Lgafirst562

News and views from the Local Government Association “Unless the Government commits to fully funding concessionary fares, elderly and disabled people will be left stranded with a free bus pass but no local buses to travel on.”

Cllr Peter Box, Chair of the LGA’s Economy and Transport Board, p2

P8 Helping hands

Legal changes offer a valuable opportunity to make the special educational needs system simpler for families P10 Supporting housing investment Councils are taking an entrepreneurial approach to meeting local housing needs

Fortnightly Issue 562 8 March 2014

P11 Budget management The LGA is calling for more financial flexibility for councils

P14 Unwinding red tape The Deregulation Bill aims to free councils and business from unnecessary bureaucracy

EDITORIAL

Budget issues As I write this, less than two weeks before the Budget, many local authorities are still dealing with the immediate aftermath of the winter storms and floods. The sterling response of council staff and elected members to the crisis underlines the vital importance of maintaining strong, resilient local government in every part of the country.

Which is why, in its Budget submission to the Treasury, the LGA has emphasised that financial sustainability is the greatest challenge facing local public services. Local government’s core funding will fall by 40 per cent over the current Parliament, and the impact on individual authorities is varied. Some will cope with further cuts but some are at real risk of failing.

The inevitable consequence of continuing funding reductions is that councils will have to reduce and withdraw from providing services that local people care about.

Nonetheless, councils continue to be innovative in identifying ways to make efficiencies, rationalise and protect services, cut costs and generate revenue. Many are rethinking local services, and the LGA continues to call for a fundamental transformation of public services via its Rewiring campaign.

And with deficit reduction set to continue for the foreseeable future, the LGA’s Budget submission sets out a series of proposals aimed at giving councils greater financial flexibility to make savings over the next two years, promote growth, and increase the pace at which councils can protect and improve local services. These cover business rates, council tax discounts, concessionary bus fares, the Barnett formula, the housing borrowing cap, ‘right to buy’ discounts, landfill tax, and planning school places, to name but a few (see p11). We hope the Treasury is listening.

Sir Merrick Cockell is LGA Chairman Editor Karen Thornton Design Liberata Design Advertising Amanda Cowen Write to first, Local Government House, Smith

Square, London SW1P 3HZ T (editorial) 020 7664 3294 T (advertising) 020 7664 3012 email first@local.gov.uk Photography Photofusion and Ingimage

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2

FIRST NEWS

More cash needed for free bus services

Elderly and disabled people face losing vital bus services as government funding cuts leave cashstrapped councils unable to keep picking up the bill for free travel.

Councils have a statutory duty to provide free off-peak travel for elderly and disabled residents through the national concessionary fares scheme.

But government funding for the scheme has reduced by 39 per cent during the life of this Parliament – despite an ageing population increasing demand, with a third of all bus journeys being made by the 10 million older and disabled people with concessionary bus passes.

It means councils are being forced to subsidise the scheme at the cost of other essential services.

They are working with residents to find innovative solutions such as organising car-sharing schemes, dial-a-ride or community transport initiatives, but routes and services can

no longer be protected.

The LGA is calling for the Government to use this month’s Budget to fully fund the concessionary fare scheme to protect bus services.

Cllr Peter Box, Chair of the LGA’s Economy and Transport Board, said: “The concessionary fares scheme provides a lifeline for our most vulnerable residents to go shopping, pick up medication, attend doctor appointments or socialise with friends.

However, it is now under real threat.

“Councils know how important buses are for their communities and local economies and are desperate to protect them. Instead, many are reluctantly taking difficult decisions to scale back services and review subsidised routes. Unless the Government commits to fully funding concessionary fares, elderly and disabled people will be left stranded with a free bus pass but no local buses to travel on.”

Inside this issue 05 Policy

Council tax rebate for flooded homes

06 Letters

Empty homes and council tax

07 Opinion

How to decentralise successfully

08 first feature

12 Parishes

Making special educational needs simpler for families Changes to the law affecting children with special educational needs offer a valuable opportunity to make the system simpler for families, writes Cllr David Simmonds

When the Children and Families Bill becomes law, it will bring in the biggest reform of the legal system for special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities for 30 years.

The changes will have a direct and significant impact on the lives of children, young people and their families across the country, giving them a greater say in the local services and the support they receive.

And for local councillors who are helping mums and dads with children who have SEN through the complex process of accessing the support they need, this is a valuable opportunity to make the system simpler and more straightforward for the families that they serve.

Local government has a key role to play in making these reforms a success. From September 2014, councils, along with their health partners

and other providers, will be required to introduce the changes to the system that are outlined in the Bill to their local areas, and councils are preparing now to make sure they are ready.

Support

FIRST FEATURE

13 Improvement

Supporting councils to succeed

Case studies Southampton City Council and the EHC planning process Southampton City Council has developed key roles for professionals who work with families along with a number of tools, such as the ‘One and only’ form and guidance that are used when an initial visit with a family takes place.

The form is designed as a flexible tool that can be used with families to initiate early thinking about the assessment and planning process.

Early information is gathered and is used to initiate conversations with families about their views and aspirations that can be used in the development of the broader EHC plan.

Disputes

The new system will include special educational needs support to young people over the age of 16, so that they have the support they need to help them prepare for adulthood. One of the most significant changes is the new duty for councils and health bodies to work together to plan and commission services for children and young people with SEN up to the age of 25.

The new law will mean that any child or young person with more complex needs will have one overall assessment resulting in one plan which focuses on meeting their needs across education, health and social care.

For any children and young people that currently have a statement of special educational need, their statements are expected to be gradually replaced by new education, health and care (EHC) plans. Under the current system, most children and young people with SEN receive support from their school or college.

Individual councils will also be required to publish a ‘local offer’ of services in collaboration

8

with local providers, to help mums and dads and young people themselves understand what service are available to them and allow them to make informed decisions. This includes information on what schools and colleges can offer for those who don’t have an EHC plan because they have a lower level of special educational need.

Alongside the new law, regulations and a statutory code of practice are due to be published in April this year, which will provide practical advice and guidance to all the organisations that work with and support children and young people, including all types of schools and colleges.

Local government has supported the aims of the Bill’s SEN reforms and we have been successful in lobbying for changes to improve the new system, so that it works better for children and young people.

Amendments have included clear duties on health bodies for the health provision in EHC plans to ensure that there is real integration between agencies

Tiers of influence and devolution

There will also be a review of the system for resolving disputes to create a more unified process between education, health and social care and make the system easier to navigate for young people, their families and those who work with them.

Councils will need to make sure that they are ready for the new law to come into force in September 2014. To prepare for the change, councils will need to know: • how effective the arrangements in the local area are for identifying children and young people with SEN • how the effectiveness of special educational, health and care provision for those with and without EHC plans will be assessed • how the progress towards the outcomes identified for children and young people with SEN and disabilities will be assessed and reviewed.

Councils are receiving a £70 million SEN reform grant, taken from the £150 million early intervention fund, to get ready for the reforms.

The LGA is now calling for the Department for Education to make sure that there is also sufficient funding to support the ongoing running costs of the new system after implementation.

Twenty local pathfinder areas, covering 31 councils, have already begun to implement the new system, providing services for young people aged from birth up until they are 25.

Since last April, pathfinder champions from each area have been providing support and advice to other areas in their region. This support programme will run until March 2015.

Other organisations, such as the Council for Disabled Children, are also supporting councils and other organisations as they prepare to implement reforms in the Bill. Its ‘Countdown to change’ programme is providing a range of information and support for key aspects of the SEN reforms.

15 Last word

North Yorkshire County Council’s local offer North Yorkshire has developed an interactive site map, in the style of a London Underground tube map, linked to a geographical map of the county to provide a creative solution to helping parents and young people know what’s on offer in their area.

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

FIRST FEATURE

9

Cross-tier working for residents

Local culture needs News in brief lottery review – LGA ‘Freeze landfill tax’

Local museums and heritage sites could get a major boost from lottery money if the system awarded more funding to the good causes it was originally designed to help.

The LGA is calling on the Government to review how lottery funding is awarded to good causes.

A founding principle of the National Lottery was that funding should be directed to additional activity that boosted public spending.

Avoiding the duplication of funding in some Big Lottery Fund areas which are already crowded with other government policy and programmes is one way in which more money could be re-directed to the core good causes that need the money most.

Evidence shows that exposure to the arts and participation in sport helps to make people mentally and physically healthier and spending on the arts can boost economic growth.

Councils spend £540 million every year on the arts, museums, galleries, theatres and heritage. But they face a 40 per cent cut in government grants

this parliament and can expect less from Arts Council England.

Cllr Flick Rea MBE, Chair of the LGA’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: “Museums, leisure centres and heritage attractions could get a huge boost if the Government reviewed lottery funding and stripped out duplication with other government programmes.

“As funding continues to get cut and council budgets are getting increasingly tighter, we need to have a conversation around how money is allocated and ensure that it is ending up where it is needed the most.

“Councils have worked hard to protect their arts, heritage and sport funding and strived to find innovative ways to link it to economic and growth priorities.

“However, the Government’s decision to continually focus its most severe cuts on councils is inevitably having an impact on the arts, heritage and sport, and the additional boost provided by lottery funding is ever more important.”

Challenging peers

Landfill tax has achieved its purpose and should be frozen immediately, according to the LGA. It is calling on the Chancellor to use this month’s Budget to freeze landfill tax at £72 and redistribute revenue to local taxpayers for investment in recycling. There is no evidence to suggest an increase in landfill tax will increase recycling levels and the LGA believes revenue from the commercial sector should be reinvested in new waste technology. The tax is set to increase to £80 per tonne in April. Cllr Mike Jones, Chair of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board, said: “Landfill tax is punishing taxpayers, who are paying £30 per household every year but seeing no returns.”

Social media drink warning

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook should introduce health warnings to tackle the lethal internet binge drinking game ‘NekNomination’, which is believed to have claimed five lives so far. Cllr Katie Hall, Chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “This is an utterly reckless craze which has tragically claimed lives. We believe social media operators have a responsibility to provide health warnings to user groups and individuals.”

Award for LGA chairman

Councillors joined MPs and peers at the LGA’s annual parliamentary reception in the House of Commons last week (pictured). Members discussed the current and future challenges of public service delivery, and the difficult decisions facing the next government. Ministers and their shadows were out in force, with Eric Pickles, Brandon Lewis, Stephen William, Baroness Stowell, Hilary Benn and Andy Sawford attending alongside many LGA Vice-Presidents and LGA President Lord Best. The event was hosted by LGA Vice-President Steve Reed MP (Labour, Croydon North), the former leader of Lambeth Council.

See www.local.gov.uk/parliament

Sir Merrick Cockell has been awarded the Judges’ Special Award for Contribution to Local Government in the 2014 LGiU and CCLA C’llr Achievement Awards. Sir Merrick, who shares the award with Cllr Lord Peter Smith, Leader of Wigan Council, was commended for his outstanding contribution to local government as a council leader, leader of London Councils and as LGA Chairman. Cllr Jim McMahon, Chair of the LGA’s Workforce Board, was named Leader of the Year for his outstanding leadership of Oldham Council since being elected in 2011

first readers

The LGA is planning a survey of councillors who receive first, to get views on the magazine. One lucky respondent to the survey, due out shortly via email, will receive a free place at a paid-for LGA event of their choice.

FIRST NEWS

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This event is of vital importance to anyone working in, or who wishes to work with, the local government sector.

Join us and over 1400 attendees at the local government event of the year.

4

FIRST ADS

www.local.gov.uk/annual-conference

firstpolicy the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board, said: “There are half a million homes with planning permission in the system. Our research shows that regardless of changes to the planning system, the private sector only builds a long-run average of 130,000 homes a year.”

Scrutiny

Flooding

Council tax rebate The Government has set aside £4 million to help pay for council tax rebates for residents whose homes have been flooded this winter. Cllr Sharon Taylor, Chair of the LGA’s Finance Panel, said: “Many people contending with flood damage to their homes have already been offered council tax rebates by their local authorities. Council budgets are stretched and demand for support is high, so it is good news that government will be supporting local authorities’ efforts to provide financial support to flood-hit homes. Local authorities are keen to work with government to ensure the application process is straightforward and that the benefit gets to where it is most needed.”

Welfare Emergency fund The scrapping of the £347 million local welfare assistance fund will make it increasingly difficult to help vulnerable people facing short-term crises, the LGA has warned.

It is calling for government to rethink its decision to scrap the fund, used by councils to provide emergency and financial help to people in crisis, such as families under threat of homelessness or domestic abuse, and to prevent longerterm problems. LGA Chairman Sir Merrick Cockell said: “Early indications suggest that this scheme is working well.

It is extremely disappointing that government has removed the funding for this safety net without first honouring its promise to discuss with councils what the consequence

of such a move might be. For some councils, prociding crisis payments from local service budgets is likely to be a stretch too far.”

Finance Corporate costs The Audit Commission is calling for greater local scrutiny and more consistent reporting by councils of their central management spending because of higher costs in some councils than others.

But Cllr Peter Fleming, Chair of the LGA’s Improvement Board, said: “Councils have saved hundreds of millions in recent years by massively reducing back office costs, sharing services and making every pound go further. This Audit Commission report shows that spending on corporate and democratic management as

well as central management support to services has been cut significantly since 2009.

This simplistic attempt to compare one authority with another has resulted in a misleading picture from which little can be learned.”

Housing New build The latest house building statistics for England show that new starts in the 12 months to December 2013 totalled 122,590, up 23 per cent.

But this remains far short of the 232,000 homes a year the Government has said are needed. The LGA is urging the Chancellor to completely lift the centrally controlled housing borrowing cap in this month’s Budget to allow councils to build significantly more homes.

Cllr Mike Jones, Chairman of

National awards The Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) is inviting entries for its annual awards. Now in its seventh year, the awards aim to champion and publicise examples of good governance and scrutiny that impact on the way local authorities work and the services residents experience. For the first time, there are no individual categories: the judges will select five good scrutiny award winners and one overall impact winner, and will shortlist entries that can demonstrate effective actions and outcomes. The awards ceremony will take place at the CfPS’s annual conference on 10 June at Local Government House, Westminster. See www.cfps. org.uk for more information and to submit an entry.

Finance Business rates MPs have called for fundamental reform of business rates, claiming the current system is “not fit for purpose”.

Adrian Bailey MP, Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, said the British high street is “struggling under a system of business rates that comprises one of the highest forms of local property tax in the European Union”. Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, welcomed the call for a wholesale review but warned that it “must take account of the vital part business rates play in financing local authorities”.

See www.parliament.uk

FIRST POLICY

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sound bites Sean Harriss (Chief Executive, Bolton) “Interesting media reports on more devolution to Wales – If good for Wales why not English City Regions/ Councils?” www.twitter.com/Seanharriss Cllr Alan Rhodes (Lab, Nottinghamshire) “@LGANews time for Gvt to recognise the real costs of serving our communities, especially in rural areas.” www.twitter.com/CllrARhodes LGiU “Cllr Awards judges commended Sir Merrick’s astonishing contribution to #localgov and felt he was a worthy winner #CllrAwards14 @Sir_MRC.” www.twitter.com/CllrAwards Cllr Kishan Devani (Con, Brent) “Had a lovely evening at the @LGAcomms reception at the House of Commons Terrace; great to meet up with old friends and new.” www.twitter.com/Kishan_Devani Cllr Paul Crossley (Lib Dem, Bath and North East Somerset) “@LGAComms for a meeting of European and International Board to learn about how local gov here is working with local gov elsewhere.” www.twitter.com/Bathnesleader Do you have a blog or a Twitter account we should be following? Let us know. Email first@local.gov.uk

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FIRST COMMENT

letters

STAR LETTER

Empty properties and council tax The shortage of housing at a reasonable price is a key issue for the country.

Following a change in regulations announced by the Government in 2012, Cheshire East Council withdrew council tax discounts on empty properties from April 2013.

Other measures introduced at the same time included reducing exemptions for second homes and charging a premium council tax rate on long-term unoccupied properties.

These measures have helped to raise more than £2 million for the council and to reduce the number of empty homes by 11 per cent in the first six months of the new policy.

At a time of acute housing shortage this is a real success for the council, which we would like to share with your readers.

Cllr Sam Corcoran (Lab) Cllr Peter Raynes (Con) Cheshire East Council

OPINION

Achieving decentralisation Flood events

Cllr Guy Shepherd’s letter on flooding lessons (first 561) exemplifies some of the misconceived notions that have led to this winter’s floods causing damage and distress that could have been avoided.

The rainfall was not “unprecedented” nor can he or anyone else state unequivocally that such events only happen every 200 years. The Met Office struggles to produce accurate forecasts for more than two weeks ahead and actually predicted a drier than average winter.

Climate change may be the new religion but, for atheists like me, it is prudent to plan for different kinds of weather, because a group of islands on the lee side of a large ocean tends to get quite a lot of it.

The reality is that we have too many agencies with too many ‘experts’ and common sense no longer prevails.

Cllr Tony Sutcliffe (UKIP) West Sussex County Council

Road safety

Cycling safety could be improved if cyclists stopped going through red lights, stopped wearing headphones and stopped using mobile phones while cycling.

Cllr Carl Austin (Lab) Manchester City Council Regarding the public health article on reducing speed limits (first 558), in my area we have recently suffered a widespread and blanket implementation of a 20mph limit.

We now get overtaking in places where we never did before. Commerce wonders why it is being slowed down. There must be 33 per cent more cars on the road at any one time because traffic is supposedly travelling 33 per cent slower. This means that cars are very unlikely to be running efficiently and therefore will be emitting more not

less pollution.

And what of the increasing number of electric cars that are pollution free; are we to slow these vehicles too because of the sins of their petroldriven brothers?

Why say this is a cheap option?

I understand the bill in Lancashire County Council is in excess of £9 million and for that they have a lot of dissatisfied residents and a widely disregarded law that does not have public support.

I thought the whole idea of roads was to get from A to B quickly and easily. Have we forgotten this?

Cllr Frank Andrews (Con) Fylde Borough Council

Balanced economy

I was somewhat surprised and pleased to read a reference to the concept of a steady state economy by Cllr Cluer (first 559).

As a biologist and clinical researcher (but not, I confess, an economist), the obsession with growth has always seemed counterintuitive to me. Unregulated and unsustainable growth in animal or bacterial populations is damaging both to the organism and its environment. An exponential growth phase is rapidly followed by static, then death phases as the organism runs out of food, space or whatever else it needs.

Similarly, economies also appear to grow until they run out of whatever is fuelling them (South Sea trading bubbles, stock market crashes, unsustainable lending) and then crash and burn, with devastating consequences.

We are paying the price for this cycle of boom and bust now as we all look at our budgets. Perhaps it’s time to take a lesson from nature and rethink whether ‘growth’ is really better than ‘balance’?

Cllr Louise Sutcliffe (Lab) Newcastle City Council

What do you think? You can comment on these letters online at www.local.gov.uk/first-letters or submit your own letter for publication by emailing first@local.gov.uk. Letters may be edited and published online

Ed Miliband has promised that, if elected, Labour will usher in a new era of decentralisation in England and Wales. Local leaders will undoubtedly be sceptical. All parties promise localism in opposition but usually end up gripping tightly on the levers of state power.

Despite promises of decentralisation from David Cameron’s government, council tax is still aggressively capped and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has regularly issued edicts to councils on local issues such as bin collections.

In part, this is because the Coalition prefers giving power to individuals, not local authorities.

But it is also because the current government’s attempts to decentralise political power, through police and crime commissioners and the ‘city deals’ process, have run into difficulty.

Last month, the Institute for Government published research examining why this is (see www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk). Not all decentralisation efforts are doomed – as seen by successful devolution to Scotland and Wales.

But many flounder due to resistance from among the three main groups who need to support reforms: national government, local government and the public.

National leaders and officials worry that current local government structures are of insufficient scale to perform extra functions efficiently, and that local politicians won’t take the flak for failures. Local politicians mistrust structural reforms that could disempower them and upset the balance of political control, particularly if there is only modest power on offer.

And the public dislikes proposals that appear irrelevant to their lives. The attempt to introduce elected mayors across England and Wales fell foul of all of these problems.

For decentralisation to succeed, party leaders must first set out a clear vision, being explicit on the scale of change, likely benefits and political capital required. Second, they must demonstrate the backing of key cabinet ministers, ensuring no announcements contradict the decentralising message. Third, plans must be designed to overcome the obstacles to change we identify.

Crucially, reforms should not be conceived and delivered from the centre. Local leaders are often best placed to design proposals that can stick. The test is whether the groups involved in decentralising reforms can recognise the often legitimate concerns of others and work together to resolve them.

Tom Gash is Director of Research at the Institute for Government

FIRST COMMENT

7

Changes to the law affecting children with special educational needs offer a valuable opportunity to make the system simpler for families, writes Cllr David Simmonds

When the Children and Families Bill becomes law, it will bring in the biggest reform of the legal system for special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities for 30 years.

The changes will have a direct and significant impact on the lives of children, young people and their families across the country, giving them a greater say in the local services and the support they receive.

And for local councillors who are helping mums and dads with children who have SEN through the complex process of accessing the support they need, this is a valuable opportunity to make the system simpler and more straightforward for the families that they serve.

Local government has a key role to play in making these reforms a success. From September 2014, councils, along with their health partners

and other providers, will be required to introduce the changes to the system that are outlined in the Bill to their local areas, and councils are preparing now to make sure they are ready.

Support The new system will include special educational needs support to young people over the age of 16, so that they have the support they need to help them prepare for adulthood. One of the most significant changes is the new duty for councils and health bodies to work together to plan and commission services for children and young people with SEN up to the age of 25.

The new law will mean that any child or young person with more complex needs will have one overall assessment resulting in one plan which focuses on meeting their needs across education, health and social care.

For any children and young people that currently have a statement of special educational need, their statements are expected to be gradually replaced by new education, health and care (EHC) plans. Under the current system, most children and young people with SEN receive support from their school or college.

Individual councils will also be required to publish a ‘local offer’ of services in collaboration

8

FIRST FEATURE

with local providers, to help mums and dads and young people themselves understand what service are available to them and allow them to make informed decisions. This includes information on what schools and colleges can offer for those who don’t have an EHC plan because they have a lower level of special educational need.

Alongside the new law, regulations and a statutory code of practice are due to be published in April this year, which will provide practical advice and guidance to all the organisations that work with and support children and young people, including all types of schools and colleges.

Local government has supported the aims of the Bill’s SEN reforms and we have been successful in lobbying for changes to improve the new system, so that it works better for children and young people.

Amendments have included clear duties on health bodies for the health provision in EHC plans to ensure that there is real integration between agencies

Case studies Southampton City Council and the EHC planning process Southampton City Council has developed key roles for professionals who work with families along with a number of tools, such as the ‘One and only’ form and guidance that are used when an initial visit with a family takes place.

The form is designed as a flexible tool that can be used with families to initiate early thinking about the assessment and planning process.

Early information is gathered and is used to initiate conversations with families about their views and aspirations that can be used in the development of the broader EHC plan.

Disputes There will also be a review of the system for resolving disputes to create a more unified process between education, health and social care and make the system easier to navigate for young people, their families and those who work with them.

Councils will need to make sure that they are ready for the new law to come into force in September 2014. To prepare for the change, councils will need to know: • how effective the arrangements in the local area are for identifying children and young people with SEN • how the effectiveness of special educational, health and care provision for those with and without EHC plans will be assessed • how the progress towards the outcomes identified for children and young people with SEN and disabilities will be assessed and reviewed.

Councils are receiving a £70 million SEN reform grant, taken from the £150 million early intervention fund, to get ready for the reforms.

The LGA is now calling for the Department for Education to make sure that there is also sufficient funding to support the ongoing running costs of the new system after implementation.

Twenty local pathfinder areas, covering 31 councils, have already begun to implement the new system, providing services for young people aged from birth up until they are 25.

Since last April, pathfinder champions from each area have been providing support and advice to other areas in their region. This support programme will run until March 2015.

Other organisations, such as the Council for Disabled Children, are also supporting councils and other organisations as they prepare to implement reforms in the Bill. Its ‘Countdown to change’ programme is providing a range of information and support for key aspects of the SEN reforms.

North Yorkshire County Council’s local offer North Yorkshire has developed an interactive site map, in the style of a London Underground tube map (see above), linked to a geographical map of the county to provide a creative solution to helping parents and young people know what’s on offer in their area.

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

FIRST FEATURE

9

Councils are taking an entrepreneurial approach to meeting local housing need, writes Cllr Mike Jones

Collectively, we simply aren’t building enough homes to meet the demands of a growing and ageing population.

Demand for housing across all tenures is high and the housing waiting list in councils has increased by 70 per cent in the last decade.

Private renters make up an increasingly large part of the overall housing population, and 45 per cent of them think it will be five years or more before they can buy their own home.

And after a period of uncertainty over house prices, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reports that house prices rose in every part of the country by the end of 2013.

Demand The housing challenges vary, of course. Areas experiencing high demand face the challenges of affordability, leaving many households priced out of the market for home ownership and directing a significant proportion of their income on housing costs.

Conversely, areas where property is considerably lower in value can find it difficult to attract investment to support wider regeneration.

Both of these issues will hold back the local economy, where housing and jobs are intrinsically linked.

Taking a long-term view on the housing needs and aspirations of your area and the investment needed to meet these needs can support wider plans to stimulate economic growth locally, and help to manage pressures on public services and affordable housing.

I’m pleased to say that councils have been taking an entrepreneurial approach to all these issues, according to case studies gathered for a new LGA publication, ‘Supporting housing investment’ (see www.local.gov.uk/publications).

The introduction of self-financing in 2012 for councils with their own housing stock has provided opportunities for investment. Councils are using these flexibilities in addition to setting up innovative partnerships to deliver housing. For example, Ashford Borough Council has set up a councilowned housing company to build new homes for rent.

Plymouth, a non-stock owning council, has established

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FIRST FEATURE

a £50 million fund to build 1,000 new houses a year, borrowing the money to lend to housing associations and cooperatives and releasing 100 acres for development.

Councils are providing housing of different types of tenure to meet local need. For example, Barking and Dagenham has built homes for affordable and social rent through a private partnership, while Gateshead is developing private and affordable housing together.

What I find interesting is that councils are increasingly looking at their land and assets and thinking in a business-like way about how to use them to deliver the housing their communities need. A recent LGA survey showed that 90 per cent of councils intended to make land available for housing over the next five years, and a number of city deals and other asset development partnerships have opened up opportunities to pool and release assets across the public sector.

This is broader than delivering traditional ‘council housing’ and includes the delivery of homes for private rent and ownership.

As the councils featured in ‘Supporting housing investment’ demonstrate, there are opportunities for both stock and nonstock holding authorities to deliver, support, attract and underpin housing investment.

For all councils, there are opportunities to build on previous commercial and entrepreneurial experience to start new house building projects which provide private rented, affordable and market housing.

A complex housing market needs the creativity and entrepreneurial skills of councils to bring land and money to the table and get new homes built.

• ‘Supporting housing investment: a case study guide’, see www.local.gov.uk/publications

Cllr Mike Jones is Chair of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board

The LGA is calling on Chancellor George Osborne to give councils more financial flexibility to make savings, in his Budget statement on 19 March

The greatest challenge facing local public services is financial sustainability.

Councils face real-term cuts of 15.9 per cent over 2014/15 and 2015/16, with an overall reduction in core funding of 40 per cent over the current Parliament.

The Better Care Fund – a single pooled budget to support health and social care services to work more closely together in local areas – has introduced new ways of working that the LGA supports and wants to see further developed.

It is on the back of this that our 2014 Budget submission calls for measures to drive through further change, invest in our communities, grow local economies and transform services to prevent crises.

Our proposals focus on what can be done in this Parliament to give councils greater financial flexibility to make savings, promote growth, and increase the pace at which they can protect and improve local services.

Financial flexibility Greater financial flexibilities would help councils mitigate some of the impacts of cuts on local public services, while earlier publication of key documents – such as the local government finance settlement – would allow more time to plan next year’s budget and consult residents.

Our proposals include changes to the business rates system, and for the increasingly unaffordable concessionary bus fares scheme to be fully funded.

Councils should also be able to set local planning fees that cover the actual costs of services and that help ensure planning teams are fully resourced to manage growth and development as the economy recovers.

Greater local discretion over council tax discounts, including the single person discount, would also help. Removing the single person discount in non-pensioner households for people living alone in larger properties would save councils more than £200 million a year in council tax revenue.

And the Barnett Formula for allocating funding to the devolved nations should be reviewed. The correction in funding of over £4 billion a year should be allocated to English and Welsh councils to invest in preventative services.

Promoting growth The LGA has long argued that removing the housing borrowing cap and allowing councils to set ‘right to buy’ discounts (and retain the full receipts from sales) would free up councils to build more homes. The additional £300 million borrowing capacity in 2015, announced last year, is a welcome first step – but more needs to be done to tackle housing shortages.

The LGA wants to see significant reforms of skills and training, with a locally commissioned and accountable system able to respond quickly to local employers’ demands for a skilled workforce.

Other growth-promoting proposals cover landfill tax, fracking, making

government departmental underspending available to councils, and setting up an emergency highways maintenance fund.

Public services Councils need an indicative capital allowance to plan ahead and deliver the most cost-effective long-term solutions for dealing with increased demand for school places. And they should be able to establish community schools rather than academies, if that is the locally preferred option.

The implementation of social care reforms should be fully funded, and we need clarity on why some of these costs are being covered via the Better Care Fund rather than being treated as ‘new burdens’.

Finally, a national body, similar to the Student Loans Company, should be set up to operate the proposed universal deferred payment scheme for individuals’ social care costs. A single, national body would be simpler and more cost effective than 152 different local schemes.

• This is an edited version of the LGA’s Submission to HM Treasury.

For more information see www. local.gov.uk/finance

FIRST FEATURE

11

Local councils are performing an increasingly important role and delivering more services to residents, writes Howard Midworth

Town and parish councils – what first comes to mind when this tier of local government is mentioned?

Some of you may be members of your local town council or attend meetings to provide the vital link with principal authorities, and are therefore knowledgeable regarding their current priorities and issues.

Known collectively as local councils, the sector has changed dramatically in recent years, especially since the passing of the Localism Act in 2011. It gives local councils greater powers and rights, including a ‘general power of competence’ where a council meets electoral mandate and ‘qualified clerk’ tests.

Many larger town councils are now of a significant size, with turnovers in excess of £1 million a year, and employ a number of staff to deliver a large range of services to their local communities.

Devolution Funding cuts to local government continue to bite deeper and many principal authorities are devolving services and assets to local councils.

Examples include local libraries, open spaces, youth services, hedge cutting, playing fields and leisure centres.

A key success factor that enables transfers to progress smoothly is good positive working relationships between the tiers of local government, especially between the chief officer or clerk of the local council and officers from the principal authority.

A local council can only take over an asset or service if the financial business case and any potential liabilities such as maintenance are fully understood, and given that a precept increase may be required to finance the service they need time to consult with and gain the support of the local community.

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FIRST Feature

Early engagement and discussions, full financial information and due diligence, all need to be in place prior to final agreement.

Some principal authorities, notably Eastleigh Borough Council, have created innovative ways of devolving services without the contentious issue of ‘double taxation’ arising, by use of a special expenses reserve mechanism that ensures when an asset is transferred the district precept for that parish reduces by a corresponding amount of the parish precept increase.

The local council sector still has the unlimited power to precept and currently remains exempt from council tax referenda principles and thresholds – although discussions are on-going with government over whether there should be some restriction for larger local councils of a similar size to small districts.

Tax base Local councils have been disadvantaged by the localisation of council tax support as this effectively reduced the tax base, leading to a drop in precept income.

Central government sought to overcome this unintended consequence by paying a mitigation grant to billing authoritis to pass on to the parishes. Last year the grant was passed on in the vast majority of cases, but for 2014/15 an

increasing number of councils are indicating this will not continue or that only a reducing percentage will be passed through.

It has also adversely affected councils in more deprived areas, as those with a preponderance of Band A properties and large numbers claiming benefit have faced significant income reductions, which can only be made up by precept increases to restore income to previous levels. The sector does not receive any share of the business rates despite doing much for town centres, a fact that often surprises local businesses.

However, local councils move forward with optimism for the future as they see the opportunity to perform an increasing and more important role in their local communities and deliver more services that are valued by their local residents.

Howard Midworth is Chief Executive of the Society of Local Council Clerks, see www.slcc.co.uk

The LGA’s peer challenge programme has helped deliver the equivalent of millions of pounds of consultancy to councils, writes Cllr Peter Fleming

Supporting councils to succeed Peer challenge is a key part of the LGA’s sector-led improvement offer to councils.

Managed by the LGA and delivered by local government officers and members, the programme supports councils’ own improvement.

Over the last three years, more than 400 peer challenges have been delivered – demonstrating that councils continue to value it as an effective mechanism for providing reassurance and challenge to their thinking about future priorities and plans.

To ensure it continues to be effective, the LGA commissioned the Centre for Local and Regional Government Research at Cardiff Business School to undertake an independent evaluation of the corporate peer challenge (CPC) programme.

The evaluation looked at reports from the first 40 CPCs and carried out surveys and interviews of LGA managers, senior council officers and leaders.

Improvements More than two-thirds of survey respondents suggested CPC had led to improvements in the way their council was run. All CPCs focus on leadership, financial resilience, governance and organisational capacity, and this is working well.

One of the great strengths of CPC is the way it can be tailored to each council’s needs, meaning councils determine when the challenge takes place and can ensure it focuses on what is most important to them.

Councils told researchers they were impressed by the quality of CPC teams put together by the LGA, including peers’ knowledge, experience and professional manner. They particularly valued peers’ understanding of the complexity of working in a political environment, which helped give them confidence in the process.

Councils have contributed more than 2,500 days of senior councillor and officer time to CPC teams. This represents a significant investment by the sector in its own improvement, equivalent to millions of pounds worth of consultancy.

Officers and councillors emphasise how being a peer contributes to their own personal learning and development, some describing the experience as ‘action learning’. By spring 2014, more than 200 councils will have benefited from CPC, either by receiving a challenge or providing peers who have gained useful learning for their own organisation.

The evaluation found that CPC teams offered challenging and constructive insight, and had a positive impact on councils’ capacity to take responsibility for their own improvement.

The process encouraged open and honest self-assessment and provided councillors, officers, staff, partners and communities with an independent review of a council’s strengths and

weaknesses and the challenges it faces.

It has also helped improve the way councillors and officers work together, led to more councillor development, and supported councils to improve their medium financial planning, efficiency programmes, partnership working, performance management, and engagement with partners and communities.

One interviewee said: “I got more useful stuff from the three days of the corporate peer challenge than from three months of private consultants.”

The evaluation report concludes that the issue is not whether CPC should continue, but how to build on the success it has already achieved “to enable the sector to meet the growing demand for the offer without compromising on quality”.

We have already started to take forward the report’s recommendations for further improving CPC, including bringing together examples of good practice from across the peer challenges and ensuring key lessons are made more accessible to the sector.

If you want to find out more about the evaluation and the corporate peer challenge programme please email paul.clarke2@ local.gov.uk or go to www.local.gov.uk/peer-challenge

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

FIRST Feature

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PARTNERS

PARLIAMENT

When so many care and support services are under pressure from falling budgets and rising demand, it can be hard to picture the thriving, affordable and responsive social care sector that councillors, sector professionals and, importantly, service users want to drive forward.

However, most councillors don’t have to look far to see people with significant support needs living good lives through care which takes place in ordinary family homes and which helps them make new friendships and experience a sense of belonging in their communities.

Shared Lives’ trained and approved Shared Lives carers share their home and family life with an older, vulnerable or disabled person, with whom they’ve been matched for compatibility by a Care Quality Commission-regulated scheme.

The support can be a few hours or overnight stays a week, to give family carers a break, but more than 5,000 people live with their Shared Lives carer and are treated as ‘one of the family’. Disabled and older people say they feel less isolated, make real friendships and participate in community life.

Health and safety, apprenticeships, housing and even knitting yarns are among the issues up for deregulation, under new legislation currently before Parliament.

The Government has publicised the Deregulation Bill as aiming to help free councils and business from unwanted and unnecessary red tape.

The Bill has now started making progress through Parliament and will spend most of its time in Committee stage during March, with MPs from all sides of the House poring over the line-by-line details.

The LGA has taken an interest in the Bill as it includes proposals such as reducing the qualifying period for people to buy their council property under ‘right to buy’ from five to three years; reforming waste collection by abolishing the criminal penalty for putting the wrong items in the wrong bins to a civil penalty; and abolishing councils’ duties to consult, allowing them to make their own consultation decisions for their communities.

The LGA welcomes the Government’s approach to reducing legislative burdens on public sector bodies as it links closely into our Rewiring Public Services campaign, which is already advocating this approach.

The LGA has been actively working with MPs on the Bill, and holding meetings with government to ensure local government’s perspective is understood. At these meetings we have also been suggesting further deregulatory measures as well.

On ‘right to buy’, we are urging that the Government goes further and allows councils to set the discount on council house sales locally, and to retain the receipts.

We are advocating the removal of the housing

Shared lives

There is a Shared Lives scheme in all but 15 local authorities, delivered either directly or by the voluntary sector. Councils make a cashable saving of £26,000 per person per year when someone with a learning disability moves from another form of care into Shared Lives and £8,000 for people with mental health issues.

Shared Lives Plus has an ambitious government and Big Lottery supported programme to double the size of the sector in five years. We have support available for councillors and commissioners who want to launch new schemes like Doncaster did last month, or follow the lead of areas like Birmingham – currently planning to triple its existing scheme.

You can find out more about Shared Lives and our stories at www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk Alex Fox is Chief Executive of Shared Lives Plus

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Unwinding red tape borrowing cap, which is a barrier to house building. If lifted, it would allow councils to build up to 60,000 new homes in the next five years.

With the LGA launching its Rewiring Licensing proposals at its licensing conference in February, we see the Deregulation Bill as a key way of taking forward our proposals to overhaul the current licensing regime that councils have to go through, some parts of which are seriously

outdated and need urgent reform.

We are also advocating that parliamentarians consider reforming the obsolete requirement to publish statutory notices in newspapers, which has existed since 1972 and which needs to play catch-up with the digital world that councils and the public now live in.

We believe these important deregulatory measures will be a further step to help councils and their communities reduce unnecessary burdens. We will work with MPs, from all political benches throughout the Commons’ stages of the Bill, which are expected to take up until May. The Bill will then be ‘carried over’ as part of the Queen’s Speech, and enter the House of Lords for further scrutiny.

• See www.local.gov.uk/parliament

BY-ELECTIONS ANALYSIS

Councillor retention Conservatives in West Lindsey’s Scotter ward have averted an embarrassing double whammy.

Following the deaths of both sitting councillors, the party lost the first by-election last December to an Independent but successfully negotiated this most recent contest, which featured a straight fight with the Liberal Democrats.

Local Conservatives were less fortunate in Birstal Wanlip, which hosted the seventh by-election on Charnwood Borough Council since May 2011. As in the May contest, the ballot choice was a three-cornered battle between the main parties.

The vote change figures tell the story – Labour’s share unchanged but a sizeable 15 per cent swing from Conservative to Liberal Democrat.

This brings Liberal Democrat byelection gains from the Conservatives since the Coalition formed to a total of 44 seats. Only 21 seats have transferred in the opposite direction.

Cardiff’s Canton ward saw Labour eventually defending its seat but not before Plaid Cymru posted its best ever result in the ward, coming within a couple of hundred votes of causing an upset.

Plaid’s vote from 2012 held steady but the Labour vote dropped sharply on a much reduced turnout.

Recent attention has focused on the proportion of women MPs standing down before the next general election.

Women comprised only 22 per cent of the Commons after the 2010 result but they are more successful than that in winning seats in local government.

Our analysis shows that women are more likely than men to stand down before each round of elections

but that the differences are not always statistically significant, a characteristic which does not appear to concern those commenting on the Westminster scene.

In 2013, for example, 37 per cent of women councillors retired before the May election, compared to just 33 per cent of men.

Furthermore, after selecting only councillors that were serving their first elected term, we find that 35 per cent of the women drop out rather than seek re-election but fewer, 31 per cent, of men do so.

The patterns in other years and across types of local authority are slightly different to those that applied to the shire counties.

In 2011, for example, when voting for the English shire districts dominated, there was only a single percentage point gap between women and men but that widened to a four-point difference among those quitting after serving a four-year term only.

Perhaps instead of concentrating on the differences between women and men among retirees, we should be addressing the issue of councillor retention in more detail.

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

Local by-elections Authority

Ward

Result

Swing % Turnout from/to (since) %

Cardiff

Canton

Lab hold

0.1% from Lab to PC (2012)

24.3

Charnwood

Birstall Wanlip

LD gain from 15% from Con Con to LD (2011)

27.9

West Lindsey

Scotter

Con hold

22.8

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

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LAST WORD

Inter-tier relationships When I became Leader of Leicestershire County Council, I embarked upon a completely different relationship with our neighbouring councils: the seven districts and the City of Leicester, led by Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby (Lab).

The idea behind this is simple: we can achieve far more working together wherever it is possible to do so. My experience prior to becoming leader was everyone agreed something should be done, but no-one would quite commit to making things happen.

In Leicestershire, I have adopted a policy of being open, honest and transparent. Dialogue is crucial to success and promotes harmony.

The leaders of four of the five Conservativecontrolled district councils are members of the county council’s cabinet on merit. The fifth is not a county councillor but is still included as a key stakeholder, for instance as one of two district council representatives on our local enterprise partnership (LEP). The LEP’s other district representative is from Lib Dem-controlled Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council.

Relations with Leicester City Council have never been so good, with joint working over the legacy of King Richard III and the 2017 UK City of Culture bid; a joint committee on major transport infrastructure; and the integration of health and social care on a city and county basis.

There are no political games, no sense of mistrust, just leaders coming together to deliver local economic growth.

This is a key message reinforced via my regular ‘Meet the leaders’ events in the county market towns. I meet up informally with the district council leaders (including Liberal Democrat) and the public in their local patch, and we talk and debate the issues raised with us. It breaks down barriers and forges links of trust. If nothing else, it shows that we do care about our local areas.

I genuinely believe it is possible to set the scene for a sensible debate about how the different tiers of local government, not forgetting the parish councils, can work together to protect local services as far as possible. Nothing is more important to local politicians than doing their best by their residents.

Cllr Nicholas Rushton (Con) is Leader of Leicestershire County Council

FIRST POLITICAL

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