Fortnightly Issue 5705 July 2014

News and views from the Local Government Association

P8 Conference preview

Local government is stronger, more confident and more respected

P10 Ambitious for children

Councils have a key role to play in the lives of children and young people, from the early years to age 25 and beyond

“Council finances are on a knife-edge and the old way of doing things – including the way we care for our elderly population – just won’t work anymore.”Sir Merrick Cockell, LGA Chairman, p3

P14 Parliament

Lobbying on the Infrastructure and Serious Crime Bills

P12 Efficient care

Strong political leadership is a key factor in delivering savings in adult social care

© Chris Sharp

2 FIRST NEWS

EDITORIAL

A good job

Editor Karen ThorntonDesign Liberata DesignAdvertising Nabeel SaeedWrite to first, Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZT (editorial) 020 7664 3294T (advertising) 020 7664 3157email first@local.gov.ukPhotography Photofusion and Ingimage unless otherwise statedPrint BGP Ltd, BicesterCirculation 18,400 (July 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.

05 PolicyHandyperson help for older people

06 LettersTaking voters for granted?

07 OpinionDefending localism in Wales

08 first featureLGA annual conference preview and innovation zone

11 EconomyHow councils can promote growth

13 Our placesResidents at heart of service redesign

15 Last wordEnglish interests in Europe

Inside this issue

‘Use fuel duty to fix potholes’

Investing fuel duty back into road maintenance would allow councils to bring our crumbling highways up to scratch within a decade, the LGA pledged today (Saturday).

The Government could inject a further £1 billion a year into roads maintenance by investing just 2p per litre of existing fuel duty. This should not be paid for by increasing fuel duty rates.

Such a move could help councils tackle the damage done to roads by recent harsh winters and decades of underfunding by successive governments, which has seen the national backlog of repairs rise to £12 billion – up £1.5 billion in the past year alone.

The Government has recently responded to council calls for extra funding for road repairs, including giving them a share of a £168 million fund to fix potholes last month.

However, this is not enough to free councils trapped in an endless

cycle of patching up roads, which is more expensive than longer-term preventative work.

Cllr Peter Box, Chair of the LGA’s Economy and Transport Board, said: “Our roads are in such disrepair that it will now take more than a decade and £12 billion to bring them up to scratch. Tackling this ever-growing national repair bill must be a priority.

“Reinvesting a small proportion of fuel duty would allow councils to bring our roads up to scratch over the next decade. Councils are fixing around two million potholes each year, despite funding cuts and multi-million pound compensation costs for pothole damage, but are trapped in an endless cycle of patching up our deteriorating network.

“Long-term and consistent investment and better use of motoring taxation is now desperately needed to allow councils to provide widespread improvement of our roads.”

At the LGA, we work for our members and their residents – and if our membership figures are anything to go by, you think we do a pretty good job. All bar two councils in England and Wales are LGA members and membership has increased under my chairmanship.

At the same time, the number of MPs who say we are effective in Parliament is the highest it’s ever been. This paints a picture of an organisation that is now taken more seriously than ever before by all those with a say in local government.

Councillors from all parties have shown they are unique in their ability to put local places above party politics – as I’ve tried to do throughout my chairmanship.

Rewiring Public Services, a campaign which looks at how services can be delivered differently, is a good example. Endorsed by all our political groups and a wide range of councils, it has changed the debate at a time when solutions were hard to come by. The old LGA would never have been capable of endorsing such a campaign wholeheartedly.

The LGA has shown that forceful, able politicians working together make local government stronger. After all, any government would prefer an inward-looking organisation arguing among itself to one with coherent policies making demands of national and local government.

As I bow out, my judgement is that both local government and the LGA are more effective and more in touch with those we serve than when I arrived three years ago. While there is much more for my successors still to do, I am confident there will be no return to the time when we would “cautiously welcome” everything and, as a result, fail to be taken seriously.Sir Merrick Cockell is LGA Chairman

3FIRST NEWS

‘Councils face £5.8bn funding gap’English councils will need to make huge savings before next April – equivalent to 12.5 per cent of their total budgets – to help close a £5.8 billion funding shortfall between March 2014 and the end of 2015/16.

The gap in council budgets will be caused by a combination of reduced government funding and rising demand on services, in particular from growing numbers of elderly people.

The LGA said its figures provide a stark warning that the successful integration of health and social care next year is vital to save the care system from collapsing. The funding gap in adult social care alone already amounts to £1.9 billion by 2015/16.  

In spite of cuts, local authorities will continue to try and protect spending on adult social care next year as much as possible – but that could be at the expense of popular services like buses, libraries and leisure centres.

Next April will mark a critical point for adult social care in England, with the pooling of £5.4 billion from councils and the health service in

the Better Care Fund (BCF). It aims to improve care for older people and reduce financial pressure on councils and the health system by stopping lengthy waits for discharge from hospitals and avoiding unnecessary admissions to care homes.

The BCF has the potential to significantly improve people’s quality of life in older age. But failure to quickly overhaul services and spending will tip councils, care services and the NHS into financial crisis, the LGA has warned.

“Council finances are on a knife-edge and the old way of doing things – including the way we care for our elderly population – just won’t work anymore,” said LGA Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell.

“The joined-up approach between councils and the health service will provide better support for less money, by cutting out the cost of failure.

“Next year will be a make or break moment for adult social care, for local services provided by councils and for the NHS. Neither councils, the NHS or England’s elderly can afford for this not to work.”

Broadband rollout

Construction work has begun to bring high-speed broadband to a West Oxfordshire village, after residents frustrated by slow internet speeds and patchy connections came together to look at how they could get a better service. Cllr Richard Langridge, Cabinet Member for the Local Economy and Communities at West Oxfordshire District Council (pictured, second left), said: “Every credit must be given to the collective determination, hard work and tenacity of the Northmoor Project Group for making this happen. We are acutely aware of how important it is to have a fast, reliable internet service, particularly for rural businesses.”

News in brief ADASS budget survey

The council-run care system for the elderly and disabled adults is becoming ‘unsustainable’, social services chiefs have warned. A survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services of 144 social care departments in England found savings of more than a quarter have had to be made since 2010. LGA Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell said: “This highlights why we urgently need the Government to commit to a bigger Better Care Fund that will join up funding between health and social care for the next five years, providing better support for less money.” (See left).

Growth reviewUp to £30 billion of central government funding should be devolved to local areas over the next Parliament, according to a growth review produced for the Labour Party by former minster Lord Adonis. LGA Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell said: “Local government has long been calling for greater fiscal devolution, a more localised approach to business rates and adult skills, and an end to overly complex and fragmented funding. It is encouraging to see that these have been recognised in this report. The current £2 billion Local Growth Fund fails to match the ambition councils have for playing a central role in economic growth. We will be keen to discuss these proposals with shadow ministers to ensure money is devolved without added bureaucracy and burdensome conditions.”

Strike actionLocal government workers will be among those striking next week (10 July), alongside teachers, fire fighters and civil servants, in disputes over pay and pensions. An LGA spokesman said strike action by local government unions was “disappointing”. “Local government staff have worked wonders while councils have been tackling the biggest funding cuts in living memory and we have no doubt that many will still be at work on the day of strike action. The pay offer we have made would increase the pay of most employees by 1 per cent while the lowest paid would receive an increase of more than 4 per cent. This is the fairest possible deal for our employees given the limits of what we can afford.”

“60% of authorities say they will not be able

to cover their 2015/16 budget gap with

future efficiencies alone.” “30% of authorities claim to have very little or no scope to reconfigure services further.”

According to the latest report by the LGA*, if action isn’t taken soon, the combination of fundingcuts and cost pressures will start to take its toll on council services within the next two years.

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If you are one of these authorities struggling with budget gaps, please get in touch to see how ourprogramme can help.

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* “Under Pressure – How councils are planning for future cuts”(May 2014)

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4 FIRST ADS

5

and needs to be changed. Manufacturers should be prevented from marketing a product as ‘low fat’ when they are actually laden with added sugar and salt.”

Call for evidenceAn independent commission is calling for written evidence from the business, faith and voluntary, public and local government sectors on the strengths and weaknesses of the current local government finance system. The commission, set up by the LGA and the Chartered Institute for Public Finance, is looking for better ways to fund local services and promote economic growth in England – and practical solutions for changing the finance system that can be implemented by an incoming government from

services they need.” See www.local.gov.uk/first-blogs

Food labellingThe misleading marketing of so-called ‘healthy’ food products which are high in fat, sugar and salt should be banned by the European Commission, the LGA has said. It wants Brussels to strengthen the rules governing health and nutrition claims on foods, including some so-called healthy ‘low fat’ supermarket foods that are actually high in sugar and salt. Cllr Katie Hall, Chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Our concern is shoppers, who are trying to do the right thing and buy healthier options, are not being given the full picture. They are therefore unwittingly buying unhealthy products. In our view, this is wholly wrong

May 2015. All information will be treated confidentially, and evidence should be submitted by Friday 15 August using the form on the commission’s website at www.localfinancecommission.org/submissions. A final report will be published in early 2015.

Joint use Buildings which are no longer affordable as single-use facilities could be saved from closure if public bodies such as councils and emergency services share their land and buildings, a new LGA study has found. Cllr Peter Fleming, Chair of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board, said: “Councils have a long track record of rationalising their estates and of getting value for local taxpayers. In particular, we can see the benefits of councils working with the emergency services and other public sector organisations. Savings made through asset management can be invested into public services for the benefit of the community. There is also a real potential for local economic growth.”

New director appointedThe LGA, with the the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services), has appointed Sarah Mitchell to succeed Oliver Mills as Director of the Towards Excellence in Adult Social Care programme. The programme helps councils improve their performance in adult social care through a sector-led improvement approach. Ms Mitchell, a former social care director, said: “Sector-led improvement is how modern, thoughtful leaders ensure constructive challenge can result in the delivery of high quality services and I am pleased to be able to support adult social care directors in this work.”

Community covenantsAll councils will have signed up to local Armed Forces Community Covenants by the end of this month, committing them to actively helping serving and ex-service people and their families integrate into the local community by providing help with housing, looking for employment and securing places at local schools for their families. Sir Merrick Cockell, LGA Chairman, said: “As Honorary Squadron Colonel of 41 (PLK) Signals Squadron, it is really encouraging that all councils will have signed up to the Community Covenant. It is a clear sign of how committed councils are to promoting the work of the armed forces and ensuring that men and women who selflessly dedicate their careers to protecting our country can access the

Adult social care

Handyperson servicesOlder and vulnerable people in England are being given help to remain independent in their homes for longer through a range of council-run initiatives. The LGA has been highlighting the schemes, including handyperson services which provide eligible older or vulnerable residents with free or low-cost vetted staff to carry out home repairs and other tasks. Cllr Katie Hall, Chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Any scheme which helps people to live more independently and safely in their own homes for longer can make a real difference to their lives. By providing these services, councils are helping residents and preventing accidents from happening around the home, as well as allowing the care system some respite.”

firstpolicy

FIRST POLICY

Armed forces

Finance

Adult social care

Building assets

Public health

6 FIRST COMMENT

Brandon Lewis MP (DCLG)“@Sir_MRC has been a fantastic Chairman of the @LGANews representing local govt. Good to see so many honour him at LGA house.”www.twitter.com/BrandonLewis

Cllr Vince Maple (Lab, Medway)“Just received my #LGAConf14 documents, will be a great week with David Sparks becoming Chair of LGA & @CllrJimMcMahon new @LGA_Labour leader.”www.twitter.com/vincemaple

Bryony Houlden (Chief Executive, South West Councils)“Good debate at @LGANews @wig @SWCouncils income generation event. Local authorities trusted to deliver advice on – ‘Trade on good brand’.”www.twitter.com/BryonyHoulden

Guy Parckar (Head of Policy, Leonard Cheshire)“Stark warning from @LGANews about massive pressures on social care budgets. local.gov.uk/web/guest/fina...Demand increasing, budgets falling.”www.twitter.com/GuyParckar

Cllr Mark Perks (Con, Chorley) “Armed Forces Day – mighty proud of our services at home & around the world!”www.twitter.com/CllrMarkPerks

sound bites

In ‘Green gains’ (first 568), Professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher rightly point out that turnout was higher in council wards where there was a by-election at the same time as the May European vote.

The ward that I have just won, South Cosford in Babergh District Council, achieved 55 per cent turnout – I believe the highest of any ward in the country on 22 May.  

Why? Residents had at least three district council candidates knocking on their doors. They were told about the election and told about the choices and many of them got to meet and talk to the candidates. Then they talked about it

with their friends and neighbours. They realised that the candidates

were real people, not just party political puppets, and that they had a real opportunity to affect the outcome. “If you’ve bothered to come to my door, I’ll bother to vote”, was the general response. 

Democracy is alive and well at the local level, but only if the candidates do the leg work. It is not the electorate that has turned its back on political parties, it is some of the members of the political parties who have begun to take their votes for granted.

Cllr Robert Lindsay (Green)Babergh District Council

STAR LETTER

Taking voters for granted?

letters

Do you have a blog or a Twitter account we should be following? Let us know. Email first@local.gov.uk

7FIRST COMMENT

OPINION

Localism defence

Cllr Bob Wellington CBE is Leader of the WLGA and Torfaen County Borough Council

Educating young votersPerhaps more young people might vote in government elections if they understood why they should (p7 opinion, first 568).

The state education system should include interactive teaching on essential aspects of life especially how our country works, the framework of modern life in Britain.

Our children need a far more rounded secondary education, otherwise they are reliant on snippets they glean from newspapers or the media (generally one-sided, concentrating on failure or complaint); comments from grown-ups; or hearsay – hardly an auspicious start on any subject.

Home economics, health and wellbeing, basic economy, principles of capitalism, democracy (and others) should be added. Opportunities to thread these through the academic curriculum should be grasped, to illustrate the relevance of subjects and why we already teach these.

The school day should be extended (to fit most parents’ working day) to accommodate the enlarged curriculum. Then when youngsters leave school, as well as being able to read, write and add up, they know how their world works, what they might want to do, how to do this and become independent and, when you know something about it, why voting is important.

Cllr Jane Warmington (Con) Taunton Deane Borough Council

Enforcing parkingThe recent letter from Cllr Mike Wall concerning parking enforcement by local authorities (first 568) struck a chord with me as I have only recently won a traffic penalty tribunal against Wyre Borough Council.

Earlier this year my severely disabled wife parked our wheelchair-adapted vehicle in a central car park. I put the blue badge and clock on

the windscreen, but when reading the conditions of parking with a blue badge failed to notice that they only applied if parked in a designated bay.

On our return from our first ever shopping trip to the town, I saw that we had been given a penalty charge notice Not wishing to leave my wife alone for too long had missed the crucial condition. I wrote to the council on a number of occasions pointing out the circumstances but they continued to pursue the case.

We eventually ended up at a tribunal where the adjudicator allowed my appeal on the grounds that there was procedural impropriety by the council because it failed to show that it had considered the reason for my genuine mistake.

I have to therefore agree with Cllr Wall that local authorities need to restrict parking enforcement to only what is necessary and to get rid of abusive, excessive or rapacious policies.

Cllr Geoff Almond (Lab) St. Helens Council

Health and landlords On reading first 569, two subjects were highlighted that are of interest to me. Firstly, the effect on health of alcohol and my frustration at not being able to consider health as a licencing objective when dealing with applications to the licencing committee on which I sit. I hope the private members bill presently put forward to address this has full support across the House and is successful in helping councils have some control on this issue.

Secondly, the abuse of tenants and neighbours by bad landlords and the need for more effective means of controlling them is most important with the rise of more and more private rented housing. Their presence and scant regard for authority is becoming more evident lately.

Cllr Ron Arundale (Con)Middlesbrough Council

The strongest impression left by last month’s Welsh LGA conference was the resounding ‘no’ which echoed around our audience following the question ‘has local government been consulted on its future?’

In January, a commission on public services published 64 recommendations including council reform and mergers. A difficult but productive debate to frame a new vision for local government was anticipated. This dialogue has not happened.

Six months later there is confusion, and a vitally important debate on public services has become a ‘paint it by numbers’ approach to council boundaries. Meanwhile, an indicative 1.6 per cent cut to local government budgets expected for 2015/16 will now be a far more drastic one of up to 4.5 per cent. 

It is now clear that we simply can’t continue to have a ‘business as usual’ approach, with special pleading from Assembly Members and lobby groups outlining how councils must make difficult decisions except in those service areas which they themselves promote. Following this route means councils could become empty vessels reflecting back on the ‘glory days’ when they delivered over 700 functions. It is time for a radical rethink on what local government can realistically prioritise and deliver.

To shape this, WLGA members have unanimously endorsed ‘In Defence of Localism in Wales’. It argues that we need a national conversation in Wales, not least in terms of what it will mean if NHS funding grows from 42 to over 60 per cent of the current Welsh budget by 2025.  

Equally, the idea that local government reorganisation in 2020 offers a ‘silver bullet’ to solve the challenges of austerity amounts to wishful thinking. What we need is a radical devolution of power to councils and communities alongside the flexibilities required to successfully navigate the current financial storm.

To achieve this, the Welsh Government must offer a more mature form of devolution that pushes power from Cardiff Bay, accepts managed difference across Wales, ends hypothecated grants and fully engages local government in determining its own future.

While local councils recognise the need for change, local government remains a force for good. People trust local government to deliver on the services and issues that matter the most, and it is time that we all began to recognise that.

letters

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

8 FIRST FEATURE

Back in 2011, looking out over a sea of faces at the LGA’s annual conference in Birmingham, I made a pledge to be part of a renaissance of confidence in local government.

As I prepare to hand over the LGA chairmanship to Cllr David Sparks, I believe that local government is stronger, more confident and more respected today than when I took up the reins.

But I have not done this on my own. It’s by working together that we have told a better story about local government.

Around 77 per cent of people trust their local council more than government to make decisions about services in their local area. And working with LGA leadership, members and officers has helped to make us and our work relevant to our member councils. Without you, we would not exist, and you have contributed much both to our direction and flagship projects like Rewiring Public Services.

Campaigns On legislation, our campaigning resulted in a government

commitment to devolve spending decisions on European Structural and Investment Funds, with the board making these choices dominated by local government. This will mean £5.3 billion of EU funding targeted at local areas across England by 2020.

On top of this, we have helped local authorities play a full role in health and social care through the Better Care Fund, and helped local councils recover over £1 billion from the failed Icelandic banks.

We have come a long way together since 2011, but it has not been an easy ride. Indeed, the fact that we have achieved so much in some of the toughest times in living memory makes our successes all the more impressive. No other part of the public sector has contributed so much, with councils having to find £20 billion in savings by the end of this Parliament.

This was our starting point for the Rewiring Public Services campaign which I launched at last year’s annual conference. At its heart, it was about doing things differently when it comes to public services. It was about changing our relationship with Whitehall, making the most of local authorities’ unique, local knowledge to drive growth and deliver services more efficiently.

It opened up the debate on English devolution and scrapping the outdated Barnett Formula. In countries like Sweden or

France, or even nearer to home in Scotland and Wales, the kind of local powers we called for would just be seen as common sense. England remains one of the most centralised countries in the developed world.

Since last year’s conference, we have debated the campaign with hundreds of councillors around the country – from Exeter in the south west to Newcastle in the north east – changing the debate on public services for good. Our next task will be to turn the ideas within Rewiring into reality.

This will be no easy task. To finish what we have started, the LGA must continue on the cross-party path I have tried to tread these past few years. Sometimes this will mean putting the basic needs of local residents above the whims and desires of national party politics.

But I am confident that in Cllr David Sparks, the LGA will have its own champion – one single voice for all local government – for councillors from all parties, all types of authority and all over the country.

This time next week, our annual conference will be over and there will be little more than 300 days until the general election. This year we will be outlining steps we would like the next government to take from day one. From helping younger people find their own home to making sure older people enjoy a healthy and independent life, we will be proposing local solutions to raise living standards for local residents and their families.

You will hear more about this new and exciting vision at next week’s annual conference (see www.local.gov.uk for updates if you are not attending), and in the next edition of first.

For my part, I believe local government is taken more seriously today than it was three years ago. I am also proud to have used my time as chairman to speak out for worthy campaigns at national level – like Dementia Friends – just as thousands of councillors get involved with charities in their local area every day.

We have come a long way together and I wish local government and the LGA all the very best for the future.

Conference preview

Sir Merrick Cockell is LGA Chairman

More than 1,000 delegates from across local government will attend the LGA’s 18th annual conference in Bournemouth next week. You can find out more about conference and its new and improved Innovation Zone opposite. But below, outgoing LGA Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell argues local government is stronger, more confident and more respected than three years ago

The Innovation Zone One of the highlights of last year’s LGA

annual conference was the launch of the Innovation Zone.

This year, the zone will run a full programme of events over all three days of the conference, showcasing how councils are innovating to improve services, make savings and address local challenges.

With the help of leading local politicians, the zone will present a variety of successful council approaches to political leadership, service redesign, transformation, demand management, and data and technology, across a wide range of services.

This year the focus is very much on the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’ of innovation, so councillors can take away key points and learning that can be replicated in their own local authorities.

The Innovation Zone programme will kick off with three sessions on political leadership, looking at its importance in driving innovation within councils, the future role of local elected leaders, and how society’s expectations of how councillors work with communities are shifting as a result of social media. Nine council leaders will be among the contributors to the discussions, facilitated by Cllr Peter Fleming, Chairman of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board.

Five leaders of councils with shared chief executives will debate how they

are making transformation a reality and reshaping public services by sharing new ways of working, working together to shape and deliver better outcomes for communities, and cooperating across boundaries and tiers without compromising local democracy.

Other zone sessions will look at service redesign, including the first youth support mutual and sharing ICT across a council and clinical commissioning group; demand management, including whole organisation approaches and foster care recruitment; and technological and digital innovation, including support for older lone adults via ipads and promoting digital democracy.

For details of these and other sessions, visit the Innovation Zone section at www.local.gov.uk/annual-conference

9FIRST FEATURE

Around 1,100 local government delegates will hear from more than 140 speakers at the LGA’s 18th annual conference, taking place in Bournemouth from 8 to 10 July at a pivotal time in the run-up to the next general election.

If you’re not attending, you can keep up with the latest news from the biggest local government event of the year via the LGA’s website (www.local.gov.uk) and by following #LGAConf14 on Twitter.

We also have a free conference app, available now to download to your smart phone or tablet, giving access to the full conference agenda, campaign information and LGA activity through our social media streams.

To download the app, either scan the QR code (see below) or download the ‘LGA Conference 2014’ app from your app store (Android and Apple compatible). Once you have downloaded the app, please register to receive notifications and remember to refresh the app each day.

Photos: © Chris Sharp

10 FIRST FEATURE

When the LGA set out to make real our vision for rewiring children’s services, we asked those who most closely felt the impacts of what such services are doing: children and young people.

With the help of the British Youth Council, nearly 300 children were asked what ambitions they had. In the answers which came back, by far the most prominent issues were ‘education’ and ‘opportunities’. We also asked our member authorities and partners in the public and voluntary sectors for their views on how to rewire these services.

Aspirations The consultation shaped ‘Our Ambition for Children’, an LGA

publication which will be launched at annual conference next week. It sets out local government’s ambitions and provides the launch pad for local discussions about joining up services for children and young people around their needs and aspirations.

We are relentlessly ambitious for all our children and young people to fulfil their potential. From early years until age 25, councils have a role to play in their lives. We want to see children’s services in which all those whose work impacts on children come together to achieve these ambitions. We hope the report’s recommendations will provide a framework for

commissioning children’s services by councils and partners.

Even before children start school, councils have a role

to play in early years and supporting mums and dads, both in terms of making sense of a confusing landscape of provision which needs to be better joined-up and, if necessary, with early help and intervention if things are going wrong at home.

Schools play a huge role in providing children

with the best possible start in life. We want to see the end

of wasteful Whitehall duplication in funding local schools, with

local decision making driving the way

Ambitious for children

Councils have a key role to play in the lives of children and young people, from the early years to age 25 and beyond, writes Cllr David Simmonds

Cllr David Simmonds is Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board

funding is allocated. Maintained schools currently  get £720 less per pupil than academies; we want to see equitable funding across the board.

We also want to play a robust role in driving up standards in local schools; as schools are given more freedom, it becomes more important that they are held to account. The current two-tier system is not sustainable. With their local knowledge, councils are best placed to intervene at an early stage in all schools in their area, and need to be able to do so without asking permission from Whitehall.

Meanwhile, councils are playing a key role in the implementation of special educational needs and disabilities reforms, which give them overall responsibility for children and young people using the system in their area. 

And councils have a key role to play in ensuring young people over 16 are in education, employment and training. We want government to allow councils to take the lead locally on all these schemes.

Councils’ leadership and partnership roles will be essential to the success of delivering these shared ambitions. We have a responsibility to represent and protect the interests of all children, young people and families in our areas, and the ambitions we hold for children stretch beyond children’s services into the communities in which young people live.

From conversations with our members I know the excellent work going on in councils to ensure children’s services are joined up and focus on the needs of local children and young people.

We firmly believe these ambitions are achievable; we look forward to public services being rewired so we can deliver them.

Against a backdrop of an economic climate still deeply defined by the aftermath of recession and a national policy agenda centred on significant cuts to public spending, what are the most effective ways in which local authorities can stimulate local economic development?

A new review, of more than 100 academic and other research reports and reports from government and other organisations, comes up with some interesting conclusions.

First, it weighs up the evidence behind broad approaches to local economic development. For example, is it better to focus on attracting inward investment or helping existing small businesses to grow? Concentrating on your own area or competing with others?

What makes your local area different matters, it concludes. Generic approaches to local economic development which disregard local identity and culture are unlikely to succeed.

Local economic development should be focused on growing and nurturing existing businesses rather than simply attracting inward movements of companies and capital from other locations. In general, policies which support local firms to grow and invest, improve local skills and ensure local residents are able to play an empowered role in their communities should be

prioritised over policies targeted exclusively at attracting inward movement of firms and investment, such as relaxed planning zones or tax incentives.

Building the local business base makes an area more attractive to inward movements of capital from elsewhere, while ensuring the existing local population is equipped to benefit from any resulting economic benefits. A focus on competitiveness can distract attention from the job of helping local companies expand, which is, in fact, one of the most effective ways of attracting new capital from elsewhere.

Evidence Secondly, the review considers the

evidence on specific policies to stimulate local economic development, from apprenticeships to urban design and living wages to procurement.

Local skills policy is perhaps the most important lever for local economic development, it concludes. Local authorities can play a valuable direct role in creating apprenticeships by providing in-house schemes and using the power of procurement to encourage suppliers to do the same; enhancing adult training; capitalising on the role of universities and research; facilitating collaboration to raise educational attainment, and acting as a conduit between employers, learners and skills providers.

An important but often overlooked set of levers are those relating to community-led development. Local authorities have a range of roles here, from paying a living

wage to supporting community groups, culture and the arts. Supporting small businesses is a key lever of local economic development, particularly in rural locations.

Other areas offering opportunities for investment and growth include transport, housing, planning and procurement.

Overall, the review suggests the most successful levers of local economic development are those embodied in the core work of local government – ensuring people are healthy, skilled, employed, safe, mobile and engaged with their communities.

In the current climate, the evidence indicates that local government’s core responsibilities to safeguard the welfare of its citizens are the most effective tools for promoting local economic development.

11FIRST FEATURE

This is a summary of ‘The levers of local economic development’, part of the ‘Need to Know’ series commissioned by the Local Government Knowledge Navigator. ‘Need to Know’ reports are summaries of available research and evidence relevant to topics that have been identified as priorities by local government. The LGA, SOLACE, and the Economic and Social Research Council sponsor the Local Government Knowledge Navigator. This is a two-year programme exemplifying how local government can benefit more from public investment in research. Email david.pye@local.gov.uk for more information

Helping residents improve their skills and local businesses to grow are effective ways for councils to stimulate economic development, according to a new review of research evidence

Levers of growth

12 FIRST FEATURE

Strong political leadership is a key factor in delivering savings in adult social care, according to a new LGA report

Councils spent £19 billion on adult social care in 2012/13, accounting for around 40 per cent of a typical council’s budget – and its largest area of controllable spending.

However, grant funding will have been cut by 40 per cent over this parliament and spending is projected to continue falling. In addition to these unprecedented financial pressures, councils are also under pressure from demographic change, new legislation around social care, new public health responsibilities and fundamental changes to the local government finance system.

In response to these challenges, the LGA, in partnership with the Department of Health and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services), launched the Adult Social Care Efficiency (ASCE) Programme. This £1 million programme is helping councils develop innovative and transformational approaches to making the efficiency savings required in adult social care to meet the challenge of reduced funding.

ChallengesOver a third (54) of upper tier

councils have participated in the three-year programme, which ends this month. A final report, due out shortly, shares learning on the transformational solutions they have adopted to tackle the challenges facing them – now, and for the next three years, when the financial challenge is expected to be greater.

Most participating councils were required to deliver savings of between 8 and 10 per cent over the three-year period. Evidence suggests that councils will need to deliver 3 per cent savings annually to meet competing demands from inflationary and demographic pressures alone.

LessonsSome have had to make savings

significantly above this level and feel that they can make no further savings without putting their basic services for vulnerable people at risk.

The big lessons emerging from the programme include: • Agreeing a new contract with

citizens and communities. Hackney’s Promoting Independence Commitment Statement is clear, bold and brave in setting out what citizens can expect from the council and what the council expects from citizens. The approach contributes significantly to the council’s four-year plan to save over £20 million from its adult social care budget.

• Managing demand for state-funded care. Calderdale’s integrated ‘Gateway to Care’ helps the customer find a solution to their problem, focusing on prevention, early intervention and safeguarding. Over 97 percent of contacts received short-term support without the need for a formal assessment or on-going support.

• Transforming services. People2people is a social enterprise that delivers adult social care for Shropshire County Council. Rooted firmly in the community, it offers a vision that challenges the culture of dependency and expectation that can be perpetuated by traditional models of care.

• Improving commissioning, procurement and contract management. Wiltshire Helped to Live at Home service operates an outcomes-based approach to commissioning, paying providers to achieve outcomes that improve independence. Efficiency savings now exceed £11 million.

• Developing more integrated services. Northumberland has saved £5 million through its integrated model of care with Northumbria Health Care Foundation Trust. The approach has seen a 12 percent reduction in residential care and steady demand for domiciliary care.

Overarching all these activities and approaches is strong leadership and direction. This is cited as a key success factor that distinguishes between councils and the level of savings that they are managing to achieve. Those councils where politicians have agreed a clear direction find it easier to deliver the savings required.

Further findings from the LGA ASCE programme will be available shortly in its final report – email Amanda.Whittaker-Brown@local.gov.uk for more details. You can also find out more at an LGA ASCE event taking place in London on 17 July – see www.local.gov.uk/events

Efficient care

13

Councils are putting residents at the heart of redesigning local public services, writes Cllr Peter Fleming

Many of my fellow councillors will have followed with great interest the Neighbourhood Community Budgets (NCB) pilot programme, which was launched by government in 2012.

Covering issues as diverse as promoting healthy lifestyles and tackling antisocial behaviour, 12 pilot neighbourhoods began working across their communities and collaborating with partners to address local priorities and co-design services.

Late last year, the Department for Communities and Local Government made £4.3 million available to expand the programme and support new areas wishing to adopt this approach.

The renamed ‘Our Place’ support programme was launched in December 2013. Led by Locality, the national network for community-led organisations, in partnership with the LGA, it is promoting a neighbourhood way of working that brings together the right people to tackle local issues and revolutionise the way an area works.

Leading role More than 120 areas have already

been accepted onto the scheme, covering one in 23 of the English population, and it is encouraging that councils are already playing a key role in the programme – either leading, or working in partnership, to

support a community group at the helm. Neighbourhoods are currently only

three months into the programme, but already we are seeing some ambitious plans and innovative work.

For example, Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council is partnering with the community in a local neighbourhood, Age UK, the local clinical commissioning group, carers’ centres, and a housing trust to tackle the difficult issue of older people living in isolation.

Local services The project aims to enhance local

services while decreasing the demand on GP and emergency services by working with partners to identify those older people who are socially isolated. It complements local service delivery with community-led befriending services and is training local businesses on how to act upon potential signs of isolation.

Leicester City Council is working with residents in Beaumont Leys ward to give them the chance to remodel local services and plan future ones. A fundamental component of the project will be the creation of a community forum that seeks to connect all public service agencies with local people. The forum will lead on the implementation of an operational plan detailing how the local services prioritised by local people will be transformed.

And Sutton is working to turn Central Sutton into a ‘mental health-friendly community’, in which professionals, businesses and residents all play a role in pioneering an enhanced and more

preventative model for mental health recovery. The Central Sutton Mental Health Partnership is working with the community to develop new forms of mutual support that will reach those whose recovery from mental health conditions is held back by issues like unemployment and social isolation and who are not making progress through existing service pathways.

The Our Place programme shows how councils are willing to loosen their grip on the design and delivery of public services at a very local level, and put users at the heart of ensuring the best outcomes are achieved.

Increasing our communities’ involvement in the co-design of services to enable different forms of delivery will go a long way to redefining the relationship between citizens and the state.

If we can successfully reconnect people to local democracy, we stand a good chance of giving our residents a reason to participate in civic life and take the lead in their communities.

Cllr Peter Fleming is Chairman of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board

FIRST FEATURE

Our places

14 FIRST POLITICAL

PARTNERS

Candid cameraPARLIAMENT

Crime and infrastructure

Two new pieces of legislation announced in last month’s Queen’s Speech – the Infrastructure Bill and the Serious Crime Bill – had their Second Reading in the House of Lords last week.

The Infrastructure Bill’s Second Reading was opened by Liberal Democrat Baroness Kramer, Minister for Transport, who explained its key reforms: turning the Highways Agency into a government-owned company; increasing delivery speed for new infrastructure; and digitising property searches and local land charge information held by the Land Registry. She also said that the Government was considering amendments on the exploitation of shale gas resources and maximising the price from petroleum.

The LGA’s campaigning on this Bill focuses on ensuring the new strategic highways companies consult with local government and that community benefit and compensation packages for fracking are placed on a statutory footing. The LGA is opposing the proposals for deemed discharge of planning conditions and the transfer of responsibility for local land charges to Land Registry.

The debate on the Second Reading of the Serious Crime Bill ranged over its reforms to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the new offence of participating in the activities of organised criminal gangs, the criminalisation of child emotional abuse and its provisions on female genital mutilation (FGM). The LGA is lobbying on all these areas and

seeking amendments or clarification on their impact on local government.

In the debate, Baroness Smith of Basildon, who is leading on the Bill for the Opposition, asked the Minister, Lord Taylor, whether local authorities would be caught by the new offence of participation by, for example, provision of services to criminal gangs. The Minister did not reply and the LGA is seeking clarification.

As first went to press this week, both bills were starting their Committee Stages – a detailed examination of each clause over several sittings, when parliamentarians test the Government’s reaction to amendments, press for them by putting them to a vote, or seek clarification on the effect of the new clauses.

The LGA is asking for the clause in the Infrastructure Bill which transfers responsibility for local land charges to the Land Registry to be deleted, and for a host of amendments to the Bill’s planning provisions and to ensure close working between local government and the Highways Agency. On the Serious Crime Bill, the LGA is seeking clarification on the participation offence, and amendments to criminalise inciting and condoning the practice of FGM (to target those who advocate FGM for religious and cultural reasons) and to require a greater share of recovered criminal assets for affected communities.

Earlier this year, I was appointed Surveillance Camera Commissioner by the Home Secretary. I am an independent appointee whose role is to ensure surveillance camera systems such as CCTV and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) are used to protect and support communities rather than spy on them.

Local authorities must pay due regard to the surveillance camera code of practice (see www.gov.uk). It sets out 12 guiding principles, providing a coherent and comprehensive framework to enable good and transparent decision-making that gives the public confidence cameras are used appropriately.

Councils must make sure the surveillance camera systems they use to monitor public space such as town centres, for traffic enforcement and in places such as leisure centres and other public buildings, meet the principles in the code. Councillors are ultimately responsible for compliance and there’s a real risk for local authorities if they ignore the code. If they do, it could cause reputational damage through appearing unwilling to engage with the public or follow good practice.

Using cameras for traffic enforcement has been well publicised recently with accusations of over-zealous councils using them to raise money, and the Departments for Communities and Local Government and for Transport are legislating to ban the use of CCTV in some areas of traffic enforcement.

If the principles in the code are followed, local authorities can demonstrate that CCTV has been deployed where it’s the only viable way to enforce traffic regulations. I am working with government, local authorities and other interested parties to help them comply with the code, and can offer guidance and support.

I am keen to speak to councillors and visit local authorities to help them understand their responsibilities. Please get in touch with my office if you would like to arrange a meeting, visit or for more information – email scc@sccommissioner.gsi.gov.uk

Tony Porter is the Surveillance Camera Commissioner

15FIRST POLITICAL

Independents, of varying persuasions, feature prominently in this round-up of by-election results.

The headlines belong to the Lincolnshire Independents, who took two of the Sleaford wards on North Kesteven. The group fielded a candidate in the Quarrington and Mareham ward in 2011 but finished bottom of the poll, with two Conservatives and an Independent – whose resignation caused the vacancy – elected.

On the same day, Independents retained control of Rother’s Collington ward after repulsing the challenges from Conservative, Labour and UKIP candidates. In a familiar picture, it was UKIP that took votes away from the other candidates, securing 23 per cent of the vote having never contested the seat before.

Independents had less success, however, when losing a seat to the Conservatives in Soham South in East Cambridgeshire. The vacancy arose following the death of long-serving councillor John Palmer, who first joined the council in 1990 following another by-election. The following year he had the distinction of being one of five councillors elected unopposed for the Soham ward – the last council seat in England to elect five members.

Subsequently the seat was contested but invariably voters returned a mix of councillors from the main parties and Independents. Regrettably for students of electoral

trivia, in 2003 the ward was sub-divided into North and South, with Palmer initially contesting and winning in the North before transferring to South ward in 2011.

Some sources regard Stratford-on-Avon’s Southam ward as another Independent loss to the Conservatives. This is because the sitting councillor, David Wise, had declared himself an Independent in 2013 after leaving the local Conservative party. However, he stood and won as a Conservative candidate at the last election in 2011 and for this reason it goes into the Conservative ‘hold’ column.

Finally, there were two elections that were held over from the May elections following the death of candidates after the closing date for nominations. Labour easily held on to Colindale ward in Barnet, giving them three more councillors but still leaving the Conservatives with the smallest of council majorities. Compared with the 2010 result, Labour’s vote rose substantially while that for the Liberal Democrats declined markedly.

In the other postponed election, the Conservatives retained Swanwick ward with UKIP, again contesting for the first time, capturing almost a fifth of votes cast.

BY-ELECTIONS ANALYSIS

Independent voiceLAST WORD

English interests

Local by-elections

Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE (Con) is Leader of the UK Delegation to the Committee of the Regions and Leader of Tandridge Council

“Who is looking after the interests of English local government in Brussels?” The English members who represent the LGA on the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) are.

The CoR is a political assembly of local and regional councillors from all over Europe. Its core task is to scrutinise new EU laws for their impact on local councils. We check to see that they are absolutely necessary, do not tread on national competencies or impose unnecessary costs and red tape.

UK members in particular promote the concept of better lawmaking – probably obvious to you, but hardly second nature in Brussels!

Last week the CoR met, and our delegation raised a number of issues on your behalf. We responded to EU proposals to promote better urban mobility – helping to make city journeys easier and greener – arguing that binding targets should not be set, but left to local councils and national parliaments.

We also drafted the European local government contribution to UN negotiations on resiliance to natural disasters. It is important the EU and UN encourages the collection and sharing of data and best practice – and provides funding to local councils to help design and build safer structures to reduce risk.

Our work ensures an English influence. Unlike Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there is no specific English national representation in Brussels. The CoR enables English councillors to complement the work of the LGA Brussels Office and to collabrate with English MEPs seeking to influence EU decision taking.

Last week’s CoR meeting included a debate with former presidents and prime ministers to mark the CoR’s 20th anniversary. We concluded that the future of the EU – whether or not the UK has a place in it – is local. Councils must have a say in the new laws and policies that they implement, and have a role in designing and delivering new EU funding programmes to help regenerate our communities and stimulate growth.

The UK has 24 full members, of which the LGA nominates 15 via its political groups. The next five-year term starts in January 2015 and the selection process is starting now – contact your political group if you are interested (see www.local.gov.uk/political-groups).

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

For more statistics, see this story at www.local.gov.uk/first-news

Authority Ward Result Swing % from/to (since)

Turnout %

Amber Valley Swanwick Con hold 2.5 Con to Lab (2011)

31.2

Barnet Colindale 3 Lab holds 8.5 Con to Lab (2010)

27.8

East Cambridgeshire Soham South Con gain from Ind

6.6 Ind to Con (2011)

20.5

North Kesteven Sleaford Quarrington & Mareham

Lincs Ind gain from Ind

n/a 22.2

North Kesteven Sleaford Westholme Lincs Ind gain from Ind

n/a 25.1

Rother Collington Ind hold 2.0 Ind to Con (2011)

36.5

Stratford On Avon Southam Con hold 2.1 Con to Lab (2011)

22.5