News and views from the Local Government Association “From day one we have always been clear in our determination that local government would fight to recover the lion’s share of the money deposited in Iceland at the time of the crash.” Sir Merrick Cockell, LGA Chairman, p2
P8 Rewiring licensing
Reforming licensing legislation could help reduce business costs and allow councils to tackle residents’ concerns P11 Academies and accountability Concerns raised about new regional schools commissioners
Fortnightly Issue 560 8 February 2014
P14 What you need to know Making the most of research to inform decision making
P13 Restorative justice Pioneering neighbourhood resolution panels are helping reduce offending rates
EDITORIAL
Cross-party approach Last month, I had the pleasure of welcoming around 220 of you to Local Government House for a special General Assembly to agree changes to the LGA’s governance arrangements. These included the creation of two new boards – City Regions and People and Places – replacing the current Urban and Rural Commissions, and a new Resources Board to replace the current Finance Panel and Workforce Board. These changes will enable us to better meet the challenges ahead, and show that as an organisation we can listen, learn, and react to the changing nature of local government and, indeed, public services. The next year will see the dividing lines put firmly in place between all parties as we gear up for the general election. And as the funding pot shrinks further we will rightly see people, areas and organisations fight to protect their corner. Already we are seeing such strains, whether it be region versus region or rural versus city, we mustn’t let these differences divide us. At the LGA, our strong cross-party approach will continue to speak loudly for the whole of the local government sector. One of the things that I have been proudest of over the last year is how we have stood strongly together as a sector to work to meet the funding challenge. The next few years will be demanding. They will be difficult. We have set out some of the solutions to many of the problems in front of us but only when we speak with one clear voice can we make sure we are heard. Government, and all the parties, might listen to what we have to say on behalf of our members and those they represent. Sir Merrick Cockell is LGA Chairman Editor Karen Thornton Design Liberata Design Advertising Richard Mole Write to first, Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ T (editorial) 020 7664 3294 T (advertising) 020 7664 3157 email first@local.gov.uk Photography Photofusion and Ingimage unless otherwise stated Print BGP Ltd, Bicester Circulation 18,500 (January 2014) 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.
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FIRST NEWS
Crashed banks cash recovered
The majority of councils which had money tied up in the failed Icelandic bank Landsbanki have recouped the lion’s share of their deposits by selling their claims. The sale of most councils’ remaining claims against LBI (formerly Landsbanki Islands hf) in the winding up proceedings was organised through a competitive auction to ensure the highest possible price was achieved. These authorities will, on average, recover more than 95 per cent of the money they originally deposited with LBI. Selling the claims now eliminates the risk of any further loss of value, for example through depreciation of the Icelandic krona against sterling. Councils had just under £1.05 billion deposited in the four failed Icelandic banks when they collapsed in 2008. Following this settlement, the total amount recouped by local authorities is expected to be just over £1 billion. Recovery rates will differ for
individual councils but overall local authorities are expected to recoup considerably more than 90p for every £1 put into LBI, Glitnir, Heritable, and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander. LGA Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell said: “This settlement has enabled a number of councils to fast-track their recovery of money from LBI and avoid any risk of further loss. “From day one we have always been clear in our determination that local government would fight to recover the lion’s share of the money deposited in Iceland at the time of the crash. “Councils had just over £1 billion deposited in the four failed Icelandic banks at the time of the collapse in 2008. Following this settlement the total amount recouped by local authorities is expected to be £1 billion. We can justifiably say that the tenacious efforts of local government working together to get this money back have paid off.”
Inside this issue 05 Policy
Demand up for help with welfare reforms
06 Letters
Ideas for recycling
07 Opinion
Short-term care planning wastes money
08 first feature
Licensing is outdated, inflexible and complex
10 FE funding Education and training for teens
12 EU priorities The EU’s work programme
14 By-elections Local factors make a difference
Council tax vote threshold to be 2% Every vote cast by councillors on budgets and council tax will have to be recorded from this year, the Government has announced. The requirement emerged as ministers confirmed that councils planning to increase council tax in the coming financial year will have to hold a local referendum if the increase equals or exceeds 2 per cent. The new limit now includes other local levying and precepting bodies (except parish councils), such as internal drainage boards – which means that councils that have frozen council tax could still face having to organise referendums and potentially council tax re-billing, whether or not the increase in total council tax was a direct result of their financial decisions. The Local Government Finance Report (England) 2014/15 also puts parish and town councils on notice that council tax referendum principles may be set for them in 2015/16. Cllr Sharon Taylor, Chair of the LGA’s Finance Panel, said: “Local authorities are striving to keep council tax down but are grappling with the
difficult task of protecting vital services following a 40 per cent reduction in government funding over this Parliament. “Many councils have already finalised their budgets for the coming financial year and the lateness of this announcement has added to the uncertainty faced by local authorities making crucial decisions about how local services will be provided from April. “It should be for councils and their residents to decide how local services are paid for, not Whitehall. The ballot box on local election day allows for people to pass judgement on their councils. No other tax increase is subject to the extra cost of a referendum, as all other taxes are rightly seen to be within the mandate of the elected government. The same should apply for council tax.” Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “We have given extra funding to town halls to help freeze council tax and handed local residents new rights to veto big local tax hikes, so local people have the final say on the amount they pay.”
Town hall toasted
News in brief Tackling empty homes
Empty homes are being left to rot because councils face overly complex and expensive compulsory purchase legislation, says the LGA. There are more than 700,000 empty properties in England alone, and a third have been empty for six months or more. Councils use compulsory purchase orders to revive land or buildings but the process can take up to 18 months and require Secretary of State approval. Cllr Mike Jones, Chairman of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board, said: “Empty homes could be brought back into use if the Government overhauled the antiquated and utterly inefficient compulsory purchase system.”
Costly care loans
A care loans scheme to help people meet the cost of care in their old age could be almost five times more expensive to administer than the Government estimates, according to LGA analysis. It says costs could reach more than £1.1 billion by 2025 – compared to an estimate based on government assumptions of £230 million. The LGA believes a government-backed system to run the scheme would lessen the financial risks to councils and lead to economies of scale. Sir Merrick Cockell, LGA Chairman, said: “We urge the Government to consider setting up a separate national organisation, similar to the Student Loans Company, to run the deferred payment scheme on behalf of councils.”
LGA governance changes
Middlesbrough’s iconic Grade II* Town Hall celebrated its 125th birthday at the end of last month. Cllr Charlie Rooney, Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development (pictured, right, with Town Hall Business Development Manager Rob Guest) said: “For the last 125 years, Middlesbrough Town Hall has been a powerful symbol of the town’s Victorian roots and proud industrial history. But this is no museum piece – it is a living and breathing part of Middlesbrough’s cultural and municipal life and one that is highly valued by a great many people.”
New governance arrangements have been voted through by an LGA Special General Assembly. The new structure will place a greater emphasis on the role of member councils as LGA decision makers, with less reliance on formal committee meetings – saving £144,000 in running costs. The number of boards will reduce from 10 to nine, with a City Regions Board and a People and Places Board replacing the current Urban and Rural Commissions this month. From September, a new Resources Board will replace the Finance Panel and Workforce Board and financial elements of the European and International Board. A new Environment, Economy, Housing and Transport Board will replace the Environment and Housing Board and those elements of economy and transport not covered by People and Places and City Regions.
FIRST NEWS
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Media sponsor:
Annual fire conference and exhibition
The LGA’s 2014 annual fire conference and exhibition will provide delegates with a range of stimulating workshops and plenaries on subjects including finance, flooding, blue light integration, sector-led improvement, community budgets and regulation. The conference will provide the sector with a national forum to examine and debate the challenges raised by these issues and their impact on the sector as we look towards the future of the service.
Sponsored by:
11-12 March 2014 Millennium Stadium Westgate Street Cardiff CF10 1NS
Confirmed speakers include: Brandon Lewis MP, Fire Minister, Department for Communities and Local Government Lyn Brown MP, Shadow Minister for Communities Peter Holland CBE, Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, Department for Communities and Local Government Paul Fuller, President of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union
www.lga.gov.uk/events
firstpolicy
Welfare reform
Support payments Four in five councils are facing ‘increasing demand’ for help from residents trying to cope with the cost of housing welfare changes such as the social sector size criteria, according to an LGA survey. The latter, relating to under-occupancy of social housing, has been the biggest cause of financial hardship among those applying for help from the Discretionary Housing Payment fund over the previous six months. One in six councils has had to top up their allocation from the fund because it was insufficient. Cllr Sharon Taylor, Chair of the LGA’s Finance Panel, said: “Ministers must ensure councils have enough resources to meet demand. It would be wrong if councils had to reduce spending on other services to meet the new costs brought about by these changes to national policy.”
Social media
Wales
Online public meetings Thousands of people have been heading online in a ground-breaking move by Dudley Council to be the first in the country to hold a public meeting on Facebook. Ten community forums take place in Dudley every other month, allowing people to raise local issues with their ward councillors. The Facebook forums run ahead of each round for people who are unable to attend. Cllr Pete Lowe, Deputy Leader, said: “The Facebook community forums have been hugely successful because people can get involved with local democracy without having to leave the house. As a community council this is about giving people every opportunity to speak to us and influence how decisions are made.”
Williams Commission The Welsh LGA is seeking urgent discussions with First Minister Carwyn Jones about the Williams Commission, which has proposed merging Wales’ 22 unitary councils to create between 10 and 12 new local authorities. It wants to test the parameters of alternative proposals to the commission’s recommendations, examine existing boundaries and set out a properly costed, detailed financial analysis. A task force has been set up to take this work forward and produce an analysis of public services reform. See letters, p7.
Public health Bedding in The LGA and Public Health England (PHE) have jointly published a new report featuring
case studies from a range of councils that are using their local government setting to improve health and wellbeing. ‘Public health transformation nine months on; bedding in and reaching out’ is available at www.local.gov.uk/publications. PHE has also this week published new statistics on adult obesity, broken down by local authority area. The figures, for 2012, suggest 63.8 per cent of the adult population in England is overweight or obese, ranging from 75.9 per cent of adults in Copeland Borough Council, Cumbria, to 45.9 per cent in London’s Kensington and Chelsea. Obesity data for adults and children is also available on LG Inform, see www.local.gov.uk/lginform
Workforce Employee pensions There are just over 50 days to
go until changes to the pension scheme for council workers come into force. On 1 April, the local government pension scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales is changing from a final salary to a career average scheme. All 1.7 million LGPS members will automatically join the new scheme, with protections in place for those who have benefits built up before the changes come into force. Key features of the new scheme include increased flexibility for members regarding scheme costs and when benefits can be taken, as well as a change in the way future pension benefits are worked out. Many aspects of the existing scheme, including life cover, remain the same. Further information for employers and pension funds can be found at www.lgpsregs.org, while scheme members should visit www.lgps2014.org
Financial accountability Audit Commission The Audit Commission will close in March 2015, after the Local Audit and Accountability Bill received Royal Assent last month. The new Act introduces new arrangements for the audit of local public bodies such as local authorities, which will be able to appoint their own auditors. The LGA secured an amendment to the Bill that will allow councils to use a national framework to appoint their auditors, should they wish to do so. Modelling suggests that this will save the public sector £200 million over five years. The Act also clarifies the National Audit Office’s power to undertake examinations regarding the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which local public bodies have used their resources, and it already has a report due out soon on the challenges of delivering value for money in adult social care.
FIRST POLICY
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sound bites Cllr Tom Garrod (Con, Norfolk) “Good to meet @HelenGrantMP and catch up with @dmontfort at @LGAComms today – congrats for a successful event Peter : )” www.twitter.com/tomgarrod Cllr Kevin Peal (Lab, Manchester) “Glad @LGAComms back tougher licensing powers for LAs to halt spread of bookies. Should apply to payday lenders too.” www.twitter.com/kevpeel Cllr Tony Brett (Lib Dem, Oxford) “Yay! My motion at full council about saving community pubs, seconded by @maryoxford was passed with unanimous cross-party support Hurrah!” www.twitter.com/tonybrett PCC Sue Mountstevens (Ind, Avon and Somerset) “Well done to @SomersetCouncil and @JDOsman1 for providing more all-terrain vehicles to help residents cut off by flooding.” www.twitter.com/SuMountstevens Stephen Baker (Chief Executive, Suffolk Coastal and Waverney) “Felt privileged early to chair the first meeting of Norfolk and Suffolk Council CXs, Chief constables and others, very useful to meet up.” www.twitter.com/SBakerCX 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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FIRST COMMENT
letters
STAR LETTER
Ideas for recycling Much has been written of late regarding improvements in the way we recycle and new schemes that have been rolled out (news, first 558). Here in Southport on Merseyside, I felt there was scope for major improvements to our large recycling centre, both in new forms of recycling skips being introduced and also changes to the site itself to encourage more usage. After a meeting with Veolia senior management, who operate the site, I was extremely pleased when all my ideas were accepted. These included directional and safety signage, ‘Here to help’ on visible jackets for site staff, flower beds to improve the site experience, plus peak and low times on a large board at the site entrance which helped enormously with traffic flows.
Due to severe cuts being imposed by Sefton Council last year, free collections of unwanted, large household items ceased and a charge was imposed for this service. Concerned by an increase in fly tipping (especially of unwanted mattresses), I pushed for additional containers for mattresses and carpets. This has proved so successful that larger containers have had to be installed. As councillors there is much we can do to make positive changes and improvements in our communities, with all the above being a prime example. Cllr Marianne Welsh (Lib Dem) Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
OPINION
Planning for wellbeing Flood defences
We are always told that politics is about priorities. Well, maybe there should be a concerted effort from central government to make flood defences the top political priority. Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, along with the Environment Agency, has invested quite heavily in flood defences throughout the borough over recent years. The satisfaction in seeing such work coming to fruition is worth all the construction upheaval and investment when homes that once were previously flooded are flood-free. One sincerely hopes that such work is carried out right across the country, because politics is about improving people’s lives. Cllr George Dunning (Lab) Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council With the benefit of hindsight, the LGA might wish that its response (news, first 559) to the Government’s paltry £7 million fund for local authorities affected by flooding had been more hard hitting. Instead of a wordy news release, seemingly written to curry favour with the local government minister, the LGA could have referred to the 2007 Pitt Report, which recommended maintenance dredging of rivers, including in the Somerset Levels. The House of Commons Library’s succinct report on flood defence estimates that to maintain existing levels of flood defence, spending could rise to £1 billion per year by 2035. Cllr Jonathan Rush (Con) Chiltern District Council
Don’t rush mergers
Although I support the need to reduce the number of local authorities in Wales, I am concerned about the Welsh Government trying to rush this through (news, first 559). For a start, we do not know exactly how much this will cost and
how much savings will be made by reducing the number. It is important that we have a full debate and that the public are consulted as service delivery could also be affected by the proposals. At a time of cuts we need to know just exactly how these changes would make a difference to our communities. To me, it does seem that the Williams Commission report has been put together in a rushed way without any thought on the real impact. Has it really taken into consideration the job losses that are likely to come from this? I would also suggest we have voting reform implemented before any changes actually take place so we do not see an unhealthy one-party rule in Wales. Cllr Richard Bertin (Ind) Vale of Glamorgan Council
Fracking ‘bribes’
Cllr David Milsted likens the ‘bribery’ involved in local authorities accepting the money on offer for granting fracking permission (letters, first 559) to Tesco offering a slice of their profits in return for being granted planning permission to build supermarkets. Can we take it therefore that Cllr Milsted has a similar aversion to the ‘extortion’ involved when, in return for granting planning permission, local authorities expect the likes of Tesco to stump up money to fund highway schemes, play areas, and community centres, many of them often located miles away from where their proposed new stores are to be built? Likewise, will he be proposing a motion that his council hand back the nearly £3 million of Section 106 money and community infrastructure levies it pocketed from developers in 2012/13, lest this also “fatally undermine public confidence in the capacity of planning authorities to reach an unbiased conclusion at any level”? Cllr Richard Burston (Ind Con) Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
What do you think? You can comment on these letters online at www.local.gov.uk/first-letters or submit your own letter for publication by emailing first@local.gov.uk. Letters may be edited and published online
Lives are being blighted and money wasted because social care commissioners don’t have the time or money to invest in long-term planning. Local authorities’ short-term approach to care packages for adults with learning disabilities is costing them dearly, and they are also not yet ready to fulfil the duty of care set out in the Care Bill, according to our study of 100 English local authorities. With more than 50 years’ experience, FitzRoy, the learning disability charity that helps people live more independently, knows how important long-term planning is for the stability and wellbeing of individuals with life-long care needs. Yet 42 per cent of councils plan social care based on just a one-year view or less of people’s lives, and a further 17 per cent look only one to three years ahead. A shocking 19 per cent also admit that quality of life does not influence their assessment of services for adults with learning disabilities. We know that short-term planning leads to emergency care decisions, ignores the importance of placement stability and fails to promote quality of life. Stopping this is key to ensuring the wellbeing of individuals and the effectiveness of social care decision-making, and will reassure families and friends. Many parents tell us they fear the consequences for their child when they die; sometimes they tell us they hope their child dies first because they are so worried about an uncertain future for them. This is an unimaginable thought for most parents and an unforeseen consequence of short-term planning. The Care Bill places a duty on councils to promote individual wellbeing but more than a third of the people we spoke to were unaware of this. Of those that did know, a quarter do not feel adequately prepared to fulfil this legal duty. FitzRoy is calling on local authorities to enter into a better dialogue with individuals and their families about their future, as opposed to simply looking at an individual’s immediate needs. They must then talk to providers about whether a placement that looks right now will provide the development opportunities required later in life.
Anna Galliford is Chief Executive of FitzRoy. See www.fitzroy.org
FIRST COMMENT
7
Reforming outdated and complex licensing legislation could help reduce costs to businesses and allow councils to take public health and other concerns into account when making licensing decisions, writes Cllr Tony Page
Rewiring licensing Licensing is vital for councils to support and encourage businesses and protect residents from the risks of dangerous and irresponsible activities. Its importance is highlighted by suggestions that 50 per cent of a business’s contact with a council is through regulatory services, with councils issuing more than 150 licences, consents, permits and registrations covering a diverse range of trades and practices. But businesses and councils are being compelled to negotiate a licensing system that is outdated, inflexible and complex, and that places unnecessary costs and burdens on them both. Previous reviews of licensing – including the Better Regulation Taskforce, which led to the Licensing Act 2003, and the Law Commission’s current review of taxi and private hire vehicles – have all targeted specific themes. At this week’s LGA licensing conference we called for government to undertake a comprehensive review of licensing as a whole. Our report, ‘Open for business: rewiring licensing’, sets out the need for a system which is relevant, simple, cost neutral, risk-based and communityled (see www.local.gov.uk/publications). Alongside the sheer volume of licensing laws, some of the current legislation has existed for more than a century. For example, the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 regulating black taxis outside of London still refers to horse-drawn carriages, while charity cash collections are controlled by the arcane Police, Factories etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 – devised long before the invention of direct debits or chugging. Licensing legislation is also split across a number of different Whitehall departments, leading to uncoordinated and overlapping requirements. The volume, age and prescriptiveness of licensing laws create an unnecessary amount of bureaucracy for both businesses and councils. For example, businesses have to fill out the same details on multiple application forms for different licences, and councils have to process them separately, which is time consuming and pointless. Councils recognise this, and understand that you can predict what activities a standard business model requires. Unfortunately, many licensing laws are so restrictive that they require the use of specific forms, leaving councils with no scope to join things up for their businesses.
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FIRST FEATURE
Councils need to be able to free businesses from this unnecessary form-filling and provide them with a simple way to provide the necessary information and apply for a single licence that covers what they want to do. But this will require a major overhaul to scrap those licensing laws which are obsolete and inefficient and update remaining laws so they work more effectively.
Information We believe that these business-specific licences could be issued under the ‘licence for life’ principle established by the Licensing Act 2003, reducing the need to resupply information unless the nature of the business changed, and with only payment of an annual maintenance fee needed to keep the licence valid. This would be backed up by robust measures to review licences where problems were identified, a safeguard that has been omitted in several recent deregulatory proposals. With councils managing deep funding cuts and having to make limited resources stretch further, it is unacceptable for them to be left picking up the bill to run their licensing systems. The fact that the Licensing Act 2003 still has nationally-set fees for alcohol licences has already cost councils hundreds of millions of pounds that they need to help protect services. Government has previously committed to introduce locally set fees, and must finally fulfil this promise. But our reform proposals are not just about the administration of issuing, maintaining and paying for licences. We set out the case for councils to have broader powers to ensure licensing can address the issues of concern to local residents and businesses.
One of the biggest issues facing councils currently is the lack of powers they have to act on community concerns such as the clustering of high streets with payday lenders or betting shops, or public health risks such as excessive alcohol consumption. Councillors, as democratic representatives of local communities, should be able to take licensing decisions that are in line with the wishes of their residents. But it comes as a surprise to many people that councils and communities are so restricted in being able to influence the type or number of businesses that operate in their areas.
Clarity Resolving this requires firstly, greater clarity about the distinction between licensing and planning in managing how business premises are used. Neither the planning use class system nor licensing framework enable councils to effectively control the social impact and public protection aspects of business activity. We now need a further debate about how these issues can be disentangled to create planning use classes that provide effective economic regulation and local licensing objectives that manage the social and public protection impacts. We also need to ensure that the current licensing objectives set out in the licensing and gambling acts are updated to reflect councils’ wider statutory duties. For example, councils are now responsible for local public health. Excessive alcohol consumption is estimated to cost the NHS £3.2 billion a year, with additional costs falling to social services, police and businesses. Because health impacts are linked to consumption and the availability of alcohol, local health bodies are now able to contribute to the licensing process as a ‘responsible authority’. Yet bizarrely, there is no scope for health bodies or councils to oppose or modify an application on health grounds, since the licensing objectives have not been amended. This prevents democratically elected councillors from reaching decisions based on the health advice of local health experts even where there is evidence of a clear risk to health. A public health licensing objective would address this.
Tackling these two issues would provide a solid national framework for licensing decisions. But a reformed system must retain the existing power for councils to adopt local licensing controls if they are needed in their areas, without burdening businesses nationally. However, the power must be updated to cover modern risks. Examples include the number of councils struggling to tackle shisha cafes that continue to flout smoke-free legislation or the ability of councils to regulate sunbeds and tanning salons if they feel there is evidence of a particular problem in their area. Reform of our licensing system has been decades in the making and the Government needs to be bold and ambitious to tackle this issue head-on. That way businesses can be allowed to flourish and communities given the protection they deserve and rightly expect from their council. • See www.local.gov.uk/licensing and www.local.gov. uk/campaigns for more on the LGA’s rewiring plans
Cllr Tony Page is Licensing Champion on the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board
FIRST FEATURE
9
More could be done to make the funding and commissioning of education and training for 16 to 19-year-olds more responsive to local needs, writes Cllr David Simmonds
FE focus Local government is ambitious for all young people, wanting to give them the best possible support to become independent and prosperous adults. In our view, success is underpinned by coherent and responsive relationships between services around young people as they grow up, and between services, employers and young people across the areas in which they live. Councils are uniquely placed to make this happen, and have moral, democratic and statutory responsibilities to do so. In short, we are best able to convene partnerships of providers and build strong relationships that bind services around a set of quality progression options for young people, and use our responsibilities for planning, transport and business rates to engage employers.
Local need So the LGA commissioned a survey looking at the extent to which the national funding of further education (FE) and reengagement activity through the Education Funding Agency (EFA) helps councils fulfil these responsibilities. Over half of the council respondents (53 per cent) reported that the commissioning process for local 16–19 education and training provision is effective overall, but the majority of respondents believed that the EFA is restricted in the extent to which it is responsive to local need. Around 86 per cent felt that their council does not have sufficient influence over their EFA funding allocation and 76 per cent reported that it is difficult to change the commissioning of local provision. And 51 per cent of respondents said that the EFA’s approaches and processes are limited in the extent to which they are able to reflect local needs to reduce the number of those not in education, employment or training (NEET). There are, in our view, two significant conclusions to be drawn from the research. Firstly, the current national funding model is often struggling to respond to the unique circumstances across different local areas. Secondly, local partners do not have sufficient opportunity to help prevent or resolve this problem where they identify it in their areas. The lagged funding payment method, absence of local authority influence, and a move towards larger contracts
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FIRST FEATURE
are factors regularly identified as being responsible for this. Insufficient funding and the split of responsibilities between the EFA and Skills Funding Agency (SFA) are identified as key barriers for supporting high-needs students. This is an issue for us all, and one that we want to work with all partners to resolve. The post-16 learning landscape is undergoing significant reform, and at a time when the transition from education into the workplace is becoming longer and more challenging.
Responsive Many of these reforms are positive. The raising of the participation age, the study programmes, and the associated focus on numeracy, literacy and work experience are all positive policy reforms that should be driven through at the national level. But it is fundamental that the funding of national reforms delivers a responsive and flexible system that recognises and supports the unique local demographic and economic circumstances of different places, rather than hindering it. So we want to explore with government how the reforms to the funding of 16 to 19 re-engagement and education provision can support local authorities to enable coherent, responsive models across their local areas. In the short term we want to look at how local authorities can influence the funding of further education and re-engagement provision as early as possible, and to ensure that it continues to meet the shifting need and local service offer across each place. • For ‘Councils’ views on the effectiveness of the 16-19 commissioning process’, see www.local.gov.uk/young-people. Let us know what you think about these issues by emailing hiddentalents@local.gov.uk
Cllr David Simmonds is Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board.
The LGA has raised concerns with ministers about new regional schools commissioners, who will take responsibility for failing academies and establishing new ones, writes Cllr David Simmonds
Academies and accountability The LGA has long expressed concern that as the number of academies increases, it will become impossible for the Department for Education (DfE) in London to monitor their performance effectively and to intervene in cases of failure. Councils have no powers to intervene in academies, although the new Ofsted school improvement inspection regime sets out to hold councils to account for their performance.
Responsibilities In December, the DfE placed advertisements for eight ‘regional schools commissioners’, reported as earning up to £140,000. This was the first councils knew about the plans, and came as a surprise to at least one minister who described it as ‘just an idea’ a few days before the advertisements appeared in the press. The commissioners’ responsibilities, exercised on behalf of the Secretary of State, include: • monitoring performance and intervening to secure improvement in underperforming academies • taking decisions on the creation of new academies by approving applications from maintained schools wishing to convert to academy status • helping ensure that the sponsor market meets local need – including by authorising applications to become an academy sponsor and recommending suitable sponsors to ministers. The areas covered by the commissioners will not follow the standard planning regions or Ofsted’s regional structure. Of particular concern is that London will be split into three by the proposed new arrangements, with London boroughs grouped with neighbouring councils in the south east and east of England. For parents, this looks like a confusing layer of bureaucracy to get to grips with, instead of speaking to their local councillor about any education concerns. And given the size of the regions, the LGA does not believe that commissioners could possibly have the detailed knowledge to effectively monitor the performance of the academies they would be responsible for. We also need to be able to reassure residents that the commissioners will have the necessary independence to hold schools rigorously to account, given that they will be overseen by fellow head teachers. We will continue to fight for more transparency over these plans. The LGA’s recent submission to the Commons Education Committee’s inquiry into the academies programme also reiterated our concerns about ensuring effective academy oversight, given the increasing number of academies (now 3,500). The submission said we would like to see the restoration of decision-making on the provision of new schools to local level, as it was prior to the Academies Act 2011.
Where academies are the preferred option, decisions about sponsors should be shaped locally to meet the needs and wishes of parents and communities. Councils need the flexibility and authority to deliver on their statutory duties and a level playing field with academy chains and free school providers to ensure equal rigour and grip in improving standards. Councils’ capacity to intervene quickly in cases of underperformance by maintained schools is also severely constrained by rules supposedly stopping ‘interference’ from town halls, and there is no reason not to untie the hands of councils so swift action can be taken. Councils, as local champions of children and young people, their families and their communities, are best placed to provide the local oversight needed to continue to drive up standards and ensure that all children and young people have fair access to a good local school. • For more on regional school commissioners and a map of the areas they will cover, see www.education.gov.uk
Cllr David Simmonds is Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board.
FIRST FEATURE
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Economic growth, the environment, transport and procurement are among the areas of local government work that will be affected by the activities of the EU, writes Cllr Clarence Barrett
European priorities This year is set to be an interesting one for all things ‘EU’, with European Parliament elections in May and a new commission appointed in the autumn. Since many laws created in Brussels have a regulatory, financial or administrative impact on the services councils provide and procure, it is important we are on top of developments. Working with you to evidence our lobbying in Brussels and Whitehall, we’ll keep focused on the job to secure the best possible deal for councils. The recently published 2014 EU work programme introduces several proposals for EU policy and legislation which will be of interest to councils.
Growth My primary concern will be ensuring the new seven-year round of EU funds gets spent to maximum effect locally to support residents into jobs and create local growth. Every pound spent matters. Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are now in the driving seat, but quite how much autonomy local areas will have depends on how much control central government will seek and how easily it will allow local areas to deliver projects which benefits from different EU funds. LEPs and government should be ambitious and open to try new delivery models, and the LGA will continue to lobby for maximum devolution. EU environmental legislation is also waiting in the wings. This year the EU will publish a ‘framework for climate and energy policies’ and an initiative on ‘resource efficiency and waste’. My aim is to ensure that any new subsequent regulation in the fields of energy, waste, and air quality is manageable for councils. We will specifically underline that EU waste and energy targets must be realistic in the current financial climate. Councillors should also be aware that the EU procurement rules will change. A new directive will come into force in 2015/16. LGA lobbying last year achieved a more streamlined and flexible set of rules. We ensured, for example, that councils sharing in-house services will be exempt from the rules for the first time. Pooling services freely will help make efficiency savings in line with the LGA’s Rewiring Public Services campaign (see www.local.gov. uk/campaigns).
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The EU is also increasingly active in transport policy. A package on sustainable urban mobility, published at the end of last year, encourages a new local transport planning process based on EU guidance. The LGA has helped to ensure that councils still have local flexibility in this area. Our other EU priorities for 2014 include issues around licencing fees and proposals for an EU format for birth, marriage and death certificates. New EU rules on protecting personal data have also been poorly drafted and will require lobbying to ensure exemptions for councils. Finally, we will also be looking beyond Europe. Following local government lobbying, the EU has now recognised local government as a key partner in delivering its future international aid commitments. This is important to councils in developing nations as most are interested in support from local government practitioners rather than from expensive consultants. I hope this gives you a taste of the issues we will be working on. Our EU work is especially important given the Localism Act 2011 could lead to EU fines being passed onto councils. • For more information about the LGA’s EU work, please contact dominic.rowles@local.gov.uk
Cllr Clarence Barrett is Chair of the LGA’s European and International Board
Pioneering neighbourhood resolution panels are helping reduce offending rates and tackling local disputes, writes Cllr Joanna Spicer
e v i t a r o t s Re e c i t jus Giving people the chance to look offenders in the eye and explain the impact a crime has had on their lives not only provides catharsis to the victim but also allows the offender to understand at first-hand the damage their actions have caused.
The case for restorative justice is a strong one with early research of local schemes showing it is improving victim satisfaction and helping reduce reoffending rates. Restorative justice is being delivered by councils through a number of pilot neighbourhood resolution panels which, facilitated by community volunteers, agree what action should be taken to deal with certain types of low-level crime and disorder. These can include mediating restorative meetings between offenders and victims and hosting community conferences. Referrals to panels can be made by the local community, by local authorities and social landlords, and by community safety partnership (CSP) teams. Panel members are trained volunteers from the local community and CSPs have a role in the management, oversight and scrutiny of panels.
Panels pioneered in Somerset, Sheffield and Manchester are achieving remarkably low re-offending rates, of between 3 and 5 per cent, and high victim satisfaction rates. Wigan Council’s restorative justice scheme has reduced the number of firsttime offenders by 80 per cent over the past six years, while West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson has been so impressed by the 86 per cent success rate in Bradford that he hopes to roll out the system across the county.
Commitment The panel in Sussex differs in that it is embracing both criminal and non-criminal matters, such as housing disputes and public nuisance, and can be triggered by community safety or criminal justice partners and by communities themselves. The Government has demonstrated a welcome commitment to restorative justice by announcing £29 million of funding will be made available for local schemes over the next three years. The Crime and Courts Act 2013, which came into force last December, is also giving courts the power to defer the passing of a sentence so that restorative justice can take place for the first time – assuming the victim and offender are both willing to participate.
A new Victims’ Code will also help ensure victims are better heard and make the police, courts, and other agencies more responsive to their needs, because it sets out how victims can navigate the criminal justice system more easily than before.
Personal statement One of the key changes is the right for a victim to describe the way the crime has affected them, in the form of a victim personal statement read out in court. This will help build on the existing success of restorative justice pilots and hand victims and communities a vital say in how justice is delivered. The UK’s first ever national standards and Restorative Service Quality Mark for restorative services were launched on 29 January by the Restorative Justice Council, to help give confidence to those victims involved in the restorative justice process that effective practice is taking place. More information is available at www.rjc.org.uk
Cllr Joanna Spicer is Vice-Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board
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PARTNERS
PARLIAMENT
What do you Protecting consumers need to know? With local government challenged by austerity, and by imperatives such as local economic growth, demographic change and a shifting role for local democracy, research may not be on the elected member’s mind. Yet reliable knowledge is a valuable tool to informed decision making. The Local Government Knowledge Navigator programme aims to help. Government invests large sums in research, but local government has little influence on, or benefit from, this investment in knowledge, despite clear knowledge needs. The programme is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and steered jointly with the LGA and Society of Local Authority Chief Executives. One output is the new local government ‘Need to know’ series. These are accessible, local government oriented, summaries of research findings on topics identified as priorities by the sector. The first review, ‘What councils need to know about people with learning disabilities’, prepared by Dr Paula Black, was published last month and is available at www.local.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing-research.
The review responds to reports of increased demand for support for people with learning disabilities by providing an overview of what the research base tells us about the scale and trends in the need for support, and about good practice in responding, together with links to the research for those who want to learn more. Further reviews are due in coming months, including on local economic growth, public health, the opportunities offered by digital technologies, and future models for local government finance. We hope that each review will inform, trigger debate and foster collaboration between researchers and local government. Feedback and ideas for future reviews are welcome: please email admin@ukrcs.co.uk with views and suggestions. Professor Tim Allen is a member of the Knowledge Navigator team, alongside Dr Clive Grace and Professor Steve Martin
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Since the last edition of first, the Government has introduced the Consumer Rights Bill which has implications for trading standards. Trading standards teams up and down the country work closely with businesses to ensure that their products are compliant with legislation; that the work of responsible businesses is recognised through risk-based inspection plans; and that burdens on businesses are reduced as much as possible. The LGA, on behalf of member councils, supports the Consumer Rights Bill’s overarching objective of minimising burdens on business. The Bill seeks to achieve this through introducing a requirement to provide 48 hours written notice of routine business inspections. This is supported by the LGA’s vision for local regulation, ‘Open for business’ (available at www.local.gov.uk/ publications), which promotes the advance notification of business inspections wherever possible. However, the LGA did raise some concerns last year when the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee undertook prelegislative scrutiny of the legislation. The draft Bill, passed to them by the Government to scrutinise, would have placed restrictions on the ability of trading standards officers to undertake unannounced inspections where they have reasonable grounds to do so, for example because of a known risk relating to a business or type of activity. The LGA has been campaigning on this issue over the last six months, in partnership with the Trading Standards Institute. As a result of our efforts, the
Government has amended the Bill by introducing exemptions to the restrictions. The LGA and Trading Standards Institute are now encouraging the Government to develop guidance on these amendments, which would minimise doubt over when exemptions from the restrictions apply. This will ensure the Bill reduces burdens on businesses without jeopardising trading standards’ vital consumer protection work. Having been through prelegislative scrutiny, the Bill started its parliamentary journey this week with its second reading in the House of Commons, ahead of which the LGA briefed MPs. The LGA highlighted with parliamentarians that council regulatory services have two important functions: protecting local consumers and residents and supporting responsible businesses to thrive and grow. There was a wide-ranging debate on the Bill with Vince Cable MP (Lib Dem, Business Secretary) recognising that “local trading standards officers are crucial in implementing much of this legislation”, while Stephen Lloyd MP (Lib Dem, Eastbourne) asked the Secretary of State to note pressure on councils’ trading standards budgets. The LGA has campaigned to ensure the important investigatory work of trading standards officers is not impacted by this Bill and we are continuing to monitor the legislation’s progress through Parliament. • See www.local.gov.uk/ parliament
BY-ELECTIONS ANALYSIS
LAST WORD
Local factors Conservatives are understandably confused about their defeat to the Liberal Democrats in Lichfield’s Chadsmead ward. Amid good news about the economy, how could the party slip from first to fourth at a council byelection, thereby gifting the Liberal Democrats their only seat on the council? The problem, of course, lies with the assumption that every council election reflects the general rather than a specific local mood. As anyone who has stood for local election will confirm, the concerns of voters are many and varied. Some voters are tuned in to the national issues but a significant fraction are making vote choices that are determined by local events. So, a proportion of voters in Chadsmead, mainly but not exclusively erstwhile Conservatives, are turning towards UKIP – as many others have done over the past 12 months. Other voters, however, are showing a more immediate frustration with the former Conservative councillor, disqualified for failing to attend council meetings. Another consideration in explaining this result is Chadsmead itself. The electoral history shows that the ward has been closely contested since the current boundaries were introduced in 2003. At that election, the two seats were shared between Conservative and Labour but the latter lost its tenure at a by-election in 2005. In 2007 a Conservative and a Liberal Democrat were elected. It was only in 2011 that the Conservatives captured both seats.
And it is surely important that the Liberal Democrats fielded Marion Bland, a former councillor for the district council ward and currently an elected parish council member for Chadsmead. Candidates can and do make a difference, a detail which is often overlooked when people wish to draw conclusions about the electoral mood. This background story highlights the dangers about making generalisations about national trends from one or two by-election results. But there is one trend that we will comment upon; the return of the decline in electoral turnout. Prior to the mid-1990s, fewer than one in ten by-elections saw turnout fall below 20 per cent. Following Labour’s landslide victory in 1997, the proportion rose to nearer three in every ten contests only to recover in the years leading to the 2010 general election. Now, the trend is rising once again. In 2013, fewer than one in five electors voted in 18.4 per cent of all by-elections. The issue of non-voting is set to become part of a national debate as individual electoral registration is introduced. Campaigns aiming to persuade younger people on to electoral registers are beginning but registration is only half the battle – we need to understand more about why people are not voting.
Professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher are Directors of Plymouth University’s Elections Centre
Local by-elections Authority
Ward
Result
Swing % Turnout from/to (since) %
Amber Valley
Heanor East
Lab hold
8.5% Con to LD since 2012
Lichfield
Chadsmead
LD gain from 1.5% Lab to 19.0 Con Con since 2012
Southend-on-Sea
West Leigh
Con hold
For more details, see this story at www.local.gov.uk/first-news
8.5% Con to LD since 2012
18.6
26.2
The importance of planning A recent planning inspector’s ruling that Cambridge City Council’s refusal of a major redevelopment scheme was ‘irresponsible’ could land local taxpayers with costs of £340,000. How has this come about and what are the lessons to be learned? In 2008, Cambridge’s planning committee approved an outline scheme for the major redevelopment of an area around Cambridge rail station which envisaged, among other measures, the demolition of a Victorian terrace of town houses. Regrettably, in my view, the scheme was approved and the grandiose parameters of the station area redevelopment were laid down. Five years later, a major campaign to save the terrace from the bulldozers culminated at a decisive planning meeting where scores of vociferous residents cheered and applauded those councillors who spoke up to refuse demolition. To the ‘bewilderment’ of the appeal inspector, the application was, for the third time, refused and the committee further resolved not to offer any evidence in support of its decision. The appeal was granted and the council must pay the appellants’ costs in full. Local councils are currently under severe financial pressure and Cambridge is no exception. All the more regrettable, then, that as a result of the ill-advised actions of a handful of councillors the taxpayers of Cambridge, many on low incomes, must fork out huge sums for a lost cause. The administrative lessons of this sorry saga are, first, that planning meetings should be conducted with the same decorum and impartiality as a court of law. Second, planning committee members should periodically have to attend training sessions and demonstrate their understanding of planning practice. Third, where members intend overturning officer advice on a major application, its determination should be delayed to give councillors a further opportunity to consider the likely consequences of their actions. Fourth, councillors whose decisions trigger appeals should be required to defend them at the appeal hearing. And wouldn’t planning committees made up of a majority of councillors be strengthened if it were possible to add some ‘outsiders’ not appointed by political parties? Cllr John Hipkin (Ind) is a member of Cambridge City Council’s planning committee
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www.local.gov.uk/events EVENT FEATURE
Making the most of your cultural heritage
Event listings Our Place Champions Network launch event 10 March, London
Our Place brings local citizens, local public professionals and key stakeholders from business, voluntary and community groups together to design local public services and budgets around the needs of local people. Grants and support worth £4.3 million are available to help.
Future skills conference 17 March, London
Culture, heritage and sport define places and communities. They underpin economic growth by creating places where people want to live, work and visit. In tough financial times, how can we make the most of our culture, heritage and sport assets? You cannot shape a place, regenerate a community or deliver sustainable growth through infrastructure planning alone. The LGA’s work with councils has shown the huge potential of culture, heritage and sport to drive growth locally by creating jobs and revitalising places. Museums, libraries, the historic environment and sports facilities are magnets that help to attract residents, businesses and visitors into cities, towns and villages. They are also uniquely placed to bring people together and support community resilience in tough economic times –
for example, jobs and skills advice at public libraries, and engaging young people through sport and volunteering opportunities. However, councils’ investment in the cultural sector is under increasing strain in the context of the overall level of savings councils need to find. It is therefore more important than ever that we make the most of our culture, heritage and sport assets. This will be the theme of the LGA’s annual culture, tourism and sport conference, in partnership with the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association, taking place in Portsmouth from 3-4 March. Keynote speakers include Secretary of State Maria Miller MP; Sir Laurie Magnus, Chairman of English Heritage; Viscountess Cobham, Chairman of VisitEngland; Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair of the Arts Council; and Nick Bitel, Chairman of Sport England. • See www.local.gov.uk.events
EVENT NEWS
Local government’s annual conference The LGA’s annual conference and exhibition (Bournemouth, 8-10 July) is of vital importance to anyone working in, or wishing to work with, the local government sector, and is the biggest event in the local government calendar. It also is one of the biggest political conferences of the year, regularly attracting more than 1,200 delegates. It is essential
for council leaders and chief executives, senior officers, lead members and policy makers across all services provided by local authorities. The programme is currently under development but we can confirm that a senior cabinet minister will deliver one of the keynote plenaries. ` • See www.local.gov.uk/events
Significant changes are being made to the way adult skills policy and funding is commissioned and delivered. What else is needed to give local areas the levers to influence skills?
Health and wellbeing system improvement 19 March, London
National reflections from the Department of Health, Public Health England, the LGA and NHS England on progress with the locally-led health and wellbeing system one year on.
Climate local: delivering growth and supporting resilient communities 31 March, London
Councils are taking positive steps to deliver local economic growth, make savings, generate new sources of income and increase the resilience of local communities and businesses. Against these outcomes, councils continue to lead work in reducing carbon emissions and making their places, services and local economies more resilient to a changing climate.
For further listings visit www.local.gov.uk/events