and ceremony of the institution doesn’t sit too well with him, Lord Adebowale is a firm advocate of the merits of the Upper House.

“The terrible thing about being a Lord is the title”, he said. “Lord Adebowale, I mean come on, it is ridiculous. I don’t care about any of that stuff. I was born in Wakefield, you don’t do ‘Lord’ in Wakefield.

“It’s a privilege and I don’t abuse it. I have a very simple rule – I only speak when I might make a difference and I only vote on things I understand.

“Nobody has convinced me there is a better system. There may be a lot of us but you need a lot of people because we talk about a lot of things and you need a lot of expertise.”

Housing crisis As the conversation moves to housing, it is clear we have reached a topic he is passionate about. Hardly surprising, given his background working for housing associations and as Chief Executive of homelessness charity Centrepoint between 1995 and 2001.

The Government’s Housing and Planning Bill, including measures for starter homes and extending Right to Buy to housing association tenants, will arrive in the Lords in the New Year.

Councils have warned the cumulative impact of national housing reforms will severely hamper their ability to build affordable homes. The LGA estimates almost £12 billion will be stripped out of local investment in housing and councils will struggle to replace the majority of homes sold under Right to Buy. Lord Adebowale agrees that a drive to increase home ownership alone will result in a drop in affordable and social rented housing with many people forced into the expensive

18 | first interview

private rented sector as a result.

He said: “We have had public policy around housing for years which has tended to focus on home ownership and home owners. That is changing rapidly and the graph of renting is overtaking the graph of home ownership rapidly.

“We are just not building enough decent, cheap houses for ownership or rental. Increasingly the aspiration for people is to live somewhere decent rather than owning a home. You have to be earning £77,000 a year in London to even think about buying the cheapest possible property and that’s even before you think about getting a mortgage.

“Let’s be realistic, there is somewhere near no chance for most ordinary people being able to afford their own home in London. Around the country you have the same formula because wages are less. In Lincoln, you can still buy a home for £85,000 but wages are lower. It is still out of reach for a lot of people.

“I cannot see any way out of this that doesn’t involve building lots of mixed use, rented property for people. The Government’s mission to provide starter homes is a good aspiration. But they will cost £450,000 in London. Come on, you have to put down a 30 per cent deposit and be earning a lot of money to even think about being able to afford one.

“I understand the policy but I would like to understand the philosophy that drives it. It seems to fly in the face of common sense unless you are trying to create a tiered society out of which people can never move.

“Anything that can be done to reduce the housing benefit bill is a good thing, however you need to understand what it is paying for. It is paying a lot of private landlords to provide substandard accommodation at huge cost.

“What you need to do is provide reasonable accommodation at a reasonable cost so you don’t have to pay people housing benefit. If you are going to provide homes for purchase then you need to provide affordable homes.”

Lord Adebowale admits scrutiny of the Housing and Planning Bill will be one of the occasions where he will head into the Lords. “I think the Government will be challenged around housing policy,” he forewarns. Given his passion for the subject you can fully expect to see him leading that challenge.

www.local.gov.uk

“There are 8,000 children leaving care each year, we know where they are and when they are leaving and yet we let them fall into the most horrendous and expensive lives.

Even if you don’t care about kids in care and only care about the cost to the taxpayers, what a bizarre way to spend money”

January 2016

first interview | 19

LGA/ADPH Annual Public Health Conference and Exhibition 3 February 2016 | London This annual flagship conference offers a valuable opportunity to analyse the implications of the public health transition into local government for councils, their partners and communities.

With the NHS 5 Year Forward View calling for a ‘radical upgrade’ in public health, the renewed focus on prevention and reducing health inequalities represents a unique opportunity to change the national mindset from treating sickness to actively promoting health and wellbeing. The conference will highlight the innovative work already being undertaken and look at how to build on existing best practice.

Speakers include: Jane Ellison MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health Duncan Selbie Chief Executive, Public Health England Rob Whiteman Chief Executive, CIPFA Robin Ireland Director of Food Active Helen Pineo Associate Director, Building Research Establishment Abdul Razzaq Director of Public Health, Trafford Council

For more information and to book your place, visit: www.local.gov.uk/events

comment Stella Duffy is the Co-Director of Fun Palaces

I am writing this the morning after the Turner Prize was awarded to Assemble for their work developing a derelict urban site, and – crucially from our point of view at Fun Palaces – working with the local community to do so.

They created a place-based, locally-led engagement that gives art back to the people and places it squarely where it belongs, in everyday life.

In a time when research suggests that loneliness is as damaging to an individual’s health as smoking or obesity, and ‘paupers’ funerals’ have cost local councils £1.7 million over the past four years, it is clear that initiatives around community-building are needed now more than ever. Add to this the austerity measures implemented by national

government, and that need becomes an imperative.

I suggest that local government is ideally placed to help local people create for themselves, and not only is the time for instrumentalist intervention long past, but cuts from central government mean there are no funds to pay for top-down intermediation anyway.

At Fun Palaces, we absolutely believe that local government needs funding for vital services, and we also believe that culture – embracing and engaging with the essence of a locality and its people – is a vital service, contributing as it does to the health, wellbeing and cohesion of each community.

We all have horror stories of estates that were created with the best of intentions and now lie semi-derelict or as ‘no-go zones’, but for the people who have to live there. We can tell heartbreaking tales of local libraries and local services closed, and an ageing population left with no access to the internet, nowhere to gather, nowhere to be in community, no adult social care.

And we know that we must do better, because our people need us to do better for them, despite (not because of ) cuts to local government funding.

Fun Palaces says that the people who know best how to engage a community are that community themselves. If we want social cohesion, if we want civil society, if we want full engagement, then now we have to risk handing it over. We have to risk giving up power and letting community members step up to take control of their own engagement

Fun Palaces is an ongoing campaign for culture at the heart of every community, with participation led by, for and with local people. For more information, please visit www.funpalaces.co.uk

January 2016

TOM PARKER PHOTOGRAPHY

Helping local people create community life

and participation in society. We can no longer afford not to, and given the failures of top-down thinking to date, surely it’s time to try thinking grassroots-up and local-outwards?

We don’t say that Fun Palaces is the only way to create a platform for community participation, but it is one way. In just two annual weekends so far – we’re only three years old – almost 300 local communities have created Fun Palaces, led by 5,000 local people, with over 90,000 people taking part. We have seen value created and the beginning of longer-term impact with local bodies, local business and local people working together.

We welcome you to join with us in putting culture (arts and sciences as catalysts for engagement, for wellbeing, for social cohesion) where it belongs – at the heart of community, and in doing so to make a huge shout for the value of local engagement, local participation, community life, and civil society. We are all already doing this work in our own ways and our own localities. We will be so much harder to ignore when we do it together.

Stella Duffy will be speaking at New Horizons: Transforming Culture, Tourism and Sport, the LGA’s annual culture, tourism and sport conference, taking place from 24 to 25 February in Leicester.

See www.local.gov.uk/events

first comment | 21

group leaders’ comments A strong record of achievement

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he start of a new year provides the ideal opportunity to review the past 12 months and look forward to new opportunities and challenges.

2015 was certainly a great year for Conservatives, both locally and nationally. The local elections saw us make substantial net gains of council seats and councils, allowing us to reclaim the LGA chairmanship after just one year of Labour control. Meanwhile, the General Election returned the first Conservative majority government for 18 years.

It will be hard to improve on these successes at this May’s local elections, but with

Conservative councils having a strong record of achievements, I am confident that we can make further progress and consolidate our position as the dominant party in local government.

Allied to this optimism about my own party’s prospects, I am confident that 2016 will also see further significant progress in terms of the devolution agenda.

The Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill is a major piece of legislation for councils as it will give us the powers we need to create jobs, build homes, unlock growth and improve public services for our local communities.

Allied to this, I also expect further progress

“With Conservative councils having a strong record of achievements, I am confident we can consolidate our position as the dominant party in local government”

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

in relation to devolution deals, building on those that have been announced already, and also discussions with the Government over its announcement that local government will be able to retain 100 per cent of business rates – a long-standing LGA aim.

So I start the New Year in optimistic mood for both my party and for local government as a whole. I look forward to working with the ministerial team at the Department for Communities and Local Government, and with colleagues from all parties to secure further progress on devolution that will enable us to deliver the best possible services for our residents in 2016 and beyond.

chairman’s comment

New flexibilities in the funding settlement

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

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ast month’s local government funding settlement was, overall, better news than councils might have expected. Communities Secretary Greg Clark introduced a number of changes that will put local government finances on a surer footing. But councils will continue to face tough decisions about how to keep vital services going.

Let’s start with the positives. Giving councils the option to fix longer-term funding settlements is hugely significant and an important step towards the financial certainty councils need to run vital local services. Having increased certainty

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over resources will enable better planning, especially as next year (2016/17) looks set to be the toughest of the four. Greg Clark has also acknowledged our concerns about social care funding pressures, with the previously announced 2 per cent council tax precept (see first 594) and an extra £1.5 billion by 2019/20 in the Better Care Fund (BCF). The funding settlement takes this a bit further, with the proposal that councils less able to raise funding from the social care precept will get a bigger share of BCF cash.

The Government has also responded to our calls for greater flexibility when it comes to setting council tax. In addition to the social care precept, there will be a variation to the referendum principle, which we support, which

will allow shire district authorities to raise their council tax by £5 if this is greater than what a 2 per cent increase will deliver.

But significant challenges remain.

This is a ‘flat-cash’ settlement, with local government funding over the Spending Review period remaining steady in cash terms. Yet councils face additional cost pressures – from population growth and an ageing population, increases in national insurance and pensions, and the introduction of the National Living Wage.

We will continue to work with government to help shape the details.

But the new flexibilities we have won will help us take control of our own futures.

“Giving councils the option to fix longer-term funding settlements is an important step towards the financial certainty councils need” www.local.gov.uk

group leaders’ comments Mayor Sir Steve Bullock and Cllr Sharon Taylor OBE are Acting Joint Leaders of the LGA’s Labour Group

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

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

Freedom to raise our own income

Forcing councils to raise taxes

The most vulnerable pay the price

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olk used to say: “You look like you’ve lost a quid and found a sixpence.” And that’s what happened to local government with the Spending Review and finance settlement. Our joy at getting sixpence back is constrained by the knowledge that we still have to save 19/6!

A new year is the time for resolutions, and ours should be to make this the year the importance of local public services becomes much more widely recognised.

Local government flows through our lives from birth to death; educating our children, keeping our streets clean and us safe. But too often government cuts our funding rather than address the real issues holding our economy back.

It isn’t just about getting grants either, but having the freedom to raise our own income.

The Government has given us a bit more breathing space with 4 per cent on council tax, but that shouldn’t be the total discretion we have locally to meet our communities’ needs.

We need real reform to bring public services together, so we can improve how they work for everyone. The Cities and Devolution Bill is a start towards localism, but for the most part local deals have focused on economic powers rather than services such as education. Meanwhile the Housing and Planning Bill threatens to make the housing crisis worse not better.

We urge ministers to take another look before it’s too late!

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“Make this the year the importance of local public services becomes much more widely recognised”

“This settlement still leaves local government seriously short of funding, even after tax rises”

an anyone remember a time as tough as this in local government?

The LGA has worked flat out to help shape the Government’s financial settlement.

While our work has had some successes, this settlement still leaves local government seriously short of funding, even after tax rises and assumed future growth in business rates.

The share of income tax that comes back locally to councils has been reduced by a quarter. For the first time money will not be shared out across the board under the old revenue support grant, but shifted to give a greater hit to shire counties, including Conservative heartlands such as Cameron’s own Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Dorset.

This puts pressure on the LGA, a membership organisation, to take a firmer line with central government ministers.

We are expected to raise council tax by an extra 2 per cent every year for social care.

This does not cover current basic needs. Shire authorities that provide social care are the worst hit in the funding settlement.

This will test our residents’ faith in us when we are forced to raise taxes locally to replace income tax that is no longer being devolved to our councils. At the same time we will be forced to make serious cuts to survive. The Government may have promised not to raise taxes, but said nothing about not forcing councils to do so.

t will be another very difficult year for local government and the millions of people who rely on its services, following the provisional local government finance settlement 2016/17, announced just as the Commons rose for its Christmas break.

The Government has made yet again a big song and dance about the ‘extra flexibility’ it has given councils to raise council tax to cover rising costs in social care, but it is smoke and mirrors. That flexibility will still leave a massive funding gap in social care of £6 billion by 2020.

Liberal Democrats have always been champions of localism but the way to truly empower councils is to ensure they have enough money to deliver the high quality services that residents should be able to expect – as well as to devolve new responsibilities and give councils the means to deliver them.

The Government is continuing to ask councils to do more with less and using the principle of localism as a smokescreen, disguising their real aim: to shift the burden of cuts away from government and on to local councils. Too often, it is the most vulnerable who pay the price.

“The Government has made a big song and dance about ‘extra flexibility’ to raise council tax to cover social care, but it is smoke and mirrors”

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

January 2016

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The moral and business case for tackling food poverty Cllr Dave Allen (Lab) is Cabinet Member for Health and Communities at Derbyshire County Council

Over the past year, one in 36 Derbyshire residents were fed by an emergency food parcel. We believe that’s morally wrong.

Lack of proper nutrition has a huge impact on physical and mental health and particularly affects vulnerable people such as children, pregnant women and those who need to eat before taking their medicines.

In the long term, this will cause huge pressures on health and social care costs so there is an economic as well as a moral case for us to take preventative action to address food poverty.

Earlier this year we approved £528,550

to fund a ‘Feeding Derbyshire’ strategy to find sustainable solutions to hunger and feed families struggling with low incomes, debt and benefit delays.

Under those plans we’ve already set up a depot operated by FareShare East Midlands to supply food banks and a range of other sustainable community projects with surplus supermarket produce such as fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy produce and meat, which would otherwise be thrown away.

We’re also setting up ‘Super Kitchens’ in every Derbyshire borough and district which use volunteers to cook hot, low-cost, nutritious meals using FareShare food, and we’ll soon launch a mobile food truck and affordable food box scheme.

In addition we’re increasing support for our school breakfast clubs and will continue to support local food banks.

Our funding is pump-priming money, making the best use of our resources by

working with the voluntary sector to help them develop sustainable projects to prevent our residents ending up in a situation where they’re having to rely on emergency food parcels.

Although we’re facing unprecedented £157 million budget cuts imposed by the Government and have to think very carefully about how every penny is spent, we cannot sit back when our residents don’t have enough to eat. We believe doing nothing is not an option.

Democracy needs citizenship studies Cllr Stephen Lambert (Lab) is a member of Newcastle City Council

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More than 1,000 students nationwide are following A-level citizenship courses.

This is to be welcomed by all those who want to see a politically and economically educated electorate in the second decade of the 21st century.

Yet the Government qualifications quango, Ofqual, has suggested that the subject be deleted from the 16 to 19 education programme. Nothing could be more foolish or short-sighted at a time when policy experts are telling us that as a nation we are experiencing a crisis of democratic engagement, with fewer people turning out to vote in elections or joining voluntary associations.

Only 66 per cent of those registered actually turned out to vote in the 2015 General Election.

In other words about a third didn’t vote! If this is bad, consider voting among young people. Only 43 per cent of 18 to 24-year olds voted – down on the 2010 General Election. Despite the efforts of the independent Electoral Commission and localised campaigns run by councils, five million people in the UK were not registered to vote.

Lack of knowledge about current issues and people’s own role in implementing change

are clearly major factors in accounting for this ‘disillusionment’. The maintenance of a successful, mature, liberal democracy is dependent on people exercising a choice between political parties and their policies.

The last four decades have also seen more centralised political decision making, despite devolution to Scotland and Wales. Centralised power has reduced the ability of citizens to actively influence decision making, let alone understand it.

So it’s important that young people understand how Parliament works, what the various parties stand for, what an MP, MEP or local councillor does and how the legal system and business operate. Furthermore, they need to be encouraged to volunteer in a local charity, such as Cancer Research or Oxfam.

Citizenship education in our sixth forms and colleges can help combat voter apathy, low levels of civic participation and create an active, informed, engaged and empowered electorate.

In an era of rapid change and declining participation in public affairs, the need for citizenship education in the post-16 curriculum could not be greater. www.local.gov.uk

A business-like approach Cllr Janet Blake (Con) is Cabinet Member for Business Transformation at Aylesbury Vale District Council

Maintaining and improving customer satisfaction while generating £11 million in savings over five years is not an easy feat. But Aylesbury Vale District Council has achieved this, and was named Council of the Year in 2015 by the Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise (iESE).

We’ve used an integrated programme of service innovation, investment and change – our New Business Model (NBM) – to deliver the savings, by generating new income streams and driving cost savings and efficiencies to help manage our shrinking budget.

The NBM drives everything we do and has changed our thinking about the services we provide. As a result, we implemented thorough service reviews to assess every aspect of the council and see where savings could be made.

We considered how we could improve all our processes, including those we thought were working well. For example, we have saved £100,000 a year by introducing a staff pool car system including electric and more economic vehicles, and £25,000 by emailing parish and town councils about planning matters instead of printing and posting out information.

Customer centred We also have a customer-first approach – Right Here, Right Now – which encompasses all the digital engagement and processes at Aylesbury Vale. Changing the way we interact with customers is absolutely key to our programme; everyone has a preferred method of communication, be it Twitter, talking to an advisor online or over the phone, and it’s important to cater for them all.

For example, our self-service bin app allows residents to look up their bin collection information via their mobile devices without logging onto our website or phoning.

We want our residents to deal with a highly skilled single team rather than staff from different departments. Previously, a local resident could deal with numerous council

“A perception exists that councils are slow and bureaucratic but they can be just as efficient and effective as any business” departments in one call whereas now we’re channelling all new queries through our multi-skilled customer services team from start to finish.

We’re consolidating our call centre into one customer-focused space, hosted online in the cloud, which stops customers bouncing between operatives, resolves questions quicker, and has a higher level of customer satisfaction.

Just changing this technology will save us at least £20,000 a year, with expected savings of £116,000 over five years. But the real savings will come from the council-wide efficiencies that this one, multi-skilled customer service team will provide.

Moving to the cloud means we no longer have bulky or costly servers on site that require specialist maintenance and are prone to blackouts. Compliance with security regulations has always been important for us but using the cloud has simplified this. Not only does it put my mind at rest that all our data is securely stored, it saves the council money, time, effort and staff support costs.

We’ve learnt that bringing local residents on board is vital. We asked for their opinions in workshops and online, so we could ensure services suit their needs. Customers helped us develop the best online offering by focusing on our new website and telling us what’s most important to them.

Dealing with the council outside of normal office hours, which is more convenient to residents, was just one of the points we have taken on board by automating processes and making them available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Traditionally, a perception exists that councils are slow and bureaucratic, but we’ve proved that councils can be just as efficient and effective as any other business – that is, if you treat them that way.

Local residents expect the same level of service, if not more, than traditional business customers. Our mission has been to provide that level of service while making large cost savings and, so far, I’m confident we’ve done a great job.

Aylesbury Vale District Council is hosting a conference on 11 February in Aylesbury, to show other public sector organisations how they can save money and generate income using the approach it has taken. Attendance is free but places are limited.

For further details and to register visit www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/thriving2016

January 2016

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Planning fees and financial independence Cllr Neil Clarke MBE is Chairman of the District Councils’ Network

Attaining true financial independence for local government is a much sought-after hope across the sector.

The fiscal direction of travel set by the 2015 Spending Review makes it even more vital that local authorities work within a reformed finance system – one that promotes the virtues of self-reliance and encourages local decision making on service delivery.

District councils are the most efficient part of the public sector, and are operating with comparably much smaller budgets. So in

planning for the gradual disappearance of revenue support grant and full business rates retention, self-sufficiency will become the watchword for district councils.

Housing and economic growth could be better delivered if districts enjoyed the freedom and powers to set their own planning fees and charges, so that developers cover the full cost of applications and are not subsidised by local taxpayers. Conversations with developers have indicated that planning fees are a small proportion of their costs, and they understand the need to pay in full – as long as it delivers an efficient and high quality service.

As recent LGA research has uncovered, council taxpayers subsidise commercial developers by £450 million each year. But developers would argue that giving councils powers to set fees could create municipal monopolies, whose excessive charges would

curb growth. This is not what the District Councils’ Network wants to see either. Instead, we envisage a situation in which genuine flexibility for setting fees and charges is moderated in a sensible way – one that both recovers costs and encourages growth.

So we have established a working group to consider the best options for guaranteeing value for money in setting fees. These could include developing statutory responsibilities for ensuring only costs are recovered, independent audit or setting average fees on a rolling programme of time periods. We want to submit workable options to ministers that are acceptable to government, developers and district councils.

For more from the District Councils’ Network visit www.districtcouncils.info

A local climate change deal Cllr Sian Reid (Lib Dem, Cambridge) is the Climate and Energy Spokesperson for the Council for European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)

The devastating floods in Cumbria were not in themselves proof of global warming.

Nor was the spring blossom budding in our December gardens.

But accumulating individual events across the globe – some benign, but many destructive – bear clear witness that our climate is changing and that decisive action is needed urgently at all levels of government if we are to avoid a calamitous rise in global temperatures.

Last month I travelled by train to Paris where I worked to help secure recognition of the role of local authorities in the monumental climate change deal agreed between almost 200 countries. The agreement explicitly refers to the role of local government in tackling climate change. This is important, as it will underpin our collaboration with government agencies to reduce emissions and to adapt our infrastructures to ensure that any residual effects of climate change are well-planned for and containable. The recognition of our role also places an obligation on the Government

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to give us the necessary resources to protect our local communities and reduce our own carbon footprint.

I took part as the Climate and Energy Spokesperson for the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the ‘European LGA’ which represents the interests of over 100,000 European local authorities and their associations in more than 40 countries.

The road was long and difficult but the summit has shown that local politicians are committed to getting results, as proved by the hundreds of mayors worldwide that signed the Paris Declaration. We have shown the value of exchanging our actions and our ambitions,

such as the programmes we have put in place in Cambridge, and shown we are vital to success at an international and national level.

Local governments are at the forefront of taking measures to reduce climate change and mitigate its potentially catastrophic impact on local communities around the world. Their engagement in delivering the Paris climate change deal is essential.

see www.local.gov.uk/climate_local for support for councils on climate change

www.local.gov.uk

The future of housing Cllr Peter Box CBE is Chair of the LGA’s Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board

The LGA has launched a Housing Commission to explore new ways in which councils can enable the building of more homes Councils built nine times more homes between 2010 and 2015 than between 2000 and 2005, and are desperate to dramatically increase the availability of new homes in their local areas.

This is vital to building the 230,000 new homes the country needs each year, as private developers have not built more than 150,000 a year for more than three decades.

The LGA’s recently announced Housing Commission will set out a forward-looking vision for the future of housing and explore new routes to housebuilding so councils can enable the creation of more desperatelyneeded homes.

It will also explore the importance of effective housing in boosting jobs and growth, helping meet the needs of an ageing population, saving social care and the NHS money, and helping people into work.

It will focus on four themes: • house building – new ways that councils can enable investment in new homes • place making, community and infrastructure – the role of councils in shaping homes within prosperous places and communities • employment, welfare reform and social mobility – the role of housing in supporting tenants to find work • health and quality of life for an ageing population – the role of housing in adapting to an ageing population and preventing onward costs onto social care and health services.

We are looking for evidence on the key issues for communities, partners and councils, on good practice that has successfully addressed those issues, and what is needed to build on those successes.

We want councils, partners, organisations and individuals to contribute their issues, evidence, and examples of effective housing and ideas to the Commission’s Advisory Panel, made up of experts and academics (see right).

The Commission will take a medium-term January 2016

Factfile

view incorporating current housing reforms but will look beyond them in making the case for councils to be able to deliver the homes our communities and places need.

We’re working with ministers to ensure housing and planning reforms support council efforts to build more homes and the Housing Commission will investigate how the Government and councils can help deliver houses to solve our housing shortage.

Councils must be able to play a lead role in building the homes we desperately need, and building the homes in a way that creates prosperous places and growth, helps people into work and positively adapts to an ageing population.

This is the best way to meet local and central government ambitions for our communities, to reduce waiting lists and housing benefit, keep rents low and help more people live long and happy lives.

The Housing Commission is led by town hall leaders on the LGA’s Housing Board supported by an expert advisory panel including: • Catherine Hand, Partner, Trowers and Hamlins • Chris Wood, Partner, Altair • Dave Simmonds OBE, Chief Executive, Inclusion • Professor Jo Richardson, Director, Centre for Comparative Housing Research at De Montfort University • Neil Revely, Chair of ADASS Housing Network • Sue Adams OBE, Chief Executive of Care and Repair England • Will Colthorpe, Argent LLP, Chair of British Property Federation Development Committee All contributions to the work of the commission are welcome. If you wish to make a submission, please send no more than 3,000 words to LGAhousingcommission@local.gov.uk before 26 February. The commission’s findings will be brought together in a report to be published in the spring and presented at the LGA’s annual conference in July

“The housing commission will explore the importance of effective housing in boosting jobs, meeting the needs of an ageing population and helping people into work” first comment | 27

District view on local issues Cllr Harvey Siggs (Con) is Leader of Mendip District Council

Mendip has decided to establish new, influential groups of local district councillors for the district’s five major settlements – a decision driven by a desire to bring forward key local projects while improving communication with residents and other councils.

Many of our councillors are also local parish or town councillors but it is important that they take a district view on local issues. The new

groups are about recognising these responsibilities and the wider perspective we need to have as district councillors.

Each of the groups are being encouraged to define their own agenda, setting out the things they feel the district council can do to most benefit their town.

It has been important to define what can be achieved within the district council’s responsibilities, as well as liaising with county and parish councils where others have the responsibility.

Section 106 money has already been identified as a key area where the groups can bring their understanding to support their town. They will be involved at the planning stage to ensure suitable money is identified for projects that really will benefit the local

town and its residents while ensuring these projects come to fruition.

At a practical level, our councillors’ local knowledge make them best positioned to be the direct contact to officers at the council, working to solve residents’ complaints or queries as quickly as possible.

By giving each of the five groups a clear local identity, with a named contact and dedicated email address, residents will know who to contact should they need help from the district council.

It is important to stress that the groups are not seeking to take over the roles and responsibilities of the county council or parish and town councils but to deal with the issues of their locality from a district council perspective.

Supporting local communities Debbie Ladds is Chief Executive of Local Trust

Local Trust is taking a ground-breaking approach to harnessing the potential of community action.

In our Big Local programme, decisions about how to use £1 million are in the hands of residents in each community. Residents’ priorities range from provision for young people and families, to increasing opportunities for employment, and from improving green spaces to boosting health and wellbeing.

Big Local operates in 150 areas across England and builds on the opportunities and assets in each community. Because the programme is long term and place-based, it brings together a range of local people – residents, charities, community groups, social enterprises and businesses – helping them make their area an even better place to live.

Often, Big Local areas also work in

partnership with the council, councillors and public services, to deliver better outcomes on issues that matter locally.

In L30s Million Big Local area near Liverpool, the annual firework display stopped when council funding was cut, much to the disappointment of the community. Now each November, L30s Million Big Local put on the firework display to develop community spirit.

Attracting thousands of spectators, the display takes place at an activity centre owned by the council.

In Three Parishes Big Local in rural Shropshire, many people find bus fares expensive, and while bus services are regular, they don’t run in the evenings.

Three Parishes Big Local established a car sharing scheme in partnership with Shropshire Council to improve travel into large employment centres nearby.

On the Wirral, Beechwood, Ballantyne and Bidston Big Local negotiated with the council to purchase discounted leisure centre memberships, and offered these free to those completing a consultation with the local NHS ‘Livewell’ team. More people now access leisure services and health services,

“More people now access leisure services and the council has more data about local needs” 28 | first comment

and the council has more data about local needs.

It takes care and time to develop productive partnerships and an understanding of each other’s perspectives, but effective collaboration benefits us all. How can you collaborate more?

For more about Local Trust and the Big Local programme, please visit www.localtrust.org.uk

www.local.gov.uk

councillor An introduction to memberofficer relationships The working relationship between members and officers is integral to the successful operation of an effective local authority.

Politicians and officers have vital roles to play in providing a form of joint leadership which is based on shared knowledge, skills and experience. And at the heart of this relationship should be a common vision, shared values and mutual respect.

Within a council, members and officers are indispensable to one another and the fostering of a mutual respect between them is essential for good local government.

Members provide a democratic mandate to the council, whereas officers contribute the professional expertise needed to deliver the policy framework agreed by members.

While collaborative working will provide the best means of ensuring good governance, it is important to be aware that members and officers have distinct and different roles: this is necessary both for day-to-day interaction and for the public perception of the council. It is designed to ensure transparency between the political role of members and the professional, impartial, role of officers.

You can find out more by viewing ‘Effective member and officer relationships’, an LGA workbook available to download for free from www.local.gov.uk/councillorworkbooks – or see right for the experiences of fellow councillors.

Is there a particular area of your work as a councillor with which you would like more help or advice? If so, please email first@local.gov.uk

January 2016

“Respect the democratic mandate” Cllr Paul James (Con) is Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economy at Gloucester City Council In my 20 years as a councillor, I’ve seen some good examples of member-officer relationships, and occasions where things haven’t worked out quite so well. It does matter – particularly between the political and managerial leadership, but also at every level in the organisation.

As in any relationship, respect is important. Councillors need to recognise the professional skills of officers, the fact that they have many calls on their time and are working with limited resources. Officers must respect the democratic mandate that councillors have and the pressures we are under to deliver for our constituents.

Clarity about roles is key and boundaries should be respected. Councillors set policy, officers manage its implementation – although in these days of the cabinet system, there is a small grey area.

Communication is vital and what councillors want is no surprises. We’d rather have too much information than too little, especially in our own ward or portfolio.

Councillors and officers should be friendly with each other, without being over-familiar. It means a great deal to officers when they get a thank you from an elected member, particularly if they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. If you get something wrong, be prepared to admit it – and that goes for officers too.

A positive relationship makes such a difference to what we can deliver for the people who elect us – and that is what matters most.

“We set the ‘what’” Cllr Robin Millar (Con) is Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Families and Community at Forest Heath District Council Managing growing service demands with less money has increased the pressure on members, officers and our working relationship.

But cuts are not the whole story. The Localism Act 2011 gave councils considerable freedom to make more, local, decisions. With some (notable) exceptions, we are no longer simply administrating the delivery of central government policies.

We also make decisions on local priorities and approaches to deliver the outcomes residents expect. As central government guidance, conditions and ring fences have been removed, officers must look instead to members to set more, locally sensitive, policy.

Rebalancing power from central to local government, and from officers to members, is testing the member-officer working relationship. We set the ‘what’, officers the ‘how’. This creates a healthy and constructive tension: balancing needs and resources with community assets and residents’ values.

In this new devolved environment, leadership is much more than issuing commands. Good politics and effective leadership are about influence. The good member understands authority is rooted in authenticity, not their title, and the best relationships with officers are built on mutual respect. If officers aren’t pushing back at some of your ideas, are you going far enough?

Learn from officers’ experience, respect their role – but hold to your beliefs and your residents’ priorities. Great pressure is a challenge – but it also turns coal into diamonds.

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parliament Debating devolution Council leaders aired their concerns about the devolution process at the latest hearings of a cross-party inquiry into the future of the reforms.

There is broad support across local government for decentralisation – but concerns remain about governance arrangements based on elected mayors and last-minute withdrawals of proposed powers in devolution bids.

Council leaders, giving evidence to the inquiry, commisioned by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Reform, Decentralisation and Devolution, also said the process felt “transactional, not transformational”, and would be hampered by further cuts announced in the Spending Review and a lack of community engagement.

LGA Chairman Lord Porter and council leaders Cllrs Nick Forbes (Lab, Newcastle), Anne Western (Lab, Derbyshire) and John Pollard (Ind, Cornwall) were local government witnesses at the second evidence session of the inquiry into better devolution, chaired by LGA President Lord Kerslake.

Lord Porter praised Communities and Local Government Secretary Greg Clark for being “a

big driver” for devolution, while Cllr Western said: “We’re seeing potential advantages for it [devolution]. We’re approaching this with a positive attitude and good faith.”

However, asked about devolution deal negotiations, Cllr Forbes said despite being told they had an open door, they were “batted back” on areas such as housing, schools and education before securing a deal for Newcastle.

He said: “It’s still very much controlled by what government is prepared to give up, rather than what we think we’re able to transform.”

Cllr Pollard said there were lots of no-go areas in Cornwall’s submission and “areas taken out 24 hours before we signed a deal”. He said: “The Government has a job to make sure all government departments are signed up.”

Asked whether councils should accept an elected mayor “as a price of devolution”, Cllr Forbes said not doing so “put you in a different tier of negotiations”. Cllr Western conceded that a mayor was a “prerequisite” to securing a substantial deal. “If the deal is good enough then we can live with a mayor, but it wasn’t our first choice,” she told the inquiry.

Lord Porter and Cllr Forbes stressed that an elected mayor was not the only model

to lead to constitutional change, a view supported by Cllr Pollard.

“We have a unitary authority with a strong leader model. We will be emphasising the strength of the leader model and how that can work for Cornwall,” he said.

Council leaders said tough austerity measures were threatening the potential of devolution to drive economic growth and public sector reform.

Cllr Forbes said: “Devolution is moving ahead, it’s a big opportunity, but our budgets are being squeezed tightly to the point that some services are under real pressure, social care in particular... Devolution won’t mitigate the effects of the cuts.”

Cllr Western, who suggested civil servants could be “valuable” by working in local government on secondments to share expertise, said: “We can’t think of devolution being done on a shoestring. It can’t be the transfer of powers, it also has to be transfer of capacity and resources.”

Council leaders said more engagement with local communities was needed to ensure a greater “buy-in” to the benefits of devolution, and to ensure they could “do more things for themselves” if local government services stopped being provided due to budgetary pressures.

Comparing devolution in Scotland and England, Cllr Forbes said: “In Scotland, it’s about identity. We haven’t yet, in an English context, linked devolution to stronger local identity. In that sense, the jury is still out on whether this is about fundamental change. At the moment this feels transactional, not transformational.”

The inquiry also heard about the case for further devolution in London, and from businesses and the voluntary sector.

All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of members of both Houses of Parliament with a common interest in particular issues. For more information about the APPG for Reform, Decentralisation and Devolution and its inquiry into better devolution, please visit www.local.gov.uk/devolution/appg

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www.local.gov.uk

local by-elections Ashfield, Selston SELSTON IND HELD 49.9% over Ind

elections Looking ahead to the May local elections Each set of local by-election results seems to bring its share of oddities, and this month is no exception.

Supporters of electoral reform for local government will seize on two outcomes where the winner polled less than 24 per cent of the vote. In Ashford, just 18 votes separated the first from fourth placed candidates. In Epsom West (Surrey), the spread between Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Residents’ Association candidates was 34 votes.

In such circumstances the result is effectively a lottery, and many more voters are likely to be left disappointed rather than buoyed by their participation.

Over the New Year, the thoughts of party activists and commentators will inevitably turn to May 2016. The elections in Scotland, Wales and London will grab most media attention, but the English local elections have the potential to make waves too.

The seats up this year last fell vacant in 2012 at a time when Labour was registering consistent national opinion poll leads of 5 per cent and more. It posted its best local performance for over a decade, gaining more than 550 seats and control of an additional 23 councils in England alone.

By contrast, 2012 was a year before the surge in UKIP support became noticeable.

Just seven UKIP councillors were elected across England, with the party’s 681 candidates totting up 4.4 per cent of the overall vote. Two years later a similar set of contests outside London yielded over 2,000 candidates, a vote share in excess of 18 per cent and more than 150 councillors.

The Conservatives brushed off their own mediocre showing as a typical mid-term reaction, but their then coalition partners – the Liberal Democrats – were losing no less than half of all seats being defended.

January 2016

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

The now single party government may be better placed to recapture some of that lost ground, but any Liberal Democrat recovery in 2016 is likely to be patchy at best. It still languishes fourth in the polls, and its byelection record has been something of a curate’s egg. Over the last few weeks alone there was an impressive gain in Huntingdonshire, and a humiliating decline in Wiltshire.

The focus in May, though, is likely to be on Labour and UKIP. Jeremy Corbyn has a tough marker to defend; Nigel Farage’s party needs to rebut suggestions that it has peaked in electoral terms.

The parties will go head to head in many parts of the north. In Rotherham in 2012, UKIP had 12 candidates who together polled 15 per cent of the vote; in 2014, the party contested every ward, winning 12 and topping the poll with 44 per cent.

In North East Lincolnshire, it was one victory and an 18 per cent vote share for UKIP in 2012; 36 per cent and seven out of 15 seats won in 2014. In both councils it was the Labour vote that took by far the biggest hit.

It is unlikely that the 2016 contests will tell us much about Labour’s renewed ‘southern discomfort’. They will, however, provide evidence of the party’s ability to win back some of its traditional supporters tempted

by UKIP in recent elections.

See www.local.gov.uk/first for more by-elections data

Turnout 35.2%

Ashford, Aylesford Green CON GAIN FROM LAB 0.2% over UKIP Turnout 19% Bournemouth, Kinson South 2 CON HELD 3% over Lab Turnout 19.4% Carmarthenshire, Kidwelly LAB HELD 4.7% over Plaid Cymru Turnout 31.5% Fylde, Clifton CON HELD 46.5% over UKIP

Turnout 29.5%

Guildford, Ash South & Tongham CON HELD 20.3% over Lib Dem Turnout 20.3% Gwynedd, Dewi PLAID CYMRU HELD 24.8% over Lab

Turnout 25.8%

Gwynedd, Llanaelhaearn PC GAIN FROM VOICE OF GWYNEDD 21.4% over VoG Turnout 35.4% Gwynedd, Pwllheli South IND GAIN FROM VoG 17.1% over PC Turnout 46% Harborough, Logan LIB DEM HELD 11.1% over Con

Turnout 28%

Huntingdonshire, Huntingdon East LIB DEM GAIN FROM UKIP 13.2% over Con Turnout 26.4% Newport, Bettws IND HELD 4% over Lab

Turnout 19%

Norfolk, South Smallburgh LIB DEM HELD 28% over Con Turnout 35% Norfolk, Watton CON GAIN FROM UKIP 1.6% over Ind Turnout 21% Rochford, Rochford LAB GAIN FROM CON 0.4% over Con

Turnout 17.6%

Surrey, Epsom West CON GAIN FROM LIB DEM 0.8% over Res Turnout 24.7% Wiltshire, Salisbury St. Edmund & Milford CON GAIN FROM LIB DEM 13.8% over Lib Dem Turnout 32.3%

first political | 31

The local government event of the year www.local.gov.uk/events to book your place @LGAComms #LGAconf16