Lgafirst#585

News and views from the Local Government Association “A sustainable funding settlement for social care must be a priority if older people, disabled people and their carers are to get the care and support they deserve.�

Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of SCOPE, Chair of the Care and Support Alliance, p11

P10 Care Act

Charities and local authorities unite in calling for proper funding P2 Preventing child abuse We urge the government to give councils more powers to keep predators away from potential victims

Fortnightly Issue 585 28 March 2014

P8 Waste management For further transformation, the government must do its bit

P5 Finance Day Our campaign highlights the cost of social care

EDITORIAL

Proud of your achievements

As the General Election approaches it is inevitable that politicians become more partisan. However, I feel that a response is necessary to the Labour Group Leader’s editorial of the 28 February.

He repeatedly refers to reductions in government spending whilst conveniently forgetting that this would have happened under a Labour government (and would continue to happen under a future Labour government).

We know this to be the case because Alistair Darling stated in a BBC interview in 2010 that if he remained as Chancellor the reductions would be ‘tougher and deeper’ than those of the early 1980s.

He also accuses Eric Pickles of “meddling in local matters”. Given the culture of topdown control and micro-management fostered by the previous government – ranging from comprehensive area assessment to 1,200 centrally imposed targets – this is somewhat ironic. Under this Secretary of State and through the Localism Act that he took through Parliament, councils have been given many of the powers, such as the general power of competence, that we have long asked for.

It is also reassuring to note that independent research indicates that the public’s view is rather different from the doom and gloom rhetoric. For example, a recent Ipsos Mori survey found that two-thirds of people believed that council budget reductions had not made a noticeable difference to services.

So my experience of the past five years is very different. Having been freed from the shackles of centralised control and given the powers to do things differently, councils have risen to the challenge. I am proud of what local government (particularly Conservative-led local government) has achieved and of our Conservative-led government for giving us the opportunity to do so.

Gary Porter is Leader of the LGA’s Conservative Group

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FIRST NEWS

Tighten our powers to stop child abuse

Officials are too often powerless to intervene in cases where they suspect children are being groomed for sexual exploitation, the LGA has warned.

It is calling for the next government to introduce “disruption orders” under which predatory adults suspected of grooming children for sex could be stopped immediately.

Under proposals, supported by children’s charity Barnardo’s, court-backed orders would give social workers and police a way of intervening in child sexual exploitation (CSE) when they suspect something is going on but cannot provide evidence to bring a criminal prosecution without a child having been harmed.

Child protection experts have voiced concerns over recent instances where they were hindered from acting in the best interests of vulnerable children.

Birmingham City Council has had to use civil injunctions against men in cases where CSE was suspected but there was insufficient evidence

for a criminal prosecution.

The LGA is calling for the next government to introduce a bill for the orders in its first Queen’s Speech. The orders would see anyone suspected of grooming children banned from certain types of activity, such as loitering outside schools, for a fixed period of time, in specific instances.

A breach of a CSE disruption order would be a criminal offence.

Cllr David Simmonds, Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Sanctions to prevent the grooming of vulnerable children are too limited and we need to make it easier to intervene earlier before harm is done. By making it possible for councils to apply swiftly to the courts for an order to disrupt grooming we can help prevent the lives of children being ruined by sexual exploitation.

“We need a commitment from the next government that they will act swiftly to legislate for these orders, so no more communities will suffer the scars of child sexual exploitation.”

Inside this issue 05 Policy

Local Government Finance Day

07 Letters Drink-drive limit

07 Opinion Electronic voting

08 Feature

Transforming waste management

10 Feature Carers Act: funding gap

13 Feature

Road maintenance: saving money

15 By-elections

Trends since the last general election

Most of council tax to go on care More than half of council tax will soon be spent on caring for vulnerable children and adults, creating a huge squeeze on councils’ ability to fix roads, clean streets and keep libraries open.

New analysis published by the LGA breaks down how every £1 of council tax is allocated by councils. It shows that even with people paying similar levels of council tax, money available for non-care services is set to reduce drastically in the next few years as a result of reduced government funding and rising demand on care.

It was published on this week as part of the LGA’s Local Government Finance Day which saw councils take to Twitter to help promote the launch of the LGA’s new campaign film. It forms part of the Future Funding campaign which is calling for the next government to protect local government funding.

The analysis shows that for every £1 of council tax collected by councils in 2019/20, 60p will be spent on caring for the elderly, vulnerable adults, and vulnerable children. This is

up from 41p in 2010/11.

By contrast, 1p in every £1 will be spent on street cleaning and flood defences, 5p in every £1 will be spent on road maintenance and street lighting and just under 5p in every £1 will be left to fund all libraries, leisure centres, parks, museums and arts.

Chair of the LGA Cllr David Sparks said: “This analysis shows the pinch that families all over the country will feel from central government continuing to reduce funding for local services “No part of the public sector has faced bigger cuts to funding than councils during this Parliament and the efficiency savings local government has made since 2010 cannot be made again.

“If the services which bind together communities and underpin people’s daily lives are to survive the next few years, the next government must provide fair funding and give local authorities the freedom required to pay for them.”

For more about Local Government Finance Day see p 5

Ivy walls help fight against pollution

News in brief Business rates ‘step forward’

In lthe Budget the Chancellor announced a review of business rates and two pilot areas – Greater Manchester and Cambridge – keeping 100 per cent of growth above existing forecasts.

LGA Chair Cllr David Sparks said: “This is a significant step forward, but one which should not just be limited to a couple of areas. All parts of the country should reap the benefits of having a thriving local economy in a way which ensures areas with fewer businesses do not lose out. We need a more effective local tax where rates and discounts are set locally and councils have much more freedom to support small firms.”

Poor investment means ‘13 years to bring roads up to scratch’

Councils fixed one pothole every 15 seconds last year but still face a £12 billion repair backlog. The annual Asphalt Industry Alliance ALARM survey of highway bosses in England and Wales found it would also now take 13 years to bring our roads up to scratch. LGA Transport Spokesman Cllr Peter Box said: “Patching up our crumbling road network is simply not the answer to tackle the roads crisis we face as a country. Long-term and consistent investment in local road maintenance is desperately needed to allow councils to embark on a widespread improvement of our roads.”

‘Vital’ that we pool expertise to improve digital services

Sandwell Borough Council Deputy Leader Cllr Steve Eling met pupils and head teacher Debbie Haywood at Bearwood Primary school to see new ivy walls at the school. The planting is a pilot scheme to improve air quality. The 23sq metre installation is the equivalent of up to three fully grown trees. Cllr Eling said: “The first use of instant ivy hedging in Bearwood was on Lightwoods Hill about 10 years ago and it has proved to be successful. We believe the best solution is to combine greening issues such as ivy walls with taking steps to challenge people who run the most polluting vehicles.”

It is vital the LGA works with central government on the Government Digital Service (GDS) project.

The LGA made the call following the Chancellor’s Budget announcement of collaboration between GDS and local government. Cllr Peter Fleming, Chairman of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board, said: “The LGA has long been supporting local government to deliver digital services and, with a wealth of knowledge and experience, central government needs to work with us on this project. Councils are best placed to work with residents in shaping and designing digital solutions appropriate to local circumstances, so it is absolutely vital that we all work together and share our expertise and understanding of our customers.”

FIRST NEWS

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Annual fire conference and exhibition 2016 The UK’s leading Fire and Rescue Service conference and exhibition will take place on 8-9 March at the Bristol Marriott City Centre Hotel.

This conference will be taking place 10 months into the tenure of the new minister for fire and rescue services.

It will give us a chance to discuss their priorities and plans over the next parliament and talk about the challenges the sector is facing.

To book your place visit www.local.gov.uk/events

The ASA’s Manifesto for Aquatics 2015 Swimming is beneficial to the nation’s wellbeing and health and is the highest participation sport in England.

The ASA has three key aims: 1 2 3

More people learning to swim More people swimming regularly More medals on the world stage, across all aquatic sports Find out how supporting swimming and aquatics can contribute to the delivery of your local government objectives: tiny.cc/ASAManifesto2015

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FIRST ADS

the

asa

firstpolicy Future Funding Campaign Local Government Finance day As part of the LGA’s Local Government Finance Day, councils took to Twitter on Tuesday to help promote the launch of the LGA’s new campaign film. It forms part of the Future Funding campaign which is calling for the next government to protect local government funding. For every £1 of council tax collected by councils in 2019/20, 60p will be spent on caring for the elderly, vulnerable adults, and vulnerable children. See www.local.gov.uk/futurefunding and follow #FutureFunding.

CARE

CARE

www.local.gov.uk/campaigns #FutureFunding Health and wellbeing Better Care Fund guides The Better Care Fund Task Force has published draft versions of three “how to” guides on: leading and managing better care; bringing budgets together and using them to develop co-ordinated care and “how to work together across health, care and beyond”.

The Task Force is asking for input to revise and improve the guides. Specifically it would like to know: the challenges you are facing which the guides do not address; good examples, tools or suggestions that could be used in future guides; your views on the language, tone and structure of the guides. Further support is also available at regional events, and soon, also through an online Better Care Exchange. More information

can be found at www.lga. gov.uk. Please email your feedback on any of the ‘how to’ guides to: better.care@ kpmg.co.uk. You can also take part in the Twitter discussions about the publications using #BetterCareFund.

Finance Welsh council tax Following one of the most difficult budget setting rounds for local councils in Wales, the national average council tax rise stands at 4.4 per cent for 2015-16. Cllr Aaron Shotton WLGA spokesperson for finance said: “Local councils have faced a hugely difficult budget setting process, within which they have consulted widely with their communities on local priorities, savings plans and council tax increases. The message councils are receiving from the public is that people

are willing to pay a small amount of additional council tax to help protect valued services. Next year’s increase will help to offset around 15 per cent of the total shortfall in the local government budget, at a cost to the council taxpayer of around 87 pence a week.”

Communities VE Day commemorations Secretary of State William Hague recently announced details of the celebrations and commemorations that the Government has planned to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May, and across the weekend of 9 and 10 May. Councils and communities will be celebrating this important day in their own areas. Communities will want to choose the events that mean the most to them and to VE Day veterans from their

areas. Whatever your council is planning, please email cts@ local.gov.uk so we can share your case studies online.

Meanwhile, more information and resources will be at www.gov.uk

Sector-led improvement Innovation The LGA has launched a new innovative councils resource, including a searchable database of councils who showcased their work at our Innovation Zone at Annual Conference last year. We are looking to expand this database. Contact vicki. goddard@local.gov.uk if you have any examples to share.

To find the database go to www.lga.gov.uk/innovation and click on Innovative Councils.

FIRST POLICY

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sound bites Cllr Jason Arthur (Lab, Haringey) Strong video by @LGAcomms on the impact of govt cuts on local councils.

Haringey’s lost £117m so far goo.gl/ KRknxk #FutureFunding www.twitter.com/Jason_Arthur Adrian Waite (Chair, Impact Housing Association) I am in #Slough today looking forward to an @LGANews peer review @SloughCouncil #localgov www.twitter.com/AdrianWaite Cllr Alan Walters (Ind, Rutland) “Councils lose £1.5m per month because of regulatory services and licensing bit.ly/18UE7uz #FutureFunding pic.twitter. com/5CYsYMQrlv” www.twitter.com/onecouncillor Cllr Angela McClements (Lab, Telford & Wrekin) @LGANews @CllrDSparks with a growing elderly population, Councils need more funding from Govt for #socialcare - keep lobbying! www.twitter.com/CllrAngela Cllr Julian Ellacott (Con, Redhill) “26 public speakers at planning committee so far this yr – more than last. Always good to hear from those with strong views on applications” www.twitter.com/Cllr_Julian

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

Drink-drive limit is enough I approve wholeheartedly of the need to reduce alcohol related driving accidents (first 584) but I do not think that the proposal to cut the current alcohol limit is necessarily the right answer.

I have never seen any statistics showing the number of accidents where the driver with most alcohol in their blood was below the current level of 80mgs. I would suspect that most alcohol related accidents happen when at least one of the drivers involved is above (or even well above) the 80mgs level. Therefore reducing the limit to 50mgs would have very little effect on the number of accidents.

If I am driving I only ever have one drink and my wife will never

drive when she has had any alcohol, so any new rules will have a minimal effect on us. We respect the current law and would hope that others do as well.

However, as we know only too well there are those who have no respect for the law and who work on the principle that “it won’t happen to me” or “I won’t get caught”. But it does happen to them – usually with catastrophic results for others as well. More efforts should be put into education and catching those who exceed the current level rather than demonising those who do respect the current law.

Cllr Alan Cox (Con) Amber Valley Borough Council

OPINION

Change the culture, not vote system

Cllr Steve Hughes’ letter (first 584) echoed calls to “modernise the voting system” that have often been made before.

Some changes – like proportional representation, a “none of the above” option and individual voter registration, are important and long overdue. Yet Cllr Hughes’ call for electronic voting is misguided and not likely to boost turnout. We know this from the UK government’s very costly e-voting and e-counting pilots from 2000 to 2007. The independent view on these trials, from observers like me and the Electoral Commission, was that the risks and costs were not worth the minuscule benefits which translated into little or no greater turnout. Thus e-voting for political elections has been off the agenda in the UK since then, a view also adopted in the last few years following similar trials by Ireland, Italy, Germany, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands.

The main reasons people choose not to vote have little to do with convenience: they relate to a lack of trust in politicians, a feeling that the candidates are all the same or that one’s vote can’t make a difference. A technological quick-fix wouldn’t address the underlying issues but would only serve to make elections more costly and subject to much greater risk of fraud. The reasons for low turnout must be tackled with genuine reform to the culture and structure of British politics.

Cllr Jason Kitcat (Green) Brighton and Hove City Council

Turnout on the rise

Councillors Steve Hughes and Graham Williamson (first 584) make some interesting points about ways of increasing voter turnout, but their basic premise – that turnout is falling – is not borne out by the evidence.

General election turnout has risen steadily over the last three elections,

from 59.4 per cent in 2001 to over 65 per cent in 2010. Similarly, the turnout of the London Borough elections rose from below 32 per cent in 2002 to nearly 39 per cent in 2014, the best for 20 years (excluding 2010 which, as a general election year, was atypical.) In the UK voting levels have not returned to those of the 1960s yet but the trend seems clear. The 2012 residential election in the USA saw the highest turnout since 1968.

Cllr Malcolm Grimston (Ind) Wandsworth Borough Council

Ballot paper may cause confusion

I see that Professors Rallings and Thrasher say that the majority of voters in England will have two ballot papers on 7 May (first 584). In fact some of us will have three: general election, local authority election and minor authority (parish council) election, with the latter being in multi-member wards.

For example, I will be casting one vote in the general election, three votes in the district council election and seven votes in the town council election. The consequences of giving voters three ballot papers, one of them being well over 30cm long, may be profoundly confusing. Postal voters will have to fit the enormously long one into the correct envelope.

Cllr Nick Hards (Lab) Oxfordshire County Council

Freedom not to vote

Have not some councillors missed a very important point? We fought two wars to give our people the freedom of choice not to be dictated to by a bunch of well meaning councillors.

So do you want to fine them if they don’t vote? And if they don’t pay, send the bailiffs around? Give them a criminal record? No: my father died to give us freedom, like millions before and after him.

E-voting pilot was success, so bring it on There were several pilots for electronic voting and counting in the elections over ten years ago.

I was Chief Executive and Returning Officer at Shrewsbury for several of these elections over a three-year period from 2003 and we increased voter turnout and participation generally. The security was in place. The costs were large, however, which I am sure in the main was due to the nature of the pilots.

Oh what joy it was to be able to declare all the results in the borough election within 35 minutes of close of poll.

We had a polling timetable which lasted 17 days. People could vote using computer, post, telephone or television in the first year we did this.

We also had voting stations with computers in supermarkets and worked with local TV retailers so that people could vote from there. People voted whilst abroad, enabled by the technology.

The assessment of the pilots by all involved – in particular the public – was that it worked and they appreciated the flexibility. Mechanisms were in place to deal with any “duplicate” or “lost votes”.

Voting started at midnight on day one; with hindsight that should have been different, and likewise with closing the poll, which had run for so long, at 9pm on day 17.

The principle though is that I did not have to engage presiding officers and poll clerks and require them to work a 15-hour day. I did not have to bother with pencils or ballot boxes. I did have a well-trained team of colleagues who worked effectively through the period, with statutory processes having been completed at 9.40pm on election night when others elsewhere were just about to start verification. The next day everyone came to work refreshed.

It sounds futuristic yet it happened and it can and should happen in future.

Cllr Ken Smith (Con) Kingston 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

Robin Hooper is Chief Executive of Eden District Council

FIRST COMMENT

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Recycling levels have flatlined and there are concerns that the UK will fall short of its European Union target of recycling 50 per cent of household waste by 2020. Cllr Mike Jones, the LGA’s environment spokesman, explains what the Government can do to help councils.

TRANSFORMING WASTE Local authorities have delivered a transformation of their waste and recycling services over the past decade. This has seen a reduction in waste landfilled per household by 78 per cent together with a 400 per cent increase in recycling since the year 2000.

This reflects all the hard work councils and their contractors have put into managing waste better through adding services to collect, reuse and recycle ever more material.

However, the current recycling rate of 43.5 per cent has been broadly flat for three years and without further change it is unlikely that the UK will meet its EU target of 50 per cent. It looks even more challenging given the cuts to council budgets leading to a search for savings in every area of council activity, which very much includes the waste service. With the 40 per cent reduction in government core funding over the last five years, councils are increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place.

The reality is that councils’ success at implementing service transformation over the past few years has enabled frontline services to be protected.

At the same time as council budgets are falling so is the income from recycled material. We therefore have a perfect storm, which is why we’re asking central government to recognise that meeting the targets is going to cost more, and as things stand councils will struggle to fund it.

We share responsibility with government to do our bit to meet our targets and the examples highlighted in this issue of first show how three councils have transformed their performance at the same time as making efficiency savings in recent years

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FIRST FEATURE

Even despite the reduction in recycled material value it is still much cheaper to recycle than landfill or incinerate waste. But making those difficult infrastructure investment decisions in the current climate is tricky.

Packaging The LGA has asked the Government to redistribute the £600 million raised from landfill tax and work with councils and the private sector to invest in building waste reprocessing infrastructure. There also needs to be a greater contribution from packaging producers to better reflect the costs councils incur in collecting packaging material, and better incentives to collect organic waste. This would help more councils to collect this low value material, making a real impact on recycling rates.

We are also calling for more targeted support to councils, particularly the urban ones that need most help with cost effective measures to increase recycling in blocks of flats and dense urban areas. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has a clear role here and already provides many resources to councils.

What we can’t forget is the important contribution of householders and that we need to ask them to do more. This can be difficult and take time. The LGA wants the Government to help through a high profile national campaign supported by councils contributing locally to get more people recycling.

That would be something we could get behind and, hopefully, it would help us all make a saving too.

Cllr Mike Jones, is the LGA’s environment spokesman

Three councils which are dramatically improving their recycle rates Ashford Borough Council Ashford topped the league table monitored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for the most improved authority for recycling in 2013/14 moving from 12 per cent to 42 per cent in a single year.

Creating more opportunities to recycle had to be done cost-effectively and while making efficiency savings, as central government funding to the council has reduced by 49 per cent since 2010.

This was achieved through a new strategy based around wheeled bins.

This underpinned the major change from weekly collections of a limited range of dry materials in boxes and residual waste in black sacks to alternate week collections.

In addition, a new garden waste collection service was established to enable residents to recycle more.

However, as there is no statutory duty to provide a free garden waste collection service, Ashford chose to introduce an opt-in, fee-based service (with a competitive price) to run alongside the normal collections.

Wakefield Council In January 2013 Wakefield Council signed a 25-year waste management contract. The new waste treatment facilities will handle all of the council’s waste on one single site and will generate roughly two-thirds of its own energy needs from the waste it processes.

The new facility will increase household recycling across the council area from the current 39 per cent level to at least 52 per cent by 2016. It will also help to reduce the overall amount of waste sent to landfill from the current 64 per cent to around 7 per cent.

The new facility diverts residual rubbish that would normally go to landfill into a sustainable fuel product.

It also houses one of the country’s only sterilisers of its kind for the remaining waste before being fed into anaerobic digestion tanks (for the bacterial break down of organic material without air), which will generate a biogas used to create energy to power the site.

South Staffordshire Council “The building of a new energy recovery facility at Four Ashes allowed South Staffordshire Council to take the same approach to overhauling our waste and recycling collections, representing real value for money and giving an excellent service to our residents.

“By consulting local people, using local data and the latest address information, street data and new route-mapping technology, we were able to introduce 150 new waste and recycling routes across the district. The new routes meant we could increase efficiency while saving nearly £400,000 of taxpayers’ money in a single year, a reduction of 15 per cent.

“The new routes mean collection days may not have to be changed for another 14 years, creating stability and consistency for local residents.

They have also seen the proportion of waste reused, recycled or composted increase to an all-time record – 55 per cent. Added to this, and perhaps most importantly of all, following the introduction of the new routes, residents’ satisfaction soared to 97 per cent during the summer of 2014.

“By working closely with residents, partners and our contractor, we have shown that we can save money, offer a more effective service to local people and, ultimately, encourage more people to recycle and reuse their waste.”

Cllr Mary Bond (Con), is South Staffordshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental Services

FIRST FEATURE

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In just a few days, the Care Act will come into effect. Charities and councils agree that integrating health and social care brings opportunities; they also agree that local government faces a £4.3 billion hole in this area by 2020 and government needs to fill the gap to stop a spiral of declining services. Cllr Izzi Seccombe explains that the LGA’s campaign for proper funding supports councils’ key concerns about funding, and Richard Hawkes from the Care Support Alliance looks at the consequences of the shortfall.

COUNCILS: ‘THE GOVERNMENT MUST COVER THE EXTRA COSTS’ Next week the long anticipated Care Act comes into force.

The changes to the system have the potential to bring significant improvements to the way people receive the care and support they need.

You should be congratulated for the work you have already done to get ready for the shift, but we recognise that in many ways the journey is only beginning.

The transformation from treating people as passive recipients of discrete services, to a world where the wellbeing and needs of each individual come first has got to be the right approach. Many councils have already been working this way but it is right to celebrate this milestone towards a more integrated, preventative and personalised service.

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FIRST FEATURE

The stocktakes we developed with ADASS and the Department of Health helped councils track progress as you got ready for the changes, as well as spotting areas where more help was needed. The most recent stocktake showed that 99 per cent of you are confident that you are in good shape to deliver. This is testament to the hard work that has been going on up and down the country to make sure your residents feel the benefits.

Of course, this is not the end of the journey. The same stocktake also points out that cost remains the biggest concern amongst councils. Next year there will be more changes and there are still areas of uncertainty, not least the unknown number of assessments that will have to happen for carers and self-funders, both of which carry significant cost implications. There is also the ongoing concern about the overall cost of social care, with demand increasing in the face of a potential £4.3 billion shortfall in social care budgets by the end of the decade.

We at the LGA will keep working to offer the support and practical tools that councils need to be ready for the next round of changes. We will focus on monitoring the takeup of assessments, making sure the reforms take root, sharing best practice and helping residents plan appropriately for their future care needs.

Our Show Us You Care campaign will also keep calling on the next administration to protect care funding in the same way as the NHS, so that the progress councils have made does not stall for want of enough money to pay for the integrated, personalised system people want and need.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe is Chair of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board Councils have been supporting the LGA’s campaigns – Show Us You Care and Future Funding.

Visit www.local.gov.uk/ futurefunding, scroll to “Resources” and click “case studies”.

You can also follow on Twitter at #showusyoucare

CARERS: ‘NATIONAL GOVERNMENT MUST INVEST SO COUNCILS CAN DELIVER’ This new piece of legislation is extremely significant. We now have a single, modern law that places the wellbeing of the individual at the heart of the social care system with greater emphasis on preventing the escalation of need.

As our population ages, and more people with disabilities live longer into adulthood, the Act sets out a clear and ambitious vision for the social care system of the future.

Although it was the Coalition who set out this vision and oversaw getting the Care Act onto the statute book, it is local government who will take responsibility for making it a reality.

This responsibility comes at a time of unprecedented financial pressure on councils.

As the LGA and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) estimate, there will be a £4.3 billion funding “black hole” in adult social care by the end of the decade. This is against a backdrop of significant efficiency savings that local government has made.

Consequences The Care and Support Alliance is clear that – for the Care Act to fulfil its potential – national government must invest in the system as a whole. It is only by doing this that local authorities can successfully plan for the future and deliver a care system that truly focuses on the well-being of those living in their areas who need care and support.

The consequences of not doing so will have a profound impact on the lives of older and disabled people who need support to get up, get dressed and get out of the house, as well as those who care for them.

The Care Act will have been in place for just one month by the time the new government takes office in May 2015.

A sustainable funding settlement for social care must be a priority if older people, disabled people and their carers are to get the care and support they deserve.

Richard Hawkes is the Chief Executive of SCOPE and Chair of the Care and Support Alliance To find out more about the carers’ organisations which are calling for proper investment in integrated health and social care, see www.careandsupportalliance.com and www.scope.org.uk

FIRST FEATURE

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Speaking to an international audience at The Council of Europe – the continent’s leading organisation for the promotion and protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law – LGA Chair Cllr David Sparks highlighted how the UK is at a historic point where we have the chance to renew the direction of our democracy by moving power closer to people.

A new direction This week I took the case for local government to Europe, speaking at the Congress of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Over 300 hundred local politicians from across the continent, from Iceland to Estonia, Cyprus to Portugal, met for a plenary session of the organisation set up to promote local democracy.

During the debate on the prospects for devolution in the United Kingdom I took the opportunity to make three key points alongside Lord Ahmad and Lord Wallace, speaking for the Government, and Christina McKelvie, the Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee.

First, I argued for government at the local level, wherever it is in the UK. This case is based on the principle of devolution to communities through councils. I cited the joint letter that I recently signed along with the other local government associations, representing the elected voice of communities across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

We identified this moment as the time to truly revive our democratic system. It is important that we do not simply recreate the old pattern of central control, replicated in the individual capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Rather than thinking solely of devolution, we should be talking of subsidiarity, the presumption that power should be transferred to the level of government closest to the people it serves.

My second point was that we are standing at a moment of historic significance for our country. In the 800th anniversary year of the Magna Carta, we are debating the way that power is apportioned by and for our people in a way that has not happened since the Civil War.

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FIRST FEATURE

The Scottish referendum sparked a national debate about local representation. Groups of parliamentarians and committees are talking about it.

Think tanks are writing reports on it. Young people are even saying it would affect how they cast their vote. At this time of appraisal, we have the chance to renew the direction of our democracy.

Control My final point was that to take advantage of this moment, we need to get three elements right: the right structures, the right finance system and the right leadership.

The common thread running throughout the countries of the UK is councils.

As democratically accountable local politicians you must be the building blocks of whatever new system emerges, so you have the freedom to work on the issues that matter to your residents.

For this to work, you need control over funding so you can smooth out the impact of the tough financial climate and provide the services that are needed.

And finally, local leaders need to demonstrate that we are ready to receive the powers we seek by showing we have the right governance and accountabilities in place to take on the expanded role.

We will keep making this case wherever it needs to be made, to ensure that we take advantage of this opportunity to deliver historic, meaningful change for our residents.

Cllr David Sparks is Chair of the LGA

Salford City Council is in line to save millions of pounds on highways repairs by implementing a pioneering test process on the reinstatement work by utility companies, as Cllr Derek Antrobus explains.

Road test saves millions Salford City Council has halved the number of failed highways reinstatements and saved £750,000.

Poor reinstatements by utility companies have been a bugbear of local highways authorities for decades. They lead to uneven footways, potholes and a big bill for council tax payers.

In Salford, this substandard work would undermine the council’s highway investment of an extra £6 million a year.

The problem has been that the quality of the work lies hidden underground and could only be assessed by unreliable visual inspections.

The New Road and Street works Act 1991 (NRSWA) gives highways authorities powers to test the quality of work undertaken by utilities, and, where these were not up to specification, instruct remedial works.

The process developed by Salford with partners Urban Vision showed that, on average in 2011, 80 per cent of the reinstatements failed when a sample of the reinstatement is extracted with specialist machinery and “core tested”. It is supported by street works legislation and is undertaken after reinstatements pass the visual inspection.

If the core test fails to meet the legal specification, the utility is charged the full cost of the core and they must rectify the reinstatement.

Since 2011, when Salford Council first implemented and developed a robust system for testing, the failure rate has reduced from 80 per cent to 40 per cent.

Statistics showed that there was little change in the beginning; however significant collaborative work with utilities, including helping them understand the reasons for failure, was key to enabling utilities to invest in the correct areas; resulting in significantly the improved performance.

The utilities began to adopt a pro-active approach, investing in new materials to improve the reinstatements. They also invested in training, management and equipment.

The lessons learned and good practices have been shared across the region and joint partnerships have formed. Authorities have a wider platform of support across their regional colleagues.

To help raise the profile of the coring programme and its ability to deliver significant tangible benefits, other regional authorities were supported to establish similar programmes.

The long term benefits are longer life for the highways, reduction in defects, reduced maintenance costs and improved public perception. The council has identified and repaired 8,745 failed reinstatements saving approximately £740,000.

Cllr Derek Antrobus is Salford City Council’s Assistant Mayor

FIRST FEATURE

13

PARTNERS

PARLIAMENT

Web should be Horses bill cuts costs first port of call Many local authorities are doing great work to help children and young people with sight loss, but families are missing out on vital support because information about the services on offer is often hard to find.

Local authority websites, for example, are one of the first ports of call for parents of children with sight loss looking for help. Information about services should be comprehensive and easy to find, but often this isn’t the case.

All local authorities in England were required by law to publish their “local offer” by 1 September 2014, in which they set out the support they expect to provide for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities. Within this document they should also provide information about life skills and mobility training, known as “habilitation” for children with a vision impairment in their area.

Blind Children UK set out to analyse the quality of information published about habilitation within local offers since the deadline passed. Our initial findings were encouraging, with nearly all local authorities in England having published their local offer by 31 October last year.

However, further exploration revealed that 72 local councils made no reference to “habilitation,” “mobility training” or “rehabilitation.” Some of those who did failed to include vital details, such as eligibility criteria and what is actually provided.

There are pockets of good practice, for example Birmingham’s local offer, which includes an explanation of the wide range of skills covered during habilitation training.

Around four children lose their sight each day in the UK. We hope that all English local authorities use this research to re-examine their local offer to see whether the information included is good enough to help local children with sight loss and their families when they need it most.

Richard Leaman is Chief Executive of Blind Children UK. See www.blindchildrenuk.org

14

FIRST POLITICAL

Earlier in the month, the Control of Horses Bill was agreed by both Houses of Parliament and now awaits Royal Assent before becoming law.

This Private Members’ Bill tackles the illegal grazing of horses and ponies on public land and private land without the owner’s permission, otherwise known as ‘fly-grazing’.

In a previous issue of first we described the challenge of getting a Private Members’ Bill through Parliament. With limited time available for consideration, very few of these bills are successful, making passing the Control of Horses Bill particular cause for celebration. Introduced by Conservative MP Julian Sturdy, the Bill attracted cross-party support in Parliament, including government ministers, and the backing of a coalition of animal welfare charities, countryside and farming organisations.

As fly-grazing affects councils and communities, the LGA joined the campaign to support the passage of the Bill through Parliament. As well as the evident animal welfare issues posed by tethering horses on unsuitable land, fly-grazing is of huge cost and inconvenience to society and poses a risk to public safety. It is estimated to cost farmers, the police, charities, councils and landowners millions of pounds each year. Councils, required to keep the horse for 14 days before selling it at market or auction, bear the brunt of the problem. During this time, they alone must pay for the stabling and upkeep of the animal. With an estimated 3,000 horses being fly-grazed in England

alone and the numbers increasing significantly in recent years, councils are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds each year on the problem.

Meanwhile, landowners and occupiers, whether private or public, also incur costs, suffering damage to their land and risking liability if an animal escapes onto the road.

Former LGA Chairman, current Vice President and Bradford councillor, Baroness Eaton (Con), spoke in support of the Bill, describing the experience of her council with the problem. Bradford Council has had to spend nearly £330,000 to impound, and look after, over two hundred horses in the last four years alone.

Baroness Eaton made the point that, at a time when local government has seen its core funding significantly reduced, councils should not be facing the costs of dealing with horses on behalf of irresponsible owners.

The Bill changes the existing law by enabling local authorities to deal with horses left on their land after only four days and gives them more options for dealing with unclaimed horses including private sale, gifting them to a charity. This eases the financial burden on councils as they will be able to deal with the problem more swiftly and straightforwardly.

This relatively short piece of legislation will be of major benefit to horses, landowners, local authorities and the general public.

BY-ELECTIONS ANALYSIS

BY-ELECTION RESULT

First past the post benefits the party of electoral reform So what can we learn from the pattern of local by-elections in the five years since 2010?

In that time we have recorded 1,070 contests attracting an average turnout of 28.1 per cent – some 10 points less than when they were previously contested at an annual May round.

The highest turnout in England was 59.7 per cent in the Old Laund Booth ward, Pendle in July 2014; the lowest was in Carfax, Oxford (8.6 per cent) in September of the same year when the by-election was held in the depths of the student summer vacation. In all, fewer than one in five electors voted in 169 individual by-elections.

In nearly 30 per cent of contests (309) the seat was lost by the defending party. The Conservatives lost more than 80 seats overall - not untypical for a national government, with Labour registering a net gain in excess of 70.

In many ways, however, the story of local elections during the parliament is the contrasting performance of the Liberal Democrats and UKIP. In the first two years from May 2010 to May 2012, the Liberal Democrats contested 80 per cent of vacancies and posted an average vote share of 25 per cent. They won some 60 seats overall with gains balancing losses. UKIP candidates, by contrast, were present in only 37 per cent of contests. They won no seats (failing to defend their one

incumbency) and polled an average of just 8 per cent.

In the two years since May 2013, however, things look very different.

The Liberal Democrat contestation rate (66 per cent) and average share of the vote (17 per cent) has slipped well behind that of UKIP – 79 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

Yet, despite such impressive progress, the first past the post electoral system retains the sting in the tail for Nigel Farage’s insurgent party. The Liberal Democrats successfully defended 22 of their own seats and made a net gain of six elsewhere. UKIP’s greater presence and support was also rewarded with a net gain in seats, but of precisely the same number –six.

It is a pattern that could well be repeated at both parliamentary and local level in the coming elections too with UKIP winning the battle for votes, but the Liberal Democrats the more crucial one for seats. It will be some irony if the party of electoral reform has reason to be grateful to the vagaries of the current system for limiting the impact of the decline in its own popularity.

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

Local by-elections Authority

Ward

Result

Denbighshire

Rhyl South West

LAB HELD

Swing % from/to (since) 6.2% Lab/Con (2012)

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

Turnout % 20.0

Fixed term parliament shuts out by-elections

With the general election fast approaching, the number of local by-elections has dwindled away to almost nothing.

A handful of contests are pending in Scotland and Wales, but in most places the weekly election merry-go-round has shut up shop until “super” Thursday’ on 7 May. The operation of the “six month rule” always impinges heavily at that point in the four-year local government cycle when almost every council in England outside London goes to the polls.

Now its impact has been exacerbated by recent legislative changes. A fixed term parliament has concentrated minds on a single known date, and the stretching of the parliamentary election timetable effectively shuts out any other electoral events for six weeks beforehand.

Last week’s contest in Denbighshire told us very little. Labour held on in an already safe seat following the death of a former mayor of Rhyl.

The Conservatives polled more votes than at the full council contests in 2012 with their share of the vote almost doubling – though 18 per cent is hardly anything to shout about.

FIRST POLITICAL

15

This year’s annual conference will take place 50 days in to the new Government, halfway through their first crucial ‘first 100 days’ of office and in the lead up to one of the most important Spending Reviews of recent years.

The conference will also be an excellent opportunity to take stock and see how far the calls for greater local powers and devolution has come since Scotland’s historic vote in 2014. The conference will provide delegates with a timely opportunity to challenge and debate the first few weeks of the new Government and its proposed direction as set out in the manifestos.

For information about the conference and exhibition or sponsorship opportunities go to the dedicated conference website http://tinyurl.com/LGAannualconference

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