First november 2016 first 605 web final

No.605 November 2016 www.local.gov.uk

the magazine for local government

Interview:

“The Government is removing local accountability from our education system” Angela Rayner MP, Shadow Education Secretary

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Autumn Statement Stabilising council finances

#OurDay Sharing the sector’s stories

Comment From care leaver to care worker

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www.local.gov.uk

Economic measures

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he Chancellor will be standing up in Parliament soon to deliver this Government’s first Autumn Statement.

In its submission to the Treasury on this key economic announcement, the LGA is calling for measures that will help put councils on a stable financial footing and give renewed momentum to devolution. You can read more about the submission in this edition of first and on our website, at www.local.gov.uk Elsewhere in the magazine, the LGA’s Children and Young People Board sets out its priorities for the coming year, including establishing a strategic and sustainable role for councils in education. You can also hear from Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner MP. The Councillor section takes a look at influencing skills while our Parliament section reviews the work of the LGA at the recent party conferences.

Please do also take the time to find out about #OurDay, the LGA’s annual tweetathon, on Tuesday 15 November.

Last year, more than 8,541 people took to Twitter to tell the world about all the good work we in councils do, day in, day out, to make the lives of our residents better.

For more information, see p15 and visit www.local.gov.uk/our-day Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

contents news

4 School improvement

5 Housing

Broadband

Welsh councils 6 Brexit latest

Party conferences

Council audit

Child protection Calais children

Write to first: Local Government Association Layden House, 76-86 Turnmill Street London EC1M 5LG Email first@local.gov.uk Tel editorial 020 7664 3294 Tel advertising 020 3859 7100

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.

November 2016

Shadow Education Secretary

“I’ve not seen a scrap of evidence that says selection is positive for anybody”

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Circulation 18,300 (October 2016) first is published online at www.local.gov.uk/first at least two days before the magazine. To unsubscribe email first@oscar-research.co.uk

18 Angela Rayner MP,

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Editor Karen Thornton

Photography Photofusion, Dreamstime and Ingimage unless otherwise stated Interview and cover Chris Sharp

interview

features

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8 Autumn Statement submission 10 Social care funding 11 Education role

for councils 12 Pupil premium 14 Fair funding 16 Up to speed 17 #OurDay – the LGA’s tweetathon

comment

23 From care leave

to care worker 24 LGA chairman and

group leaders 26 Modern slavery

Prison reform 27 Scrutiny: more than

a backstop 28 Running for others

Digital inclusion

regulars 7 Letters and sound bites 29 Councillor –

influencing skills 30 Parliament –

conferences round-up 31 Local by-elections

first contents | 3

‘No evidence’ on what works on child protection

news

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RSCs ‘lack capacity’ to improve failing schools Nearly half a million pupils are in academies that have been assessed by Ofsted as either inadequate or requiring improvement since conversion, according to LGA research.

The data highlights the scale of the challenge faced by civil servants responsible for academies, along with the better performance of council-maintained schools compared with academies in all areas. The LGA argues that this suggests a serious lack of capacity and capability within the civil service to press ahead with the Government’s school academisation agenda, which could risk children’s education.

A total of 45 per cent of sponsored academies are still awaiting their first full Ofsted inspection, and there are currently just eight regional schools commissioners (RSCs) responsible for almost a quarter of schools in England – more than 5,000 academies and free schools. Each RSC is working with, on average, nearly 100 academies rated less than good, or around one in six of the inspected schools they have responsibility for.

The LGA research highlights that councils perform better on school improvement, with 89 per cent of council-maintained schools rated as good or outstanding, compared with 62 per cent of sponsored academies, 88.5 per cent of convertor academies, and 82 per cent of free schools.

Despite the higher performance of council-maintained schools, the Education and Adoption Act 2016 gave RSCs parallel powers with councils to intervene in councilmaintained schools, with councils having to ask permission from RSCs before they use their powers to turn around failing schools.

The Government wants to see all schools become academies by 2022, with some being forced to convert if they are rated inadequate, or if their local authority is deemed ‘unviable’.

Councils’ legal role in overseeing and improving school standards could also come to an end under the Education for All Bill, due before Parliament early next year.

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Local councils have consistently proven themselves to be more effective at raising school standards than RSCs. Each council is working with fewer schools, who they have good, long-standing relationships with, and they know what’s needed in their local areas. It is simply asking too much to expect RSCs to effectively turn around dozens of schools across a huge area.

“We would urge the Government to reconsider its plans for full academisation and to focus on working with councils to ensure all our children get the excellent education they deserve.”

overnment actions since 2010 intended to improve the quality of help and protection services for children have not yet resulted in services being of good enough quality, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

The parliamentary watchdog also found the Department for Education (DfE) had no data on outcomes for children who have needed help or protection, except for educational outcomes – suggesting that neither government nor councils can therefore understand which approaches are the most effective.

Over the past 10 years, councils have seen a 124 per cent increase in serious cases where a child may be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. As of March 2015, 3 per cent (391,000) of under-18s in England were assessed as being in need of help or protection.

The NAO found that spending on children’s social work, including on child protection, varied widely and was not related to quality. Local partners such as the police and health services were also found to not fully understand the thresholds for accessing services.

Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “In 2008, 78 per cent of children’s services were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. It is notable that this figure has now dropped below 25 per cent, over a period in which child protection reform and improvement has been largely removed from local government and increasingly centralised within Whitehall instead. It’s vital to examine how DfE initiatives imposed on local authorities, such as children’s services trusts, are evaluated to check whether they are doing a better job of looking after vulnerable children, and use that evidence to develop future initiatives in partnership with councils.

“One of Ofsted’s key purposes is to help providers to improve, yet research commissioned by the LGA last year found that an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating actually created an incredibly difficult environment in which to make improvements.“

Calais camp children arrive in the UK

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ollowing the Government’s announcement that some children from the Calais refugee camp will come to the UK, the LGA has been working with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, London Councils and the regional strategic migration partnerships to develop the process, expectations of, and evaluate the impact on, councils.

The LGA has raised councils’ concerns with government at both ministerial and officer level, and the Department for Education has now written to all directors of children’s services to clarify the status of the children under the Children Act at various points in the process.

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On 13 October, the LGA held a summit with a range of representatives from both central and local government where government was pressed for greater financial certainty in the funding for unaccompanied asylumseeking children. The immigration minister confirmed the funding for unaccompanied children placed through the National Transfer Scheme would continue at the same level as a minimum in the next financial year, and would be subject to annual review.

The LGA will undertake further cost mapping to identify the true cost to councils and their partners, which will feed into this annual review process. www.local.gov.uk

Homelessness and house building As first was going to press, a revised version of the Homelessness Reduction Bill – which places new duties on councils to reduce homelessness – had been published and was due to go to its Second Reading in the Commons.

The LGA and Bob Blackman, the Private Member’s Bill’s sponsor, have been in discussions about the Bill, which had its First Reading in June LGA Chairman Lord Porter said: “After having worked closely with Bob Blackman, we are confident that the new Bill, if it does go through Parliament, will be in a better place.

“However, it is clear that legislative change alone will not resolve homelessness.

There is no silver bullet, and councils alone cannot tackle rising homelessness. The causes of homelessness are many and varied and range from financial to social.

“If we are all to succeed, then all new duties proposed in the Bill will need to be fully funded. Councils need powers to resume our role as a major builder of affordable homes.”

He added: “Councils want to end homelessness and are already doing everything they can within existing resources to prevent and tackle it.”

Meanwhile, the Government has announced a new £3 billion Home Builders Fund, to help get more houses built. It will provide loans for small and mediumsized builders, custom builders, off-site construction and essential infrastructure, to help build more than 25,000 new homes this Parliament and up to 200,000 in the longer term.

Ministers have also promised greater use of government and public sector land

he Government has announced funding reductions of around £200 million over two years for community pharmacies, leading to fears many could be forced to close.

The LGA and councils have pushed for pharmacies to remain at the heart of communities, amid concerns that closures could leave many isolated and vulnerable residents, particularly in deprived areas, struggling to access pharmacies for medicines.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Councils want every local area to have a strong community pharmacy network, particularly November 2016

House move

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he LGA is moving from its Westminster home to its other office in Farringdon, while Local Government House is refurbished.

Our new address, from Monday 31 October, will be care of Layden House, 76-86 Turnmill Street, London EC1M 5LG. Telephone and email contacts will remain unchanged.

‘Fair’ Welsh funding settlement

W for house building, and a Housing White Paper is expected later this year.

Lord Porter said: “House building is well below the levels required to solve our housing crisis. The private sector clearly has an important role to play but it cannot build the homes we need on its own and these measures to create a resurgence of small and medium-sized builders are an important step towards increasing the private sector’s output.

“Councils also support moves to bring forward wider packages of public land that can boost development but must remain able to manage their assets locally as they are best placed to secure the best deal for local taxpayers.”

He added: “Councils are approving nine in ten planning applications yet our recent analysis also shows there are hundreds of thousands of homes with planning permission which are still waiting to be built.”

• See p7, letters

Pharmacy funding cuts

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news in brief

those in deprived areas with the greatest health needs, or rural communities with the furthest distance to travel. Older and frail people rely on their local chemist not just as a place to get medicines, but as somewhere for informal health advice and information. If this lifeline was removed, it would mean more people having to potentially travel longer distances to GP surgeries and adding to existing pressures. We accept community pharmacies need to change: we would like to see them playing a bigger role in providing public health services, which could improve the prevention of disease and help take the strain off the NHS and social care.”

elsh councils will have to absorb nearly £200 million of cost pressures in 2017/18 – but overall, the draft local government funding settlement shows a slight rise over last year’s funding total, according to the Welsh LGA. Cllr Bob Wellington CBE, WLGA Leader, said: “I am pleased that during difficult times, Welsh Government ministers are listening to local government and working with us to mitigate the worst excesses of austerity. The settlement offers a welcome easing to the reductions of recent years. We recognise that it has not been easy for the Welsh Government to achieve this when there are competing demands on their own funding that is further stretched by continued austerity.”

See www.wlga.gov.uk for more.

Broadband social tariff

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he Government’s broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) should include a social tariff to ensure a basic service of at least 10 Mbps is available at an affordable price to those most in need. All households connected via the USO would have the option to receive a subsidised broadband service should they face undue hardship in paying a market rate, according to the LGA, which has called for the measure in its submission to the Autumn Statement. BT already provides a basic subsidised telephony and broadband package to its qualifying customers. Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board, said: “As central and local government services become more digital, the USO will need to provide faster and more reliable speeds and, for our most vulnerable residents, a subsided connection at an affordable price.”

first news | 5

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he autumn party conferences may be over for another year, but there were some key announcements that will affect the work of councils over the next 12 months.

For example, at the Conservative Party conference, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid MP highlighted the need to get more homes built, something that the LGA has consistently campaigned on.

During the conference, measures were announced to get more homes built that include a £3 billion Home Builders Fund, which will enable the building of up to 235,000 homes, as well as greater use of government and public sector land for house building.

The Prime Minister also re-affirmed the Government’s commitment to devolving powers from Whitehall to local communities.

She pledged to support the Northern Powerhouse while also encouraging other great cities elsewhere in the UK, such as Birmingham, to seize the opportunities offered by devolution.

This followed commitments from Mr Javid to continue the work on localism and devolution to local communities.

At the Labour Party conference, the Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn MP announced a commitment to remove the artificial local borrowing cap and allow councils to borrow against their housing stock. The LGA has long called for the housing revenue account (HRA) cap to be removed to allow councils to build more homes.

At the Liberal Democrat conference, delegates passed motions calling for the reform of the Bus Service Operators Grant so that it is devolved to local authorities, and for central government to work closely with local government to ensure councils have the funding and support they need to help refugees.

At the Green Party and UKIP conferences there was increased recognition of the importance of local government. This included promotion of the role of councillors in our democracy and the need for cultural funding to recognise the role local government plays in promoting the arts as essential parts of a healthy society.

The LGA has made its submission to the Government’s Autumn Statement – see p8 for details

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Further guarantees around EU regeneration funding Chancellor Philip Hammond has extended his guarantee around EU regeneration funding, with a pledge to protect payments for deals agreed by the time the UK exits the European Union.

The Government had already said it would guarantee funding for projects signed prior to this month’s Autumn Statement.

LGA Chairman Lord Porter welcomed the announcement, but warned the majority of EU funding is tied up in deals that have yet to be agreed.

“We are pleased that the Government has accepted our call to provide some muchneeded further guarantees around EU regeneration funding,” said Lord Porter.

“The Chancellor’s pledge that local areas with existing EU funding agreements signed off by the time we exit the EU will receive replacement funding once we leave is encouraging. However, the vast majority of EU regeneration funding remains tied up in thousands of proposals which are

MAMUN HUMAYUN, © M24INSTUDIO.COM

Announcements at conferences on council issues

yet to receive government approval.

This money will be vital to create jobs, build infrastructure and boost local growth.

“Between now and 23 November, the Government needs to pull out all the stops in working with local areas to get the hundreds of projects currently in development and at the cusp of funding agreements over the finishing line.”

He added: “The Chancellor must also use the Autumn Statement to go further and guarantee that local areas will receive every penny of the £5.3 billion in EU funding, or replacement funding, they are expecting by the end of the decade. This needs to happen regardless of whether decisions over which projects it should be spent on have been made or not.

“This is the best way to fully protect local regeneration plans, flagship infrastructure projects, employment and skills schemes and local growth for all – priorities for both central and local government.”

LGA Chairman Lord Porter met recently with Markku Markkula, President of the Committee of the Regions (pictured, right) at Local Government House. Mr Markkula requested the meeting to discuss the LGA’s work on EU issues.

For the latest updates on Brexit and its implications for LGA members, please visit www.local.gov.uk/brexit

Auditing local authority accounts

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ouncils need to decide soon whether they want to opt into sector-led national arrangements for auditing their accounts. The LGA set up Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited (PSAA) in August 2014. The company currently has delegated powers to appoint auditors for the audit of local authority accounts up to 2017/18. Thereafter, it has been specified by government to undertake a new role, developing a voluntary national scheme for making auditor appointments for principal authorities. Authorities can choose to opt into these collective arrangements or can make their own local appointment.

PSAA will be contacting all relevant authorities shortly to invite them to opt in to the new scheme, with a formal response

required by 9 March 2017. The decision to opt in must be taken at a full council meeting.

Steve Freer, the Chairman of PSAA, said: “Based on expressions of interest to date, we are very confident that the national scheme will be able to provide high quality audit services at extremely competitive prices.

PSAA will manage auditor independence and will, where possible, appoint the same auditors to bodies that are working collaboratively or are in formal joint working relationships.”

For more information, please visit www.psaa.co.uk or contact appointingperson@psaa.co.uk

www.local.gov.uk

sound bites Cllr Sean Anstee (Con, Trafford) “We have just received final approval to commence construction of #Metrolink Trafford Park from Government. Could not be happier #DevoManc.” www.twitter.com/seananstee

letters Help with housing

Testing times for taxis

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low delivery of new homes by housing developers once they have planning permission is costing the South East £98 million a year in lost council tax.

In our submission to the Government’s Autumn Statement, South East England Councils argues that lack of powers to incentivise speedy development is not only holding back growth and adding to the housing deficit, it is also affecting councils’ ability to fund local services and invest in infrastructure.

The South East has great pressures on housing but developers are not keeping pace with demand, despite councils approving tens of thousands more homes. In 2014/15 the South East saw England’s highest growth in housing stock at 28,360 but at the end of the same year we also had a backlog of 66,751 homes approved but not built.

South East local authorities need new discretionary powers to unlock these housing sites. If all 66,751 unbuilt homes were completed and their residents paying average south east band D council tax of £1,475, local authorities would have generated around £98.5 million extra income in 2014-15.

This could have helped councils to avoid making some of the tough choices on funding services that we face.

Cllr Nicolas Heslop (Con), Chairman, South East England Councils

November 2016

was concerned to hear that the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is due to stop providing driving tests for taxi drivers in December. As they need to reduce waiting times for statutory tests, they are looking to cut all non-statutory support, including taxi driver tests. This is worrying; the proper licensing and assessment of our taxi drivers is essential for our communities, yet this change has been taken without any forward planning or contingency.

In some areas, other providers already offer an equivalent test, accredited by the DVSA. However in the East of England, among others, there is no alternative to the DVSA scheme.

This means that from December whole areas of the country may be without an accredited test for taxi drivers – something that is completely unacceptable. This will force councils to rethink their approach to licensing and what their expectations of taxi drivers are.

It is paramount this doesn’t prohibit people from becoming or remaining taxi drivers while also ensuring the safety of passengers and other road users. The LGA’s Chief Executive has written to his DVSA counterpart expressing concern and the LGA’s Independent Group is asking its members to what extent councils are in a position to respond to this sudden and unhelpful change.

Cllr Peter Reeve (UKIP), Huntingdonshire District and Cambridgeshire County Councils

Cllr Linda Thomas (Lab, Bolton) “Stark message from PM of no more money for NHS fails to acknowledge reality, rising numbers of elderly with complex conditions.” www.twitter.com/CllrLindaThomas Cllr Nick Worth (Con, South Holland) “First time Swineshead has ever had a library – well done Parish Council, Methodist Church & volunteers for making it happen. Great cake too!” www.twitter.com/nickworth Cllr Chris Wills (Lab, Manchester) “It worked comrades. @edballs is through to Week 4! #SCD #voteBallsforJanet @CalumSPlath.” www.twitter.com/crispeater Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson (Lib Dem, Portsmouth) “Went to Windsor to be given CBE for services to Local Govt, with Mum who got MBE for the same & her dad before that, all cllrs for Lymington.” www.twitter.com/geraldvjuk Do you have a blog or a Twitter account we should be following?

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

first letters | 7

autumn statement submission

features Making the case Putting local government on a financially sound footing and renewed momentum on devolution are among the things the LGA wants to see in the Autumn Statement

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

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his year’s Autumn Statement comes at a crucial time as the Government seeks to negotiate the UK’s exit from the European Union, develop an industrial strategy fit for a world-leading economy and drive forward public service reform.

The new Prime Minister has been clear in outlining her vision for “a country that works for everyone”. In her party conference speech, Theresa May promised her government would “invest in the institutions that make our country great”.

That should mean taking steps to ensure local government is financially sustainable and able to utilise its unique strengths to make her vision a reality.

Central to our submission to the Autumn Statement – out on 23 November – is the need for steps to be taken to put councils’ finances back on a stable foundation.

We are calling for government to urgently prioritise tackling the funding crisis facing adult social care and allow councils to use newly retained business rates income to tackle the growing costs pressures they face by the end of the decade. Renewed momentum is also needed on devolution.

The Autumn Statement provides the

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opportunity for further deals to be agreed which ensure all areas are able to move forward at their own pace, unhampered by a narrow focus on process and national prescription on governance.

Our submission sets out how, by devolving further powers and funding to councils, they can build homes, secure the infrastructure and investment essential to economic growth, help to equip people with the skills they need to succeed and provide sustainable and effective care to vulnerable children and older adults.

Driving growth

Business rates and council tax •

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Use newly retained business rates to address the £5.842 billion funding gap facing councils by 2020 before any further responsibilities are devolved.

Give local government full flexibility over setting council tax.

Ensure councils have the ability to set local fees to recover full costs.

Councils’ ambitions to drive growth throughout the country is hugely dependent on confidence in the viability of projects that can help transform our communities. That is why we continue to call on government to urgently fast track proposals for EU funding before the Autumn Statement. Local areas also need a full guarantee they will receive the £5.3 billion EU regeneration funding they have been promised by 2020, regardless of whether decisions on what it is spent on have been made or not by the Autumn Statement.

Despite the funding challenges that all councils continue to face, local government should be proud of its proven track record of providing high quality, efficient services that are valued by residents.

Our submission clearly sets out to government that this track record means local government can be a trusted partner in helping to build a society that is inclusive, cohesive and promotes the life chances of all. www.local.gov.uk

Devolution

Education

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Sign new devolution deals in non-metropolitan areas.

Allow for new governance arrangements, such as local non-mayoral deals.

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Housing and planning

Transport and broadband

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Brexit •

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Urgently fast track proposals for EU regeneration funding that are currently in development or close to being agreed.

Guarantee that councils across England will receive the full £5.3 billion of EU funding by 2020, whether projects are agreed by the Autumn Statement or not.

Hand councils a clear and strategic role in overseeing local schools systems.

Give councils powers to direct any school – including academies – to admit pupils, support school place planning, and ensure adequate school places.

Reverse the planned cuts of £600 million to the education services grant.

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Allow councils to set planning fees locally so planning departments have adequate resources to deliver housing growth.

Free councils from restrictions on their borrowing to build homes.

Allow councils to keep 100 per cent of right to buy receipts.

Make the sale of high value homes voluntary and allow councils to keep 100 per cent of the receipts.

Enable councils to end homelessness by bringing together all partners to focus on preventing the problem happening in the first place.

Lift the freeze on local housing allowance rates.

Work with local government and the housing sector to address the chronic undersupply of good quality, affordable housing for low income households.

End the requirement for councils to publish planning and licensing notices in local newspapers, saving £26 million a year.

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Devolve 2p a litre of existing fuel duty to councils to clear the current £12 billion backlog of road repairs.

Fully fund the cost of the English national concessionary bus fares scheme, currently subsidised by councils.

Ensure the broadband Universal Service Obligation has specific requirements on upload speed.

Health and care •

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Fully fund the immediate funding pressures facing the care provider market – estimated to be at least £1.3 billion.

Allow councils to use extra business rates income to plug a further £1.3 billion funding gap facing adult care services by 2020.

Shift investment away from treatment and towards prevention by creating a Prevention Transformation Fund, worth at least £2 billion annually.

Introduce a national, single outcomes framework for health services, public health and social care.

Give groups of councils responsibility for the Work and Health Programme, with fully devolved and adequate funding.

November 2016

You can read our submission at www.local.gov.uk. See also p10 and p24

first feature | 9

At a tipping point “We run the risk of a two-tier system emerging between those able to choose and pay for their own care, and those reliant on a threadbare council-funded system that is unable to meet people’s needs”

Cllr Izzi Seccombe is Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board

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n its recent annual report, the Care Quality Commission warned that adult social care is approaching a “tipping point”.

I would go a step further and argue that we’re already at that tipping point, and in some cases have gone over the edge.

Councils, care providers, charities and the NHS have repeatedly spoken of the urgent need to properly fund adult social care, and in our Autumn Statement submission we have made it clear that unless the money is there, we face a real danger of widespread market failure. This will mean even more care providers either pull out of the publicly-funded care market or go bust, placing vulnerable people at risk.

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Adult social care needs an immediate £1.3 billion cash boost, otherwise care providers will go bust or pull out of the publiclyfunded care market In our submission to the Treasury, we have warned that adult social care could be facing a potential funding gap of at least £2.6 billion. The LGA’s analysis has found that based on ‘fair price of care’ calculations, the immediate pressures threatening the stability of the care provider market could amount to at least £1.3 billion. On top of this, we also estimate that by 2019/20, a further £1.3 billion will be needed to deal with the additional pressures brought about by an ageing population, inflation, and the cost of paying the National Living Wage. We are saying to government that it should allow councils to use some of the extra business rates income it will keep by the end of the decade to plug this gap (see p14).

The funding shortfall comes despite the

extra money councils have been able to raise in 2016/17 by increasing council tax by 2 per cent to pay for social care, as well as the additional funding through the improved Better Care Fund, the bulk of which does not kick in until the latter half of the current spending review period (2015-2020).

Unless social care is properly funded, we run the risk of a two-tier system emerging between those able to choose and pay for their own care, and those reliant on a threadbare council-funded system that is unable to meet people’s needs. If we are to have a fair and equitable society then we must be able to ensure that everybody is able to receive a high quality standard of care, not just those who can afford it.

But for councils, there simply isn’t the money left to pay providers at the level they say they need, and we will soon see people suffer the consequences of this in the care that they receive. This could mean growing difficulties meeting basic needs such as ensuring people are washed, dressed and helped out of bed; shorter care visits; a reduction in quality and safety of care; and an increase in people being stuck in hospital rather than cared for in the community.

For these reasons, our Autumn Statement submission to the Chancellor is about more than just numbers. It is about ensuring the care our loved ones receive goes beyond just helping them to get washed, dressed and fed, but also supports them to live dignified, independent lives. www.local.gov.uk

A strategic role in education Councils provide effective local oversight of school standards and should have a say on whether more selection is introduced in their areas

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

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ne of the biggest priorities for the LGA’s Children and Young People (CYP) Board this year will be establishing a strategic and sustainable role for councils in education locally.

While councils haven’t controlled schools for 30 years, they have retained a vital role in supporting and shaping local education services and making sure all children have access to the best possible education for their needs. With increasing numbers of academies and stronger expectations that all schools should be responsible for their own improvement, that role has become increasingly strategic.

Academic selection by schools is most topical with government at the moment. Proposals within the Green Paper, ‘Schools that work for everyone’, to expand selection have, understandably, already generated a lot of debate, and those debates have been reflected by LGA members. On the CYP Board, however, consensus was easily reached on several points.

or expanded selection in schools. If selection is introduced, councils will have a key role to play in overseeing the impact of this on the local education offer. If one school, in isolation, decides on its own selection policy, the ripple effect on other schools could be enormous. Councils are best placed to broker those discussions and make sure the overall schools’ offer for their area provides the best results for all children.

The Green Paper also proposes allowing faith schools to select all of their pupils according to faith. We’re clear on the contribution that faith schools make to education, but are also conscious that integration between different communities is vital. Again, we’ll be asking questions around the evidence for how this will improve education and support community cohesion.

The proposal in the White Paper, ‘Educational excellence everywhere’, to end councils’ role in school improvement from next August will have a huge impact on schools. Not only are councils extremely effective at improving schools that are having difficulties, they’re highly skilled at preventing schools from getting to that point in the first place.

The regular meetings and reviews of detailed and complex data that councils are in a position to hold means issues can be spotted and dealt with early on. Regional schools commissioners can’t be expected to have such in-depth oversight of all of the schools in their areas – just eight commissioners are overseeing more than 5,000 academies already, and if all schools convert, that will increase to more than 22,000.

The LGA has always argued that as schools get more autonomy it becomes more important that there is effective local oversight of standards. It could be argued, then, that councils actually need a stronger role in the oversight and improvement of all local schools, regardless of status or structure, monitoring school performance while providing democratic accountability for communities.

• See p12

“As schools get more autonomy it becomes more important that there is effective local oversight of standards”

Local decisions Firstly, the top priority for everyone in local government will be making sure that any education system benefits every child and that a move to selection will not disadvantage those who are not successful at getting into grammar schools. We will need to see clear evidence that any changes to the status quo will work, both in terms of educational achievement and social mobility. In addition, the importance of local decision-making must be made clear.

Councils should be able to consult with their communities on whether to introduce new November 2016

Karen 2 lines to fill - add back Xhead?<<

Cllr Watts will be chairing an education question time at the National Children and Adult Services Conference 2016 in Manchester from 2-4 November, see www.adass .org.uk/ncasc2016 The Department for Education has published additional data on special educational needs and disability (SEND) in LG Inform, the LGA’s online service providing contextual and performance data on and for councils. You can now compare SEND performance council by council and create your own SEND reports, see www.lginform.local.gov.uk

first feature | 11

Maximising school funding Pulling together data it already held has helped Wirral Council secure an additional £725,000 for local schools, to help raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils

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fter a wearying summer of political rows, the referendum and a new Prime Minister, the public are probably relieved to see all mainstream politicians agreeing on one thing – the importance of education.

How we achieve quality education for all our young people remains a bone of contention, but all would agree that maximising the funding our schools receive is more important than ever.

So it should come as no surprise that our project to automate pupil premium sign-up has been cited by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Hunger as a sensible action.

The pupil premium is additional funding which schools in England can claim for children receiving free school meals, and is intended to help them raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities.

Like many councils, we used to focus on raising awareness of free school meals and pupil premium with parents. We worked with schools through the traditional channels.

We approached the media, schools spoke to families themselves and benefits advisors tried to encourage sign-up. But still, some eligible families don’t sign up. They don’t know where to go for help or how to apply.

To address this we automated the

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Cllr Phil Davies (Lab) is Leader of Wirral Council

process of finding eligible families. The results have been impressive. Wirral schools now receive more than £725,000 of extra funding, thanks to this project.

The key to automating sign-up for pupil premium is integration. We know many of the eligible children in Wirral live in households claiming housing benefit or receiving council tax support. These households often meet the requirements for free school meals as well and, as we expected, our benefits data revealed a number of eligible children whose families had previously not claimed free meals.

The introduction of universal free school meals for infant pupils muddied the waters. Many families made the reasonable assumption that, because their child gets free school meals anyway, they don’t need to fill in a form. That made explaining the importance of claiming the pupil premium even harder.

Recognising the opportunity, our local schools forum paid for an officer to review the database to identify eligible families and compare our initial list with the Department for Education’s own eligibility checker.

Recognising the sensitivity of this matter – for some there is a stigma attached to income-related support, even when they are eligible – we needed to be certain the families identified would qualify before we took the all-important step of contacting them.

More than 700 letters were sent to families, advising them that, unless they actively opted out within a month, their children would be automatically enrolled for pupil premium. We were careful to reassure parents that by doing this, they were simply ensuring their children’s schools received vital resources to which they were entitled.

We couldn’t be happier with the results.

When we started communicating about autoenrolment, hundreds of parents signed up themselves through our online form to make sure their schools got funding as quickly as possible. Fewer than 10 families decided against automatic enrolment and we know there will be a small number of households that slipped through the net.

We discovered cases of parents with eligible children living with grandparents who do not claim benefits and therefore did not appear on our database, and as people’s economic circumstances change in an uncertain economy, families moved in and out of eligibility every day. But in the end, more than 500 additional children were automatically enrolled on the programme.

By using available data and changing the thinking about how we use technology to achieve our aims, this extra funding is now helping our schools to give children the best possible start in life.

“Wirral schools now receive more than £725,000 of extra funding, thanks to this project”

www.local.gov.uk

A DV E R T I S I N G F E AT U R E

Location, location, location Joining up services and finances around citizens and places is key to public transformation, productivity gains and efficiency savings.

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ost services and people are related to an address. Hence, using a common address or location can help to link services to people and places.

It is now possible to link finance data to a person or place to trace spending for an area, individual, service or household. The use of address data can help you to make those linkages and save you £4 for every £1 spent according to some research recently commissioned by GeoPlace earlier this year.

This approach saves time, provides savings to the public purse and improves service quality. According to the research commissioned by GeoPlace, the local government sector - responsible for producing and maintaining the data could get £4 back for every £1 spent.

From tax revenues to route optimisation in waste management, the savings stem from transforming the way services are delivered, enabling channel shift, automating transactions and reducing duplication of effort.

Savings already realised by councils utilising the address data within their Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) and street data within their

Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) include: Kent Country Council: estimated cost savings in the region of £5 million from a project to develop a system to reduce the occurrence of potholes and footway defects, and to find and fix swiftly those which do occur London Borough of Bromley: £800,000 per annum from using the data to provide intelligence within a procurement project A consortium of Welsh authorities: £850,000 saved on a verification of single person discount claims project, representing an average return of £7 for every £1 spent South Staffordshire Council: – £380,000 per annum from improving routing within waste management.

In future there will be an even deeper need for good quality location data.

Address and street data together with Ordnance Survey location data – which is available free of charge through the Public Sector Mapping Agreement – will be invaluable in understanding and enabling smart cities and internet of things initiatives. It will help to provide a more fine-grained analysis based on information gleaned from a range of devices or sensors, allowing analysis of

GeoPlace research identified £4 return to every £1 spent on council address and street information

a huge range of data by ward or postcode to predict traffic flows, air quality, flooding and the like.

A spokesperson at the London Borough of Harrow commented on the importance of address data to the council saying: “We firmly believe address data to be a key element in driving forward effective and targeted service delivery. By placing the addresses at the core of every service delivery system, not only can we continue to improve the services we offer, but also make savings through effective data sharing and joined-up working. The immediate benefits internally range from fraud detection to enhanced routes for waste collection, as well as a much better understanding of each and every resident who consumes our services. As a result, the resident benefits from better services, as well as the convenience of being able to transact and gain access to a wealth of public information online.”

Read the report at: www.GeoPlace.co.uk/4-2-1 and watch out for more information in the runup to Gazetteers@GIS Day on 16th November 2016.

www.geoplace.co.uk

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Fair funding review The LGA has responded to the Government’s consultations on business rates retention and fair funding

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he LGA has submitted its response to the Government’s consultation on the local retention of business rates, in which we call for a new system that is fair and incentivises growth. In return for allowing local government to keep more of its business rates income by 2020, certain government grants will be phased out with councils given new responsibilities to pay for them from some of the extra money.

This is a major change to local government funding and it’s essential from the outset that the new redistribution system for funding is easy to understand, fair, transparent and accountable, while helping to drive economic growth.

Our response to the Government’s consultation says the new system needs to respond to changing needs and be implemented in a way which balances rewarding councils for growing their local economies but avoids areas less able to generate business rates income suffering as a result. One way of addressing this is to include some form of partial ‘reset’ (see first 604) – a point in time at which some business rates income is kept by councils to incentivise growth and the rest redistributed among other councils.

The new mechanism needs to take account of councils, particularly districts, which may be more reliant on business

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rates revenue from a small number of major businesses, which could cause significant falls in income if they were to cease trading.

There should be a safety net mechanism to take account of such possibilities.

Newly retained business rates must be used to address the projected £5.8 billion funding gap facing local government by 2020, before any further responsibilities are considered. Once existing pressures and responsibilities have been fully funded, remaining business rates income should also allow councils to be funded for responsibilities linked to driving economic growth in local areas. Handing over responsibility for skills and transport services, for example, would allow local areas to close skills gaps, improve public transport and boost local economies.

Reliefs and appeals We are urging government to give the power to increase business rates to all areas, not just to those with directly elected mayors, to help make the reforms fair to all. We are also calling for a review of business rates relief, and in particular making more reliefs discretionary as opposed to mandatory, which could help councils target reliefs better and reduce avoidance.

With nearly 300,000 unresolved appeals and more to be expected with each revaluation, the appeals system needs

improvement – perhaps through a national provision – so that appeals do not pose such a financial risk to councils as they do now.

We have also submitted a response to the Government’s call for evidence on its Fair Funding Review. The results of the review will establish new funding baselines which will be used when business rates retention reform is introduced.

In our response, we urge the Government to examine all the evidence and listen to the views of the sector when identifying cost factors and design principles to take into account as part of the Fair Funding Review.

Investigating how funding formulas are derived in other sectors, such as health and police, and in other countries, might provide useful input as well.

With some funding baselines likely to increase and some likely to reduce, there needs to be a transition scheme which is underpinned by extra government funding for those councils facing the sharpest reductions.

Furthermore, redistribution mechanisms need to take account not only of current needs, but future needs too, given the expectation that the system may include long term fixed-period resets. Similarly, adjustments for council tax raising capacity should also remain an important part of the system.

See the LGA’s business rates hub www.local.gov.uk/business-rates and find out about our annual finance conference on 5 January at www.local.gov.uk/events

www.local.gov.uk

Are your residents paying too much for their energy?

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We work with over 150 Local Authorities across Great Britain, and have helped them to switch more than 100,000 residents.

We can help you run a scheme for residents that gives them a hassle-free way to switch suppliers and save money.

For more information and to find out how we can help you deliver a collective switching scheme, email info@ichoosr.com

Independent experts in group buying

members of the LGA’s People and Places Board commissioned the LGA’s national Up to Speed campaign, which we launched in first 599. The campaign aims to keep residents and businesses still without adequate broadband speeds on the Government’s radar. It also provides councillors and council officers with a set of resources, including a speed test, case studies and a toolkit, to become more informed as to how they can help their residents improve their speeds.

The campaign has received excellent coverage to date and has been at the centre of our recent lobbying activities on behalf of councils and their residents.

At the beginning of the summer, we called on broadband providers to reform the way they advertise broadband speeds, asking for more transparency around the advertised ‘up to’ speed. Currently the speed advertised by broadband packages only has to be achieved by 10 per cent of consumers, which is not reflective of the experience for many users. We will continue to press the Advertising Standards Authority and broadband providers on how they plan to reform this area.

Up to speed The LGA has taken its campaign to improve broadband speeds to Parliament, lobbying around the Digital Economy Bill

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embers need look no further than their inboxes to find pleas from their residents for faster and more reliable ways to connect to the internet.

Digital connectivity is a vital part of everyday life, whether you’re doing the food shop from the sofa, downloading the latest film or growing your business.

It is undeniable that there are underlying and profound inequalities in broadband coverage and speeds in different parts of the country. In order to meet the Prime Minister’s aspiration for a fairer economy that works for all, we must not lose sight of the people living and running businesses in these areas.

Since 2013, local government has been at the centre of publicly funded efforts to extend superfast connectivity to homes nationwide as part of the Superfast Broadband Programme. Good progress has been made, with more than four million premises now able to access superfast connections.

However, despite the headway already made, some residents may still not be

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Cllr Mark Hawthorne is Chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board

reached as part of the current tranche of work. Government estimates that even taking account of existing public intervention and future commercial roll-out plans combined, up to one million UK premises will not be able to access speeds of 10 Mbps or higher by the end of 2017. Over half a million of these premises will be found in rural areas and more than 100,000 will be remotely rural.

For them, these connection figures offer little consolation.

With this in mind, in April this year

Minimum speed We have also been campaigning on the recent Digital Economy Bill which introduces a range of measures important to councils, including a new broadband Universal Service Obligation. When the Bill’s second reading was delayed following Brexit and Matt Hancock replacing Ed Vaizey as Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, we called on the Government to reaffirm its commitment to the national minimum broadband speed. We were glad to see the Government issue a response reiterating its commitment.

The campaign’s dedicated website has also continued to attract visitors keen to establish the speed of their connection and compare it with the local and national average. More than 1,500 speed tests have been taken by councillors, MPs, peers and residents all over the country.

We are continuing to develop case studies of councils’ hard work to extend superfast coverage to residents across the country. If your council has a particularly innovative or effective piece of work in this area that you would like to showcase on a national platform, please email us at upto.speed@local.gov.uk

Please also visit the campaign website (www.lgauptospeed.org), take the test, share your results and encourage your residents to do the same

www.local.gov.uk

The LGA’s annual tweetathon, #OurDay, is back for its fifth year on 15 November, giving anyone who works or volunteers in public services the chance to share stories of what they do to improve the lives of residents and run their local services

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rom bins being collected first thing in the morning right through to late evening calls to help older residents to bed, councils are working round the clock to deliver and commission up to 800 services a day to their communities.

Councils are delivering hundreds of good services in the face of some of the most challenging times we have ever faced. With so many of these vital services – like keeping street lights turned on or running the CCTV that keeps our streets safe – sometimes overlooked, it has never been more important for councils to highlight the breadth of what they deliver. #OurDay first took place in 2012 and has grown each year, with more and more councils, councillors and council officers taking part.

Last year, nearly 9,000 people took part on Twitter, sending nearly 19,000 tweets and potentially reaching more than 20 million people. The hashtag #OurDay was the most popular topic in the UK, trending for almost the entire 24 hours.

This year, #OurDay falls just a week before the Government announces the Autumn Statement, promising to spark even more conversation about the importance of the work councils do across the country.

So how can you get involved? What does a day in the life of your council look like?

November 2016

All you have to do is share your story on Twitter using the hashtag #OurDay throughout Tuesday 15 November. To help you, here are some handy tips about how to boost your #OurDay impact online: • Include a picture or video to bring your story to life and double the engagement of your tweet. Ask residents and council staff to get involved and tweet their pictures too.

• Talk about an event which is happening in your area on #OurDay itself. Are you holding a family event in a library or running a new exercise scheme in a local park? This is a great way to let residents know what is on offer in their area.

• Reference people that the community are interested in. Is the mayor opening a new school, are your councillors visiting a new housing development?

• Use additional hashtags to get people involved. What are you talking about? #devolution, #libraries, #health, #socialwork • Start a conversation with residents, answer their questions, and hold surgeries.

• Run a competition, maybe using local

•

facts and figures.

And finally – re-tweet! Show support for your staff, residents and fellow public services by re-tweeting what they are doing.

Cllr William Nunn, Chairman of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board, said: “When we are busy getting the job done, it can be easy to forget the huge difference that good public services make to the everyday lives of the whole community.

“We wanted to use #OurDay as a chance for the public sector to use social media to engage with their communities. Over the last four years, it has been the ideal opportunity for anyone who works in public services to talk about the work that takes place on a daily basis to keep their communities running. It is also a chance for residents to say something positive about the public services that make their lives better. “#OurDay has grown bigger each year since it started and with councils doing more for less than ever before, this year should be no exception.”

To help your council get the most out of the day we have produced an #OurDay toolkit, see www.local.gov.uk/our-day

first feature | 17

interview A pragmatic politician Local accountability is being removed from our education system, warns Angela Rayner MP, Shadow Education Secretary

18 | first interview

www.local.gov.uk

“Being a good parent isn’t about how much money you have in the bank or what your social class is.

You can have bad and good parents at any level”

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“The evidence tells us, through things like the London Challenge, that we are focusing on the wrong things at the moment”

November 2016

hadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner MP has a busy parliamentary session ahead of her.

We meet just days after her full shadow education team has been confirmed in post by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, and she says its first task will be to oppose “in its entirety” the Government’s Education Green Paper.

Proposals in ‘Schools that work for everyone’, published in September, include allowing more selection, including more grammar schools, and allowing faith schools to select all pupils by faith (currently they can select up to half ).

“It [the Green Paper] makes no mention of special educational needs (SEN) or the current challenges that face our education system, in particular around the funding shortage,” says Mrs Rayner.

“It doesn’t deal with teacher recruitment, shortage, retention and workload. And of course we know that classes are growing in size. It segregates our children on faith and ability, and I’ve not seen a scrap of evidence that says [selection] is a positive change for anybody.”

She says she opposed the introduction of academies under Labour, opposes segregation “on any grounds” and believes in a comprehensive education system – but takes a pragmatic approach to the existing ‘mixed economy’ of school types in most areas, and wants to work with councils and local leaders on school improvement.

“What I don’t want to do is turn round to councils and say, ‘you’re not having academies’ or ‘you’re not having a grammar’.

What I want councils to do is to be empowered to say ‘this is how we can deliver the right outcomes for children in our areas, and we’ve got the mandate to do this locally’, and I want to work with councils to deliver that.”

Mrs Rayner “absolutely” believes councils should have the power to direct academies and free schools to take on more pupils, to ensure sufficient school places locally, and that local leaders are key to improving outcomes for their local communities.

“While we have a national framework, which is clearly important, and a national curriculum, we have to empower our local councillors to drive and deliver for our local businesses and communities, and education is key to that. “[The Government] is happy to devolve social care, planning, housing and business and how we build our economy, but yet we’re not going to empower [councils] on our young people’s education.

“Each one of those things I’ve mentioned is a key driver in how successful we will be in how we educate our future workforce.

When you think about the pillars of society and what we need to make good communities, education has such a key role in that.

“And yet we’re telling local authorities they’ll have no say over education. The Government is removing local accountability from our education system.

“And that’s why we are finding the problems we’ve got currently. It’s clear to me that the Education Secretary cannot, with the best will in the world, manage every school across England. It’s crucial that there’s a key role in that for local democracy, and yet we’re not allowing those key leaders to empower and drive change forward.

“Any local councillor will tell you what the problems are in the education system and what needs to be delivered to solve it.

Their frustration is they’re not being given the powers and tools to do that.”

Evidence-based policy Mrs Rayner believes the Government is “regressive in its inability to look at evidence” and listen to experts who have worked in their fields for many years.

“Coming back to the Green Paper, the question is ‘what do we know delivers good outcomes for all schools?’ Where is the evidence for that?

“To me, the London Challenge is a key area that delivered. We learned a lot on how we raise attainment, deliver good schools across the board, and help every child to reach their potential. It talked

first interview | 19

about collaboration not fragmentation, leadership, and investment.

“It’s not rocket science, that’s the frustration for me. It’s so obvious what the Government could be doing and it doesn’t cost money. It’s just about where and how you invest the money and you’ve got to be evidence-based. And the evidence tells us, through things like the London Challenge, that we are focusing on the wrong things at the moment.”

One area where she is adamant that more investment is needed is early years, and as a teenage mum who benefited from one, she is a champion of Sure Start centres.

“My parents didn’t know how to be good parents because their parents weren’t brilliant either, and my mum couldn’t read or write. It was the Sure Start centre that gave me the tools to be a better parent, and transformed my life and my children’s – it really is that important and crucial.

“And also, it wasn’t stigmatised, it was a universal benefit. Being a good parent isn’t about how much money you have in the bank or what your social class is. You can have bad and good parents at any level.”

Mrs Rayner adds: “Early years cannot be just about childcare and parents getting back to work. It has to be about providing learning and play and development opportunities for every child in order for it to succeed.

We know those years before age seven are so vitally important, and that’s where the investment should be.

20 | first interview

“Early years cannot be just about childcare and parents getting back to work” “So all this money that is being diverted into academies, where people are being paid ridiculous amounts of money or there is money being squandered, and in developing free schools and expanding grammars, shouldn’t be invested there.

It should be invested in early years and maintaining and bolstering our current provision based upon local needs, in conjunction with local councils.”

She is also concerned about the impact of funding cuts on further education.

“For someone like me who failed at school and didn’t get any GCSEs, it was the only way that I was able to improve and move forward with my education, yet it’s been completely decimated” she says.

Local control Mrs Rayner was a care worker for Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, and talks about a local training programme delivered with colleges that provided vocational, at-work training. It improved the workforce’s skills, provided career opportunities for low-paid women (including a vocational route into nursing), helped provide better

care in the community so people could leave hospital sooner, saved thousands of pounds, “and provided people with the care, respect and dignity they needed in their latter years of life”.

“That’s the difference it can make when you get the model right,” says Mrs Rayner.

“We were able to do that because we had local control as part of a national framework. So we didn’t suddenly decide that we weren’t going to deliver home care, but we were able to locally determine how we delivered on those key outcomes.

We transformed lives. That’s what inspired me to get involved in politics.

“If we could do that in social care, we can do that in education, and it does transform people’s lives if you get it right.

“At the moment I think we’re getting it wrong. When you tell half of 11-year-olds going into secondary school last September that they weren’t ready for secondary school, or you’re potentially going to segregate children at a young age, that to me is getting it wrong.

“Since I took on this role, I’ve had thousands of emails from parents, academics, from all across the field, and they tell me that we over-test our children, we’re too rigid in our curriculum, we’re not enabling local schools to do what they want to do to achieve the best for young people, and that we need to start investing in our current structure rather than trying to create new ones. And that’s what my priority is.” www.local.gov.uk

Leading innovation The future of culture, tourism and sport LGA Annual Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference Wednesday 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Thursday 23 February 2017, Bristol Sustaining valued frontline services during tough times is the critical challenge facing local culture, heritage, tourism and sport services. At this national conference we will look beyond local government to how devolution, changes to local government funding and wider public service reform, could open up new delivery and investment models. We will also take stock of what a new government and negotiations to leave the EU mean locally.

To book your place visit: www.local.gov.uk/events 22 | first adverts

9.8 LGA first CTS_02.indd 1

www.local.gov.uk

09/08/2016 14:08

comment From care leaver to care worker Emma Dougherty is a Social Work Assistant at Sunderland City Council

I am now into my first few weeks as a social work assistant with Sunderland City Council and really loving it.

While I’ve only just begun my career, I see this as the first step in eventually becoming fully qualified and moving into child protection – and working with people like myself who have been in the care of their local authority.

As someone who has ‘lived that, know that’ experience of being in care when I was growing up, I want to be able to make a difference to all those young people in our community who find themselves in the same situation because of family circumstances beyond their control.

I have to say my own experience as a looked-after child living with my foster parents, Patricia and Mervyn, was a good one. People still have misconceptions about living in care but they provided me with a very happy family environment.

They looked after me because my own mother, Janet, had dependency problems, so I have experienced all sides of life growing up.

Ironically, my foster mother always said I would make a perfect social worker. But at that time, having been part of the system, it couldn’t have been further from my mind.

Now I find myself working in the service I grew up with. That in large part is thanks to Sunderland City Council’s Leaving Care team’s Next Steps programme, which is there to help looked-after children like myself fully develop their personal career, education and training potential.

Without them I don’t think I would ever have been able to go to university. The team were always there with help and support whenever I needed them, from completing November 2016

“Young people who find themselves in care need to have more of a role in deciding how best to shape their own futures as they prepare for adult life and independence” and submitting the application to helping pay some of my rent and living expenses while I studied.

Not only this, they provided me with a support network. My foster parents had done so much for me, but there was no way I would have expected them to help me financially in this way. I am fiercely independent and would like to think that all my decisions, all my achievements, have been off my own bat but I recognise and appreciate the role of others in that process.

Educationally, my teachers always encouraged me to study for my A-levels, while I was determined to get my BTEC in childcare.

When I had to drop out after a year to look after my mother Janet, who was terminally ill,

I thought it was the worst thing that could have happened to me. But it turned out to be the best because I was able to spend every day looking after her until she died.

I then returned to another school, completed my studies and left school, but realised after a few placements in childcare, which I loved, that I needed something challenging in different ways – which is when I realised that indeed social work was the profession for me.

My dissertation on the childhood studies degree course at the University of Sunderland was ‘Is the voice of looked-after children heard?’ and I want to use my job and my career to help ensure that it is!

Young people whose families have been affected by social problems such as drugs, alcohol and domestic abuse, and find themselves in care, need to have more of a role in deciding how best to shape their own futures as they prepare for adult life and independence.

There are still a lot of misconceptions about young people who spend part of their lives in care, but with the supportive home environment provided by foster and adoptive parents you can achieve anything if you work hard enough.

The Next Steps programme helped me demonstrate that, and I hope I can help encourage many more to follow my lead.

Left to right: Chris Feasey, Sunderland City Council Next Steps personal adviser, and Cllr Louise Farthing, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, welcome Emma Dougherty and Stephanie Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies at the Sunderland University, into the council chamber to celebrate Emma’s achievements

first comment | 23

group leaders’ comments Building a ‘One Nation’ country

“Next year’s local elections provide an opportunity to entrench our position as the largest party in local government”

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t was great to see so many councillors at the Conservative party conference and I was delighted that our LGA Conservative Group fringe meeting and drinks reception were so well-attended. It was also nice to see a mixture of new and familiar faces at both events.

For many Conservative councillors, the conference was the first opportunity to meet our new Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, and his ministerial team. Colleagues took advantage of the opportunity to directly question Sajid, Marcus Jones and Gavin Barwell at a private meeting that the Conservative Group organised in association with the

Conservative Councillors’ Association.

The overall theme of the conference was very much one of building a ‘One Nation’ country in which, regardless of your background, you will be helped to go as far as your talents will take you.

This is an agenda that Conservative councillors fully support and we look forward to working with our new Prime Minister, Theresa May, and her ministerial colleagues to help deliver it.

With important local elections taking place next year, Conservative councillors left the conference in good heart and more determined than ever to take the fight to our political opponents. The conference certainly

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

seems to have made a favourable impression on the public – a recent opinion poll puts the Conservatives 17 percentage points ahead of Labour.

Given the disarray in Labour following the re-election of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader, I believe that next year’s local elections provide us with a golden opportunity to entrench our position as the largest party in local government and to establish ourselves as the largest party here at the LGA. Following our successful conference, my challenge to all Conservative councillor colleagues is to redouble our efforts and work together as ‘one team’ over the coming seven months to achieve a fantastic set of results throughout the country next May.

chairman’s comment

The crisis in our care system

Lord Porter is Chairman of the LGA

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ow that the party conferences have wrapped up and the Government has laid out its ambitions for the country, many of us are turning our heads to the Autumn Statement.

In her conference speech, the Prime Minister was clear that her government would “invest in the institutions that make our country great” – and that means a financially sustainable local government.

In our Autumn Statement submission, we’ve offered local government’s experience and expertise to help make that vision a reality.

Our submission covers everything

24 | first comment

from business rates to Brexit, housing to homelessness, transport to digital. We’ve been clear in our submission that steps need to be taken to put councils’ finances back on a stable foundation, particularly if we’re going to address the current crisis in our social care system.

The CQC and NHS Confederation have pointed to a ‘tipping point’ in social care.

Without an immediate cash injection, care providers could either pull out of the publiclyfunded care market or go bust. What this means is that our residents won’t get the quality care they need, carers will have less time in the home with some of the most vulnerable in our community and the NHS will come under more pressure because people will have no option but to stay in hospital longer instead of being cared for in the community.

Despite the funding challenges we face, local government has continued to provide high quality, efficient services that are valued by residents. But the reality is the purse strings continue to tighten and many of us have little room left to make further savings.

We are calling on government to use this year’s Autumn Statement to prioritise tackling the adult social care crisis: firstly, by addressing the funding gap, which we predict sits at £1.259 billion by the end of the decade; and secondly, taking action to alleviate the immediate pressures facing the sector which the ‘fair price of care’ calculations developed by provider organisations suggests is at least £1.3 billion.

It is our job to work with government to make sure we invest in a fair funding system so that everyone can receive safe, high quality care and support.

“Without an immediate cash injection, care providers could pull out of publicly-funded care or go bust” www.local.gov.uk

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

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

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

Helping the children of the Calais Camp

House building alone is not enough

Social care at a tipping point

“Councils stand ready to take these abandoned children and give them a better life”

“It cannot be ‘nimbyism’ to care about our communities and work for them”

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“The Government’s own inspectors have demanded urgent action to salvage a care system that is spiralling into crisis”

arty conference season can go by in a series of policy headlines. But when we step back and return to the day-to-day running of councils, we look at what we are doing to make a difference, to help those that need a helping hand.

This government does not see the value in someone that needs that help. Where we see lost opportunity and ability, and are determined to put things right, they see nothing but cost and a drain on resources.

There’s no greater example of this than the failure to sort out the abomination – the disgrace – that is the Calais Jungle. That’s why at Labour conference I asked Prime Minister Theresa May to shut it down now.

So I am glad to see some children are beginning to arrive in the UK. Councils stand ready to take these abandoned children, to provide them with homes, welcome them into our communities and give them the opportunity of a better life.

We already have a strong track record of supporting children travelling alone. The number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children living in England increased by more than 60 per cent last year, and a majority of councils are already providing care and support for them.

We know that many of these children have experienced horrendous conditions within, and since fleeing, their country of origin. To stand by and continue to ignore their suffering is a moral outrage – and councils will do all we can to lend a helping hand.

ver the last month typhoons and hurricanes have raged at opposite ends of the earth, and among some of our party politics. We’ve had leadership contests, party conferences and a raft of new announcements signifying further change ahead.

Among the most important for our members are those to housing and planning.

We welcome new powers to increase planning fees to cover costs, but are also open to increased competition. The viability tests still apply but developers frequently contribute less than is needed to infrastructure, leaving a further gap in public resources.

Government is pushing forward house building, focusing first in areas where population growth is higher than new build rates. Getting the size and affordability to match local needs will be a big challenge.

Councils have reduced funds yet increasing demands, while the economy to drive growth is uncertain. House building alone is clearly not enough and we need a commitment to also deliver strong communities that improve people’s quality of life.

The planning process – whether for housing or fracking – needs to sit at the most local level to be responsive and protective of the public’s view. It cannot be ‘nimbyism’ to care about our communities and work for them as we do.

Housing and health are two important issues being discussed at the LGA Independent Group’s Annual Conference on 18 November.

I look forward to seeing you there!

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et again, local government finds itself ‘staring into the abyss’ over the state of social care in England.

Prime Minister Theresa May must act on the recent Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) stark warning that adult social care is approaching a tipping point, a warning local government has made time and time again and one central government has sadly ignored.

The CQC warning that billions of pounds are needed to help councils cope with an elderly population that has increased by a third in the last decade is not new to those of us trying to provide much needed services on ever reducing budgets.

The Government’s own inspectors have demanded urgent action to salvage a care system that is spiralling into crisis and dragging the NHS down with it.

Wake up Mrs May! The system is on ‘life support’ – you can’t ignore it any more.

Local government needs emergency funding at once, and government should take seriously my colleague Norman Lamb MP’s call for a cross-party settlement on the long-term funding of health and adult social care.

Serious consideration of a dedicated health and social care tax is long overdue.

Our elderly loved ones deserve no less.

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

November 2016

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Standing up to modern slavery Cllr Nicolas Heslop (Con, Tonbridge and Malling) is Chairman of South East England Councils and Cllr Paul Watkins (Con, Dover) is Chairman of the South East Strategic Partnership for Migration

Modern slavery is a harrowing subject to discuss, but council staff – who, since November 2015, have had a duty to report suspected cases – have the potential to make a massive difference.

It is often a hidden crime, so victim identification and protection by council staff is frequently the critical first step to shutting down exploitation and successfully prosecuting perpetrators.

New national training films being launched to coincide with Anti-Slavery Day (18 October) are designed to help council staff identify and report potential cases of slavery. The films have been produced

by South East England Councils and South East Strategic Partnership for Migration, working with the independent anti-slavery commissioner and film company @Voytek.

Council staff in frontline and back office roles can be exposed to subtle clues and signposts to victims or their abusers during their daily work. Our films use real examples to raise awareness of the issue and encourage staff to act on their professional curiosity when they sense something isn’t quite right.

Signs could be people with no form of identification, suspicious items in rubbish or multiple applications – for benefits, licences, planning – coming from a single address.

Modern slavery is a global problem that is growing in the UK. In 2015, more than 3,000 people including 1,000 children were referred as potential victims of slavery – a 40 per cent increase on the previous year. Estimates suggest there are around 13,000 victims in the UK although the actual number is potentially much higher.

Modern slavery takes many forms. Some victims supply forced labour to industries such as agriculture, construction and hospitality.

Significant numbers – mostly women and girls – are trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Domestic slavery is also on the rise, as are crimes such as forcing people – especially children – into activities such as cannabis production, petty theft and begging.

In the South East, we are pleased to have been involved in highlighting this issue and helping councils to play their part in tackling exploitation.

The anti-slavery training videos and accompanying guidance notes can be accessed on the SEEC website www.secouncils.gov.uk/2016/10/ modern-slavery-film-guidance

Improving outcomes for prisoners Cllr Ian Cruise (Ind) is a member of Birmingham City Council

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As an ex-prison officer, I am particularly interested in the proposed devolution of the criminal justice system to combined authorities, and how councils can do things better.

According to the Howard League for Penal Reform, the number of people sent to prison has doubled over the last two decades. But while the prison population continues to grow, the resources available to manage prisons have reduced.

In light of this and the Government’s commitment to devolution, local government is best placed to deliver an integrated, holistic approach to prisoner health and wellbeing, rehabilitation and resettlement.

Prison Reform Trust figures show 26 per cent of women prisoners and 16 per cent of male prisoners have said they have had mental health treatment before entering prison.

However, once inside, 57 per cent of women and 62 per cent of men were identified as living with mental illness, with no direct referral to NHS services. Drug and alcohol dependency is another large contributor to offending and is often compounded within prisons.

If we’re serious about reducing offending, councils’ public health teams and their NHS partners should focus on prevention and also have access to prisoners on entry into custody. By identifying mental illness and addiction, as well as safeguarding and family issues at an early stage, provision can be put in place to manage the prisoner correctly during their sentence and following their release.

By doing this, a person leaving prison would need no direct referral to NHS services and they wouldn’t be lost in the system.

This would undoubtedly cut out duplication of provision and allow funds to be utilised more efficiently.

Westminster has failed to deliver holistic approaches to tackling crime and the causes of crime. Whilst the operation and staffing of prisons should be the responsibility of central government, local government is the vehicle to improve outcomes for prisoners – in terms of education, skills, health and housing.

Devolution of the criminal justice system offers us this opportunity but we must be given the tools and funds to do so. www.local.gov.uk

Scrutiny: more than a backstop Jacqui McKinlay is Chief Executive of the Centre for Public Scrutiny

Local government is nothing but resilient, and renowned for its ability to see opportunity in adversity, adapt and flex plans and do all it can to meet the needs of residents.

There have been some big challenges to learn from. As we all work furiously to deliver a new vision of local government, it is important that we acknowledge some of the problems that have gone before and create systems which learn from the failures of the past.

Some of the planned changes, such as devolution, create great opportunity to reshape how decisions are made and scrutinised, and for the new breed of mayors to root their work in the people they serve.

Hillsborough, Mid Staffs, and Rotherham all became bywords for failure – in leadership, administration, scrutiny and, fundamentally, in listening. The erosion in public trust that has arisen from these scandals runs deep.

With Hillsborough, years of misinformation have only compounded the grief of families.

Failing to address systemic problems in Mid Staffs meant people lost their lives. In Rotherham, it ensured that vulnerable girls continued to be abused when what was needed was intervention and support.

It is important that local government faces up to the reality of what has gone before, including scrutiny. These cases, and others like it, demonstrate massive systemic failures, which were compounded by cover-ups.

We think there are three key issues which must be tackled, that will help safeguard public interest in the future – some of which we will be teasing out at our annual conference (see below).

Firstly, there is a role for elected officials as individuals with a democratic mandate to seek out and uncover the truth. In the three cases above there have been brave and committed individuals who have campaigned for justice,

“If scrutiny is not treated as an equal partner in council improvement there is no chance that it will fulfil its strategic potential” a justice which is revealed by uncovering the truth. We must, as a society, see elected officials as part of the solution when systems and governance have failed, not part of the problem. We hope that the new mayors for city regions will take up this mantle. However, if we continue to drag our politicians down, we are in danger of losing a vital safety net.

Secondly, we must not forget that the media, and especially local media, can be critical in highlighting failings which formal systems have missed or ignored. In the cases of Hillsborough, Rotherham and Mid-Staffs, local papers gave a voice to victims and their families. There will always be a role for the fourth estate to investigate and uncover the truth when institutions or individuals fail us.

For the sake of political accountability, we

‘Democracy, governance and the truth: understanding the past – improving the future’ takes place on 1 December in London. The CfPS’s annual scrutiny and governance conference will look at the most recent devolution deals; analyse how councils are scrutinising in a new commissioning environment; review what the public see as being the highest profile failures in public leadership (Rotherham, Mid-Staffordshire and Hillsborough); and look at what it means to be a 21st century councillor and officer.

See www.cfps.org.uk/truth-conference

November 2016

must all hope that local media finds a new business model in a post-paper age.

Finally, we have to trust and invest in formal scrutiny. During the course of our work we are privy to criticisms of scrutiny committees and chairs. Maybe they are seen as too combative, or lacking experience or specialist knowledge, or failing to understand both the practical and political pressures of managing a portfolio on ever dwindling resources.

However, if scrutiny is not treated as an equal partner in council improvement there is no chance that it will fulfil its strategic potential. If we do not support scrutiny through training and professional development, we are in danger of being too reliant on campaigning politicians and investigative journalists. They are crucially important but should be backstops, whereas scrutiny can be an integral part of a self-critical, improving system.

Democracy, governance and the truth: fearless politicians; systems that embrace and welcome criticism, listen and acknowledge the truth; supported by a free media. These are the pillars upon which accountable public services must be built.

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Turning social problems into community solutions Alexander Kenmure is Head of Business Development at GoodGym

I’m willing to bet that in many councils there is a set of colleagues asking the question, ‘how can we get people more fit and active?’, another set of colleagues asking ‘how can we reduce the number of older people who are lonely or isolated?’, and another asking ‘how can we get more people involved in their local area?’.

But what if all those colleagues were coming together and asking each other how the issues they were grappling with could be turned into solutions?

That’s sort of what we’re doing at GoodGym. We are a charity and social enterprise (see www.goodgym.org) that gives people a different motivation to get active by organising opportunities for people to run and do good in their local area. This can involve running to do physical tasks for community

groups and facilities, or running to help isolated older people either with tasks around the home or by providing a regular social visit.

For us, the solution to getting people more active is to give people a purpose to throw on some trainers and go running knowing that no matter how far or fast they go they are making a difference. The solution to reducing isolation among older people is to turn them into ‘coaches’ with an active role in motivating their runner, rather than just being a passive service

recipient. And the solution for getting people more active in their community is to nurture a community of runners and create a bridging connection with other communities in their local area.

Working with 24 councils (and growing), we’re already seeing what can be achieved by harnessing what people want to do rather than what someone else thinks they should do.

With hundreds of people across the country wanting to get fit and do good in their local area, we look forward to seeing just how much difference we can make over the coming years with current and emerging partners. For us, it is a marathon, not a sprint.

Digital inclusion: how to do it Adam Micklethwaite is Director of Business and Innovation at the Tinder Foundation

There are 12.6 million people in the UK without digital skills, creating a big issue for local councils.

People without digital skills are more likely to be over 65, have a disability and claim benefits. Supporting people to become digitally capable can help them find and stay in work, look after their money, and manage their health effectively.

This in turn creates positive social economic impact across communities, reducing pressure on public services and helping people become happier, healthier and more productive. And that’s before you factor in the huge cost savings associated with shifting services online.

The case for councils to invest in digital

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inclusion is a no-brainer, with research suggesting a £10 return on every £1 invested.

Without it, 23 per cent of local populations will remain excluded from online services and experience worse outcomes.

We’re helping local councils, including Leeds and the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Islington, to innovate in digital inclusion, using our expertise in activating community assets and designing and delivering digital inclusion programmes. We’ve learned a number of lessons.

Firstly, prioritising digital inclusion is vital, but when budgets are tight, it can be hard to find investment. Building digital inclusion into service delivery or service transformation can be effective.

Secondly, the biggest asset in digital inclusion is the community. The community

organisations and people in our UK online centres network are brilliant at engaging others based on personal hooks. By working through UK online centres and other community-based organisations, councils can create a local movement for digital inclusion.

Finally, make the best use of available resources and work in partnership. There are a wealth of products out there to help councils with digital inclusion. For example, Tinder Foundation’s free Learn My Way platform is designed for those with low digital skills and allows councils to track the impact of digital learning in their area.

Tinder Foundation’s ambition is that everyone should be able to benefit from technology, and we’re ready to work with local leaders to make that happen.

Tinder Foundation is a charity which supports digitally and socially excluded people to improve their lives through digital technology and community action, see www.tinderfoundation.org

www.local.gov.uk

councillor Influencing skills Councillors need to be able to influence people from all walks of life if they are to be effective in their work, from representing residents to developing policy with colleagues and officers.

The most effective way of improving your ability to influence others starts with you, and the interpersonal, presentation, communication and assertiveness skills you possess – in other words, learning to adapt your personal style when you become aware of the effect you are having on other people, while still being true to yourself.

Influencing is often about changing how others perceive you for the better. It is about moving things forward without pushing, forcing or telling others what to do. All too often, if you seek to influence people through bullying or coercion you will not succeed in winning their support – and their lasting impression of you is likely to be negative.

Good influencers display a variety of personal characteristics, which can help to positively influence other people’s perceptions, including energy and enthusiasm; a calm, even-tempered disposition; an ability to be flexible and adaptable to different people and situations; strong listening and observation skills; and demonstrable empathy and perception.

The cliché about ‘making a good first impression’ has never been truer, but building trust and rapport is not easy with people you have never met before or don’t know well. Just remember that none of us can hope to influence everyone.

For more ideas and guidance, please take a look at the LGA’s councillor workbook on ‘Influencing skills’ (see www.local.gov.uk/ councillor-workbooks), and the comments of Cllrs Roodhouse and Edwards (see right)

November 2016

Cllr Simon Edwards (Con) is Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder at South Cambridgeshire District Council and a member of Cambridge City Council

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Lib Dem) is Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Warwickshire County and Rugby Borough Councils

I

nfluencing is increasingly important because of the many and increasing complexities in local government.

More than ever, councillors do have real opportunities to influence strategic decisions about how mainstream services are allocated spending, by getting a sentence changed.

Just a word in a recommendation can have a big impact later.

But how many meetings and discussions have you been in where you have a bullying chairman and no-one has read the recommendations or thought about them, or community meetings where residents are clear on their view and councillors get into trench warfare with no outcomes achieved for anyone?

Always consider perhaps there is another way. So don’t just listen, acknowledge the other side. Ask open questions, rather than give direct orders.

When possible, do not stamp down straight away on discussion – talk in terms of people’s interests and be genuinely interested in them.

Don’t dismiss real differences or give up on the objectives, seek solutions where possible, and get clear agreement on your joint position.

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“Don’t just listen, acknowledge the other side and ask open questions”

“Influencing those we represent is one of the hardest aspects of our work”

hat works with one group of people is quite often useless with others, so it pays to develop a range of skills which can be used depending on who we are trying to influence.

There also tends to be a hierarchy when it comes to securing the outcome you want.

It helps enormously if you have secured the support of officers, by influencing their thinking beforehand, when it comes to trying to influence fellow councillors on a particular issue. When it comes to influencing other organisations, evidence is key. A compelling case can often be crafted if it is littered with powerful facts which are beyond dispute.

Influencing those we represent is one of the hardest, yet most important aspects of a councillor’s work. We want to be the local champion, pressing the case for the residents, but we know what is possible and deliverable – and this sometimes falls well short of residents’ expectations. Being able to manage those expectations is an art in itself, and often a combination of confidence, understanding, and a solid grasp of all the details will provide a great foundation for shaping public opinion.

Developing the necessary techniques is time well spent as the most influential councillors are among the most valuable to a community and to a council.

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parliament Party conferences The LGA held a number of debates and briefings at the party conferences this autumn, covering topics ranging from local government funding and devolution, to education, health and social care, housing and the importance of technology in improving public services.

We hosted our annual receptions for councillors at each conference and were joined by party Leader Tim Farron MP at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn MP at Labour conference in Liverpool, and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid MP at the Conservative conference in Birmingham.

Each paid tribute to the important work their party’s councillors play in local communities and their close working relationship with the LGA. The need for central and local government to work together to build more housing was another common theme across the three events.

Our fringe debates at each conference looked at a different issue relevant to local government. At the Liberal Democrat conference we discussed the impact of leaving the EU on local government, and were joined

by Catherine Bearder MEP; Cllr Adam Paynter, Deputy Leader of Cornwall Council; Cllr Ian Stewart (South Lakeland District Council);

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and Cllr Chris White, Deputy Leader of the LGA’s Liberal Democrat Group.

Participants noted the importance of the LGA securing a seat at the negotiating table, and the need to ensure the £5.3 billion of EU funding committed to local regeneration schemes up to 2020 is secured.

Education was the focus of the debate at the Labour Party conference, with LGA Labour Group Leader Cllr Nick Forbes, Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner MP, IPPR North, the National Union of Teachers, and Prospect magazine. The Government’s recent proposals on academies, grammar schools and faith schools were debated, along with the wider role for local government in education and schools improvement.

The Conservative conference was an opportunity to explore the priorities for the new ministerial team, and we were joined

“The need for central and local government to work together to build more housing was a common theme”

by LGA Conservative Group Leader Cllr David Hodge, Local Government Minister Marcus Jones MP, Centre for Cities, Policy Exchange and Prospect magazine. Greater devolution, the need for more housing, and social care funding were raised by the panellists and those in the audience.

This year the LGA also partnered with global ICT solutions provider Huawei, running events on technology and the public sector.

The discussions included many examples of how local government is using technology to improve services and find efficiencies.

Issues around new technological opportunities and engaging with residents who are digitally excluded were also raised.

We were delighted to hear from Nigel Adams MP (Con, Selby and Ainsty); Jo Casebourne, from the Institute for Government; Cllr Mark Hawthorne MBE, Chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board; former Cambridge MP Julian Huppert (Lib Dem); Jason Kitcat, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Crunch Accounting and former Leader of Brighton and Hove Council (Green); Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con), Leader of Wiltshire Council; Lord Scriven (Lib Dem), former Leader of Sheffield City Council; Cllr David Tutt (Lib Dem, East Sussex); and Daniel Zeichner MP (Lab, Cambridge), who all contributed to these debates.

Training Across the conferences we also ran a series of bespoke events and training sessions with councillors and worked closely with stakeholders from across the private, public and voluntary sectors to ensure local government was represented at debates, policy seminars and roundtables. The LGA’s Chairman Lord Porter, Group Leaders Cllr Nick Forbes, Cllr David Hodge, Cllr Gerald VernonJackson and our councillors spoke at events on devolution, housing, enterprise and growth, skills, social investment, health and social care, transport, public health, and young people and children services. Cllr Marianne Overton, Leader of the LGA’s Independent Group, also spoke about the importance of economic growth and the role of councillors at the Green and UKIP conferences.

Conference season will end with the LGA Independent Group holding their annual conference on Friday 18 November.

Delegates will explore the key issues facing local government, including housing and planning reform, health and social care and immigration (see www.lgaindependent. local.gov.uk). www.local.gov.uk

local by-elections Allerdale, Christchurch LAB GAIN FROM CON 11.3% over Lib Dem

elections Conservatives remain dominant A recent poll of general election voting intention shows a Conservative lead over Labour of 17 percentage points and a gap of more than double that over the Liberal Democrats.

So, what is happening when, simultaneously, the Conservatives lose eight council by-elections – half the total being defended?

The first line of inquiry is differential turnout. Are Conservative activists suffering a post-referendum hangover, finding it difficult to mobilise supporters? True, turnouts are disappointingly low, even in some Conservative-leaning areas. But there are no real differences between seats held and lost.

It is notable that five defeats were delivered by Liberal Democrats. Recent months reveal a paradox of continuing national indifference against firm evidence that in some areas the party’s support is re-emerging.

Supporting this viewpoint is that the Lib Dems also captured two seats from Labour, including Cardiff’s Plasnewydd ward which it once dominated.

Teignbridge Central fits the bill as another ward where the incumbent grip was transient.

The two Conservatives finished well ahead in May 2015 but before then the two-member seat was split with the Liberal Democrats.

In 2013 the county division elected Richard Younger Ross, the MP for Newton Abbot until 2010. The Lib Dem by-election gain fits a pattern.

The Conservative defeat in Poole’s Broadstone ward shares some characteristics with the above – Liberal Democrats regaining lost territory through the efforts of former parliamentary candidate Vikki Slade.

A third factor worth investigating following by-election defeat is what lies November 2016

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

behind the vacancy. The Conservatives suffered a triple whammy in Suffolk’s Hadleigh division – the sitting councillor disqualified, former Liberal Democrat wins and a highprofile challenger. Two years after being elected in 2015, Brian Riley emigrated to the United States but chose to become ‘Hadleigh’s long-distance councillor’, ignoring requests to resign before the six-month rule decided matters. Selecting the current mayor as candidate ensured a Lib Dem victory.

Local issues can explain why strong incumbent parties are defeated. The Conservatives dominate Limpsfield ward in Tandridge, or at least did do until their shock defeat by the Oxted and Limpsfield Residents group. Opposition to house building mobilises voters in ways that parties can do no longer.

Local protest combining with a change in party competition proved significant in the Conservatives’ defeat in Arley and Whitacre in North Warwickshire, a ward that regularly swings between the two major parties. With UKIP and the Greens failing to contest, it was a straight fight with Jodie Gosling campaigning successfully for Labour on the theme of spending cuts.

Despite these poor results, the Conservatives remain the dominant party

Turnout 36%

Cardiff, Plasnewydd LIB DEM GAIN FROM LAB 13.3% over Lab Turnout 23.1% Carmarthenshire, Cilycwm PLAID CYMRU GAIN FROM IND 6.9% over Ind Turnout 61% Cotswold, Stow LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 29.8% over Con Turnout 40.5% Dacorum, Adeyfield West LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 27.3% over Con Turnout 25.2% Hartlepool, Headland & Harbour UKIP GAIN FROM LAB 23.9% over Lab Turnout 18.2% North East Derbyshire, Tupton LIB DEM GAIN FROM LAB 3.5% over Lab Turnout 29.8% North Warwickshire, Arley & Whitacre LAB GAIN FROM CON 19.3% over Con Turnout 22.8% Poole, Broadstone LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 46.2% over Con Turnout 36.9% Suffolk, Hadleigh LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 10.3% over Con Turnout 27.6% Tandridge, Limpsfield RES GAIN FROM CON 19.4% over Con

Turnout 43%

Teignbridge, Teignmouth Central LIB DEM GAIN FROM CON 21.4% over Con Turnout 25.1%

of local government. The record shows that since 1973 the party has fielded more than 200,000 candidates, contesting eight in ten of all vacancies, and has been successful in securing elective office in 39 per cent of those.

To date the Conservatives remain the party most likely to run a local council – almost a third of all administrations have been Conservative led. Each by-election defeat is a setback but over the long run the party remains firmly ahead.

Only by-elections where a seat changed hands are listed above. For the full list of recent results and a spreadsheet with detailed data on each election, please visit www.local.gov.uk/first

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Deaths, funerals and coroners conference 1 December 2016 Layden House, London EC1 This one-day conference will provide a timely opportunity to look at some of the key national policy developments that will affect registrars, cemeteries and crematoria as well as coroners’ services over the next few years, and what government’s expectations are of local authorities.

The conference will examine government’s plans, highlight innovative practice by councils and provide attendees with the opportunities to network and discuss these issues as we look to the future.

To book your place visit: www.local.gov.uk/events 19.2 Deaths funerals half page ad_02.indd 1

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2020 Vision: LGA Annual Finance Conference 2017 5 January 2017, London Business rates retention reform, to be implemented by 2020, will mark a fundamental change in the way local government is financed. Following an initial consultation, which closed in September and, with another expected this autumn, the proposals for reform are gathering pace.

Join us for the LGA’s Annual Local Government Finance Conference on 5 January 2017 to look at the key issues and hear from leading figures involved in policy development.

We’ll also consider the implications of both the provisional 2017/18 finance settlement and the 2017 business rates revaluation for councils.

To book your place visit: www.local.gov.uk/events 19.3 Finance conference First ad_02.indd 1

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