Lgafirst#586

News and views from the Local Government Association “Additional funding would enable us to do so much more to reverse the tide of obesity which threatens to make the next generation the first to live shorter lives than their parents.”

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, p10

P8 Realising Talent

The case for devolving skills and careers services to councils

P13 The LGA in Parliament How we have worked to influence the agenda

P10 Obesity crisis Our proposal to reverse the tide of this health epidemic Fortnightly Issue 586 18 April 2015

P12 Devolution The key election issue for young voters

EDITORIAL

Ready to take up your concerns Election season is in full swing, the manifestos have been published and candidates are out and about up and down the country, making their case to voters.

In the General Election, the result is perhaps the hardest to predict in a generation. We may not know yet who will be in Number 10 come May, but we do know what we will be pressing them to achieve.

This month saw the publication of our report “LGA in Parliament 2010-15”, which set out our successes in lobbying national government on behalf of councils over the last administration. From devolution to housing, finance to social care, we ensured the voice of local residents was heard at the heart of the nation’s legislature. We have also published a series of guides, “Get in on the Act”, explaining the influence we had on your behalf on key bits of legislation, as well as helping councils understand how the new laws affect you.

We may be in Purdah right now, but that does not mean we are relaxing. We are working hard to be in the best possible shape to influence the next administration, whoever they are. Everyone wants the best opportunities for their family, a good job, a good school, a good quality of life and a share in the nation’s growing prosperity. To help achieve that, we set out a comprehensive, radical offer to the next government in “Investing in our Nation’s Future: The First 100 Days of the Next Government”.

Our costed proposals are recommendations on just how government can deliver on people’s expectations, while saving £11 billion from the cost of the public sector into the bargain.

We are well set to bring your concerns, and those of our residents, to the next government, just as we did to the last one.

David Sparks is LGA Chair Editor Dawn Chamarette 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 3157 email first@local.gov.uk Photography Photofusion and Ingimage

unless otherwise stated Print BGP Ltd, Bicester Circulation 18,400 (July 2014) To unsubscribe email first@oscar-research.co.uk The inclusion of an advert or insert in first does not imply endorsement by the LGA of any product or service. Contributors’ views are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the LGA.

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FIRST NEWS

Careers site helps recruit the best

The LGA has signed up to Plotr – a Government-supported, employerled careers website – in order to help councils recruit the best young people.

Plotr is already working with over 120 organisations, including Barclays, Waitrose, Deloitte, National Grid, BP, Direct Line, Siemens, Williams F1 and Centrica. It has also partnered with the likes of Job Centre Plus, National Apprenticeship Service, The Prince’s Trust, the MOD and the National Careers Service to support the joining up of careers advice and information to young people.

The LGA is funding the creation of a “Local Government World” platform within the website that will showcase the range of careers and opportunities councils have to offer. Individual councils will be able to create their own employer profiles which will provide young people with more localised information and details of job opportunities within councils.

The LGA’s deal with Plotr means this will be available to councils at a significantly reduced rate to that which they would pay if they approached Plotr directly.

Signing up to the website follows the LGA’s recent “Working in Local Government” guide which outlines the important work that councils do within the places that young people live, work, learn, shop, socialise and exercise, and highlights the huge variety of interesting and meaningful careers that councils have to offer.

Cllr David Sparks, LGA Chair and a former careers advisor, said: “The success of the National Graduate Development Programme shows that talented young people will choose a career in local government when they have the right information on which to base their decision. The new careers guide and the local government profile on Plotr will help spread that information further.”

See www.plotr.co.uk/careers/worlds

Inside this issue 05 Policy

Mental Health Concordat

08 Feature

Realising talent: skills and jobs

10 Feature

Reversing the tide of obesity

06 Letters

12 Feature

07 Letters

13 Feature

Law-abiding drinkers

Highway maintenance

Devolution and young voters The LGA in Parliament

Poll supports care fund protection A survey commissioned by the LGA suggests that support for the protection of adult social care funding among MPs will continue into the next Parliament.

The ComRes survey of 101 future MPs made up of incumbent MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs) seen as being likely to win their seats in May showed that 76 per cent agreed that in the next parliament, adult social care funding from government should be protected in the same way as NHS funding. No future MPs strongly disagreed.

Also questioned were 150 MPs from all political parties at the end of the last Parliament, and 75 per cent of these agreed that adult social care funding from government should be protected in the same way as NHS funding for the next five years.

Adult social care is the biggest mandatory service councils provide.

In 2013/14 they spent £14.6 billion on it, and LGA analysis shows councils face a £4.3 billion shortfall in adult social care funding by the end of the decade.

The service accounts for 35 per cent of local government spending (2014/15) compared to 30 per cent in 2010/11. This is set to rise to 40 per cent in 2019/20.

Cllr David Sparks, LGA Chair said: “Councils, care workers, health professionals and now even MPs – as shown in the recent survey we commissioned – have agreed that social care funding must be protected in the same way as the NHS. “Councils have protected our most vulnerable people as far as possible, often at the expense of other services, and we will continue to prioritise those most in need.

“However we need a care system that is fit for the twenty-first century.”

70th VE Day events

News in brief Parents get information on children’s primary school places

Parents of school-age children have just found out which primary schools their children will be attending in September. Thursday was National Primary School Offer Day, when parents learnt which primary schools their children will start in the autumn. Cllr David Simmonds, Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils have worked extremely hard to create school places and have created 300,000 in the past five years. We will continue to do everything possible to ensure every child gets a school place and good educational start in life.”

Book your place for LGA’s Annual Conference

This year’s LGA Annual Conference takes place 50 days in to the new Government and in the lead up to the next Spending Review. As usual, speakers at the biggest event of its kind in the political calendar will include government ministers and shadow ministers, the conference will provide delegates with a timely opportunity to challenge and debate the new administration’s first few weeks and its proposed direction. It takes place on 30 June to 2 July in Harrogate. To find out more about the packed agenda and to book a place click on the Conference logo on www.local.gov.uk and follow @LGAComms and #LGAconf15.

Proclass improves procurement comparisons

Whatever your council is planning for the 70th anniversary commemorations of VE Day on 8 May, and across the weekend of 9 and 10 May, you can share them by emailing cts@local.gov.uk so we can publish your case studies online.

Popular ways of marking the event are likely to be picnics and street parties on the Sunday afternoon, and the illumination of landmarks or buildings important in local areas to remember the buildings that were lit up on VE Day in 1945.

A new procurement classification which enables councils to easily compare their spending has been integrated into the local government information standards. Proclass is widely used to classify products and services purchased by councils. For more than a decade it has been designed by local government, for local government, to provide the sector with the ability to share and compare spending and procurement easily, quickly and accurately.

Integrating Proclass into the wider information standards gives councils the opportunity to cross-analyse procurement alongside other key metrics. The standards, which power LG Inform Plus, are available online at http://standards.esd. org.uk.

FIRST NEWS

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05/01/2015 14:38

The LGA Independent Group notice of election The Local Government Association (LGA) Independent Group will hold elections for the posts of Group Leader, Deputy Group Leader and Group Treasurer during May and June 2015.

In the event of there being more than one nomination for a position, a postal ballot will be held.

The deadline for receipt of ballots is 5pm on Friday 19 June.

Guidance is now available on our website and nomination papers can be requested from the office of the Returning Officer. Completed nomination forms must be received by the Returning Officer no later than 4pm on Friday 22 May.

Results will be announced at the Group Annual General Meeting, to take place on Tuesday 30 June, as part of the LGA Annual Conference in Harrogate.

A reminder notice will be sent by email to the full Group membership following the May local elections.

Only Members from Councils in membership of the LGA and able to receive support from the Independent Group, at the time of close of nominations, will be eligible to stand for election.

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FIRST ADS

For further information please contact Patrick McDermott Returning Officer 020 7664 3342 Patrick.McDermott@local.gov.uk

firstpolicy Meanwhile, on 1 April the new Mental Health Act Code of Practice has come into effect. They can be found at www.gov.uk/government/ publications.

Finance Public Sector Audit Appointments The LGA has set up Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd (PSAA) – which is independent from the LGA – to take on some Audit Commission key statutory functions from this month. It was established to ensure, among other work, that councils, emergency services and health bodies will benefit still from high quality local public audit at a cost effective price. For further information, visit www.psaa.co.uk or email info@psaa.co.uk. Before 1 April 2015, these responsibilities were carried out by the Audit Commission.

Health and wellbeing

Adult autism

Just published is the Adult Autism Strategy Statutory Guidance for local authorities and NHS organisations to support implementation of the autism strategy. Also included is good practice and suggested actions that build on the statutory requirements. The guide is available at www. gov.uk/government/publications.

Environment

Highways

Health and wellbeing

Flood prevention A county council has developed a website to provide a central point of information on a wide range of flooding issues, including flood-risk maps, funding available and interactive guides. Northamptonshire’s toolkit aims to answer the most fundamental and frequently asked flood related questions through a number of interactive elements and easily accessible downloadable guides.

The aim is to equip people so they have the information required to help themselves as much as possible, working in a preventative way. It can be accessed at: www.floodtoolkit.com

Maintenance Instead of an annual settlement allied to two further years’ provisional allocation, local highway authorities have this year been set a funding profile for 6 years. This provision covers the period 2015/16 to 2020/21. To assist councils in their drive to progress asset management and improve service efficiency, the Highway Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) has developed a range of toolkits and guidance, and can offer practical support in these areas. You can find this detailed advice and support online at www. highwaysefficiency.org.uk

Mental health The LGA and ADASS have published research on the Mental Health Crisis Concordat. The aims of the Concordat, signed initially by 22 organisations, was to set out the standards of care people should expect from public services if they experience a mental health crisis and how the emergency services should respond. Since February 2014, all local areas have signed the mental health crisis concordat declaration. The challenge now is for areas to develop and set out their plans for implementing the concordat locally. The Concordat can be downloaded from www.local.gov.uk/adultsocial-care.

Improvement LG Inform Plus A series of training days for LG Inform are to be held around the country. The online service gives in depth, localised statistical detail to help you analyse, predict and improve service outcomes. Among the services it offers, LG Inform Plus allows you to chart and map information for wards and smaller areas; compare metrics for every ward against local regional or national averages and examine hotspots for issues in your area compared with local, regional or national norms. For more more about LG Inform Plus see http:// about.esd.org.uk. To find out about the training days visit www.local.gov.uk/events

FIRST POLICY

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sound bites Cllr Richard Mills (Con, Hillingdon) “Residents of Bourn Avenue and Coney Grove in #Brunel Ward in @Hillingdon pleased that their roads are being resurfaced by Council. #uxbridge” www.twitter.com/CllrRMills Chartered Institute of Housing “#Righttobuy: our recommendations for change with @LGANews @NFA_ALMOs #ukhousing pic.twitter.com/nLGLuV6Olj” www.twitter.com/CIHhousing Cllr Ross Hatfull (Labour, Redbridge) “Those individuals who are fly-tipping on Colenso Road/ Glencoe Avenue I will ensure you are caught and prosecuted.” @CllrRossHatfull James Barber (Lib Dem, Southwark) “2014 50% of all new global electricity generation from renewables – gives me hope for all our futures.”

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 reduction has unintended consequences Your article (first 584) would suggest support for a drink-driving level reduction. I disagree that this would be a good idea.

A lot is said about the fact we need to align ourselves with European levels, but there is no need for this. Our limit has served the test of time and doesn’t need to be reduced. The terrible accidents caused by drink-driving are not caused by people who are just below our current limit; they are caused by people who are over it. The unintended consequence of this ill thought-out policy will be the criminalisation of otherwise law

abiding people who have enjoyed the chance to have a beer on their way home, and the closing down of many rural pubs which would have served those law abiding people.

The desire to be the same as the rest of Europe is not the answer; we have it right, we enforce our limit and anyone who exceeds it will get at least a 12 month driving ban.

Why change it? It will not necessarily improve our currently enviable driving safety record compared to other European countries?

Cllr Andrew Wickham (Con) Kent County Council

Affordable housing transparency

When a developer tries to avoid provision of affordable housing the viability study should be in the public domain.

It is unreasonable to expect a planning committee to make a considered judgement when deprived of the relevant information.

Cllr Laurie Williams (Lab) London Borough of Barnet

Partnerships must prosecute litter bugs

You report that most of council tax will go on care, whilst only 1 per cent will be spent on street cleaning and flood defences (first 585). I never cease to be appalled at the amount and diversity of litter to be found on the streets and roads around the country.

It is not just those who enjoy the “night economy” and drop fast-food wrappings, bottles, cans and drink containers on their way home.

I was driving behind a 2015 Audi 4WD this week and observed litter being thrown out of the driver’s window.

On the whole, street cleaners do a pretty good job in town centres. However clearing busy stretches of road such as The Hog’s Back (A31 between Farnham and Guildford), the Blackwater Valley Road (A331 between Camberley and Farnham), or the A303 are expensive and potentially dangerous operations which cannot be carried out on a regular basis.

Should all councils in partnership with the police and

other agencies, be strongly encouraged to step up their efforts to catch and prosecute litterers, with the clear intention of reducing the amount of litter and thus the associated costs of collection and disposal?

Cllr Denis Fuller (Con) Surrey County Council

More to gain by dealing with the minority

I agree with Cllr Alan Cox (first 585) that concentrating on those over the current drink-drive limit would be of greater benefit.

Statistics provided by the Department of Transport seem to confirm this. There were 1,608 deaths on UK roads in 2013. From RAS 10006 18 per cent of drivers killed were over the current limit and this percentage has been fairly consistent over the past 10 years. This approximates to 289 avoidable deaths, which is 70 per cent greater than the suggested saving in life from your proposed policy of reducing the current alcohol limit (first 854).

A further DoT report showed that only 3 per cent of those tested following a road accident were over the current drink drive limit; meaning 97 per cent of drivers were observing the current limit.

Why seek to further restrict those obeying the current law when a greater gain can be achieved from a concentrated effort to persuade the 3 per cent to obey the current law?

Incidentally, another report showed that the young driver was a more likely candidate to be over the limit at a risk rate of 100 per billion miles driven.

Education is still required.

With respect, on the evidence, your proposed policy is misdirected.

Cllr Les Ford (Con) Cheshire West and Chester

Salford highways test is much-needed

Cllr Derek Antrobus and Salford City Council are to be congratulated for their work in implementing what is described as “a pioneering test process on the reinstatement work by utility companies” (first 585). This refers to highways where reinstatement work has been a “bugbear for decades”.

No one would dispute that, but has Salford City Council notified other highway authorities about their new test process which has not only improved reinstatement programmes but saved the council money? A better outcome would be difficult to conceive. I ask because there is no indication, in neighbouring Lancashire, where I live, that this is the case.

Here, almost wherever reinstatement work has been carried out, after access has been granted to a utility, the highway has become uneven.

Sometimes potholes have developed and footpaths have become dangerous.

I have long since put this down to inadequate reinstatement work and when my authority retained some residuary highway responsibilities I took the matter up with our highway engineers.

Since then Lancashire County Council has taken back all highway responsibilities.

However, it is my opinion that,

although it delivers its highway responsibilities on an area basis, the monitoring of utility reinstatements is not as good as it was when this was carried out by the Borough Council.

I am tempted to give examples of the careless work of one utility in particular but I would be satisfied if Salford made their work available to other highway authorities. It is very much needed.

Roger Barstow Frost (Lib Dem) Burnley Borough Council

E-voting is way forward

There seems to be uncertainty over whether electronic voting would increase voter participation (first 585).

Cllr Jason Kitcat cites the pilot schemes from 2000 to 2007 as showing that “the risks and costs were not worth the minuscule benefits which translated into little or no greater turnout.” Yet on the same page Robin Hooper states that when he was Chief Executive and Returning Officer at Shrewsbury in 2003 to 2006 “we increased voter turnout and participation generally” due to e-voting.

I’m inclined to go along with Mr Hooper, especially as a decade later even more will be used to using the internet, especially our youngsters who appear to be glued to their hand-held smart phones. And of course, it is they who will form the future electorate.

Cllr Tim Mickleburgh (Lab) North East Lincolnshire 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.

FIRST COMMENT

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The LGA’s ‘Realising Talent’ reports make the case for devolving skills and careers services to councils, as Cllr David Simmonds explains

REALISING TALENT

A FOUNDATION FOR REFORM We in local government are all ambitious for our places, and for the people who live and work in them. We are committed to ensuring all of our communities contribute to, and benefit from, local growth.

Fundamental to achieving this is a steady supply of skills and jobs and effective support to help people get on in life.

Last summer, our 100 Days campaign outlined how devolving powers, funding and responsibility to local areas would allow councils to halve the number of unemployed young people and reduce long-term unemployment by a third.

Since then, we commissioned the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion to produce a trilogy of “Realising Talent” reports to make the case for devolution by outlining the complex and fragmented national employment and skills system and the impact it has on people and places, and then set out how we believe local government can play a central role.

The first report looked at the widening skills gap facing the nation while the second analysed how the national system is struggling to help the unemployed and people with low skills.

It is clear that whoever forms the new government must prioritise making support for the unemployed more effective. The current system needs radical reform.

Services run from Whitehall give insufficient freedom to local areas to meet local needs and ambitions.

Far more can be done locally to reclaim a lost generation of young people and help millions of the hardest-to-reach jobseekers into work and boost growth across all parts of the country.

Councils and our partners can more effectively tackle these issues and target support far better. Our final “Realising Talent” report, published last month, sets out this local government offer.

It details how the next government could devolve at least £15 billion worth of employment and skills funding and powers to local areas in order for groups of councils to integrate and commission employment and skills support.

This will mean different things for different places but our devolution offer sets out our minimum expectation to improve services for all areas. Our recommendations also create the space for those who have already made great strides in devolved powers, and who rightly wish to go further.

What is clear is that the next government will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enable everyone to benefit from growth and be fully equipped with the skills they need to compete for future jobs. This is especially given that Work Programme and Work Choice contracts come to an end in 2016/2017.

We are committed and ready to work with whoever forms the next government on taking forward our recommendations and ensuring they are the foundation for reform.

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

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FIRST FEATURE

Employment and skills for the future The first report focused on the impact of a future skills deficit in local places and estimated that in less than a decade eight million people could be without a job or in work for which they are over-qualified.

It said the skills gap by 2022 will result from: • 9.2 million low-skilled people chasing 3.7 million low skilled jobs – a surplus of 5.5 million low-skilled workers who are at risk from being unemployed • 12.6 million people with intermediate skills will chase 10.2 million jobs – a surplus of 2.4 million people • Employers will struggle to recruit to the estimated 14.8 million high-skilled jobs with only 11.9 high-skilled workers – a gap of 2.9 million.

Local government’s ability to address the local skills gaps and shortages, unemployment and growth challenges is constrained because it is continually bypassed when it comes to targeting the £13 billion spent by the Government on 28 national employment and skill schemes.

Realising Talent for everyone The second report explored the effects of a national system for the unemployed vulnerable, such as lone parents and disabled people, and those with low skills.

While councils know what kind of support is needed to reach these residents, they have been unable to act on it as the Work Programme is tightly controlled by national government.

It concluded that for the national Work Programme job outcomes varied hugely across the country from 28 per cent below the average to 44 per cent above it. The average job outcome for the Work Programme is 23 per cent, but for Employment Support Allowance claimants it is just 10 per cent.

All three Realising Talent reports can be found at www.local.gov.uk/economy

Realising Talent: A new framework for devolved employment and skills The final report proposes a local government solution to the challenges highlighted in the previous two reports.

It calls for: • The introduction of Local Labour Market Agreements across England by 2016/17 – to be the basis of a deal between groups of councils and central government on what is needed to get more people into work, help low paid people progress in work, and address the skills demand for achieving local growth.

• A shift in national focus to help the most disadvantaged by replacing the £620 million Work Programme with two new programmes to be devolved to local areas – one to deal with long-term Jobseekers Allowance claimants and the other designed for up to 2.55 million disadvantaged claimants.

• Devolving skills funding and commissioning for all ages so local areas can better gear the skills system to the needs of businesses and integrate employment and skills support with other local services people rely on. This including the £2 billion a year Adult Skills Budget.

• Complete the transfer of 16 to 19 education funding to local partnerships matching training with the needs of local young people and employers, and establish a new youth offer enabling all 14 to 21 or 24-year-olds to access independent careers and employment advice, and to coordinate and deliver services to support every young person not learning or earning into training, an apprenticeship, or sustained employment.

• Jobcentre Plus Support Contracts and Flexible Support Fund to be co-commissioned with councils to help workless people find, and progress in employment, and significantly increasing site-sharing of existing Jobcentre Plus services other local services.

• A National Employment and Skills Partnership to bring together central and local government, businesses, voluntary sector and other to drive devolved and integrated funding and services.

FIRST FEATURE

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Local authorities are already taking action to tackle obesity, but would be able to improve efforts if they benefitted from LGA plans for some of the VAT raised from unhealthy foods to go to council-run initiatives, says Cllr Izzi Seccombe

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tide of obesity

Councils are pulling out all the stops to tackle the country’s obesity epidemic and are putting physical activity at the heart of their planning, leisure and health work.

For example, planning strategies now include measures to increase cycling and walking routes and introduce sustainable green spaces in new developments. Local authorities are also doing everything they can to ensure that people have access to affordable, nutritious food. This includes supporting weight management and healthy eating programmes.

However, councils have a finite public health budget and many competing priorities, some of which are mandatory.

It is imperative that priority is given to prevention, health promotion and early intervention and – crucially – resources are provided to make it happen.

This is why the LGA is calling for a slice of existing VAT raised on sweets, crisps, takeaway food and sugary drinks to go to boost council-run grassroots initiatives to significantly ramp up their efforts, benefiting millions more.

Local authorities are currently commissioning weight management services, exercise referral schemes and extending the offer of free or reduced-

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FIRST FEATURE

cost physical activity programmes – for example swimming – and leisure facilities.

Additional funding would enable us to do so much more to reverse the tide of obesity which threatens to make the next generation the first to live shorter lives than their parents.

Rececnt work by the LGA showed one normal-sized can of soft drink contained 12 teaspoons of sugar – double the recommended daily limit. This is fuelling the obesity crisis and helping wean a generation of overweight children.

Some firms are showing willing when it comes to reducing sugar – but others are simply dragging their heels. They need to go further, faster. We are calling on the sector as a whole to step up and show more corporate responsibility.

In many cases, people are unaware of exactly how much sugar fizzy drinks contain. Manufacturers must also provide clearer, larger and more prominent labelling which spells out the sugar content. It is crucial to tackle obesity at an early age.

Overweight five-year-olds are four times more likely to be obese than their healthy weight counterparts.

Investing in obesity prevention is the key. Councils are already taking action locally to tackle obesity, but would be able to significantly ramp up these efforts, benefiting millions more, under the LGA’s plans for a fifth of existing VAT raised from sugary drinks, crisps, takeaways and sweets to go to council-run grassroots initiatives.

Additional funding would enable us to do so much more. This would help transform the lives of the millions of overweight or obese children in this country which would more than pay for itself by reducing the huge cost to the public purse of obesity.

More research and case studies are in the LGA’s report “Tackling the causes and effects of obesity” at www.local.gov.uk/ publications The report is part of the LGA’s campaign “Investing in our Future: the first 100 days of the next government”. It outlines measures which would save £11 billion, and includes improving the nation’s health. See www.local.gov.uk/ 100-days

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

The facts behind the fizz The LGA wants all fizzy drinks manufacturers to follow the lead of those which have committed to reduce the amount of sugar in their products.

This is alongside our call for a slice of existing VAT raised on sugary drinks, sweets, crisps, and takeaway food to be invested in preventative schemes like leisure centres, exercise classes and free swimming. Without action being taken, health service costs will be driven up by billions of pounds.

New guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggest that adults and children should reduce their intake of free sugars by roughly half, to less than 10 per cent of our daily calories. However, to accrue the most health benefits, this figure should actually be as low as 5 per cent. That’s the equivalent of just 25g, or six teaspoons, a day.

The LGA says soft drink manufacturers should be going “further and faster” with reducing sugar in popular drinks, as shoppers are unwittingly buying products laden in calories.

LGA research found some cans of fizzy drink contained up to twice the recommended daily sugar limit, while some fruit juice drinks and ginger beers commonly sold in supermarkets contain more sugar than cola drinks.

An average-sized (330 ml) can of one ginger beer brand contained 12 teaspoons of sugar – double the WHO 25g recommended daily sugar limit. One full-sugar cola had 10.6g.

We are calling for all manufacturers to follow good practice. One, for example, has committed to reduce average calories per serving by 20 per cent within five years.

• More than 3.5 million children are classed as overweight or obese.

• Under-10s get almost a fifth of their sugar intake from soft drinks and for 11 to 18-year-olds, that figure is nearly a third.

• Five-year-olds who are overweight at primary school are four times more likely to be obese a decade later than “healthy” weight children.

• In a recent study of almost 3,000 families in the UK, only four parents thought their child was very overweight. Medical assessments put the figure at 369.

• Health problems associated with being overweight or obese cost the NHS more than £5 billion every year.

• People who are overweight have a higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.

• The NHS is spending more than £1.5 million an hour on diabetes.

FIRST FEATURE

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A promise that the new government will devolve powers from MPs to local areas could make all the difference in the upcoming General Election, says LGA Chair, Cllr David Sparks.

Devolution: the key election issue for young voters More young voters would be encouraged to vote in May’s general election by a promise that the new government will devolve powers from MPs in Westminster to their local area.

The revelation came in the findings of a survey of 18 to 24-year-olds commissioned for the LGA and conducted by ComRes shortly before Parliament ended its session ahead of the election.

Community Just 32 per cent of those questioned said they are certain to vote next month. However, twice that many (64 per cent) said a manifesto commitment to pass power and funding for public services from Westminster to their local community would be important in enticing them to the ballot box.

The survey of young people also revealed: • 75 per cent believe their local council is best-placed to make decisions about services for young people in their area as opposed to MPs (12 per cent).

• 73 per cent said decisions about how local public services are run should be made by their local council rather than national government in Westminster.

• 71 per cent said they would find it easier to influence services run by their local council rather than those run by MPs in Westminster.

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FIRST FEATURE

• 51 per cent said national TV debates between the main party leaders would encourage them to vote and just 26 per cent would be persuaded by celebrities.

For the survey, ComRes interviewed 1,001 English adults aged 18-24 online, and the data was weighted to be representative of all English adults in that age group.

This General Election looks set to be the closest and most unpredictable in 100 years. For all political parties, encouraging young people to vote could make all the difference.

With only a third of 18 to 24-year-olds certain to head to the ballot box in May, much more clearly needs to be done to engage them in the political process.

What really matters to young people across the country is receiving a good education, having access to jobs and the chance to get onto the housing ladder. Our poll shows these are the important issues at stake at this election for 18 to 24-year-olds and that they want these big issues tackled by their local area and not by MPs in Westminster.

Devolving greater powers to communities across England would free councils to take decisions based on what young people actually need and want and get on with the job of

improving transport, creating jobs and providing desperately needed new homes.

The LGA’s campaign “Investing in our future: the first 100 days of the next government” outlines a raft of measures which, if implemented, would save the public purse £11 billion.

Among plans most relevant to young people, the measures would allow local government to build half a million new homes, halve the number of unemployed young people and reduce long-term unemployment by a third.

The LGA’s online devolution resource kit for councils is part of our DevoNext campaign.

For details of both see www.local.gov.uk/campaigns

Cllr David Sparks is LGA Chair

The LGA keeps local government at the centre of issues that matter to local authorities. We do this through a strong presence in Parliament, by building relationships and arranging for our councillors to speak at key events. Here is an overview of how we have worked to influence the agenda over the last five years.

The LGA in Parliament Throughout the last Parliament (20102015), the LGA has sought opportunities to highlight important issues to local government, influence legislation and promote the important work of councils in delivering the local services that residents value.

In making the case for local government, the LGA has been referenced 4,523 times in the House of Commons and on 1,741 occasions in the House of Lords during this parliamentary session, or the equivalent of eight times every day that Parliament sat to debate policy and legislation.

We have worked closely with our network of parliamentary supporters, lobbying for positive changes to legislation, briefing for debates and parliamentary questions, submitting evidence to parliamentary inquiries and organising events which bring together parliamentarians, LGA Vice-Presidents and councillors.

Legislation The LGA has had significant success influencing primary legislation including: The Deregulation Act; Serious Crime Act; Infrastructure Act; Children and Families Act; Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act; Local Government Finance Act; Care Act and the Health and Social Care Act. t

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Debates and questions

Events

Each week the LGA monitors the forthcoming Westminster business, looking for opportunities to raise issues of importance on the floor of both Houses of Parliament. This may be by way of a briefing for Opposition Day or Westminster Hall debates in the Commons or for a short debate or question for short debate in the Lords.

If MPs or Peers are asking relevant Oral Questions of Ministers, we provide them with information which they could use to illustrate their question.

The LGA is regularly quoted in both the House of Commons and House of Lords. This ensures local government’s concerns and policy recommendations are kept high on the parliamentary agenda and helps central government to understand the challenges councils face.

We have maintained an increasingly strong presence at the political party conferences, during which we have launched our major campaigns “Rewiring Public Services” and “Investing in our Nation’s Future: The First 100 Days of the Next Government”. Over the past five years, the LGA secured hundreds of speaking opportunities for LGA councillors, working with a huge range of stakeholders, to promote the interests of members and talk about LGA campaigns.

Our series of roundtable briefings were on a range of legislative and policy challenges of importance to local government. For example, in January 2015, the LGA hosted a roundtable in Parliament to explain the technical aspects of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2015/16.

Our Smith Square Debates have covered issues including devolution, health and social care, improvement and innovation and economic growth.

Select Committees and other Parliamentary Inquiries Between 2010 and 2015, the LGA has engaged with more than 120 select committee inquiries on subjects ranging from social care, flooding, and fiscal devolution. The LGA was referenced over 2,500 times in committee reports and evidence sessions in this time. In each case, the inquiry presented an opportunity to put forward the concerns and interests of local authorities to MPs and Peers.

To read the details about how the LGA has influenced legislation, and for more about our work in Parliament, download “LGA in Parliament 2010-15: The National Voice of Local Government” from www.local.gov.uk/publications

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FIRST FEATURE

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PARTNERS

Time to make a difference Each year around a fifth of the population consult their GP about a musculoskeletal condition and they account for £5 billion of NHS spend.

Musculoskeletal conditions affect millions of people in England, with 7.3 million seeking treatment for osteoarthritis alone. Our estimates show that for just one type of osteoarthritis (knee), prevalence in the over 45s ranges between 15 to 21 per cent for every local authority.

Like most musculoskeletal conditions, osteoarthritis can cause pain and limit mobility. Yet our report “A fair assessment” shows that 64 per cent of local authorities did not include osteoarthritis in their joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA).

Falls, fragility falls and bone health were recognised in 93 per cent of JSNAs. But the report also showed that 62 per cent did not include back pain (despite one in 10 people nationally having severe back pain) and, most worryingly of all, one in four local authorities made no mention of musculoskeletal conditions in general terms (using terms like arthritis) or a specific mention of osteoarthritis.

One reason has been a lack of available data.

We have sought to resolve this through our MSK calculator, an online tool which can provide local authorities with estimates of prevalence in their area.

This can be accessed at www.arthritisresearchuk. org/mskcalculator But we believe that there is also a failure to appreciate both the impact of these conditions on the individuals that have them, and the real potential local authorities have to make a difference.

Local authorities like Hampshire and Ealing recognise local need and demonstrate good practice by covering these conditions in depth in their JSNA. Many authorities with higher prevalence do not include osteoarthritis in their JSNA. We want to work with local authorities to ensure that musculoskeletal conditions get a fair assessment in every area.

Dr Ian O’Toole is CEO of Arthritis Research UK. Email policy@arthritisresearchuk.org for further details.

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FIRST POLITICAL

PARLIAMENT

Future Funding Early Day Motion

The LGA launched its latest campaign on local government finance at the end of March, coinciding with the delivery of the 2015 Budget. Entitled “Future Funding”, it is our call for the next government to introduce a fairer funding system for local government, following a 40 per cent fall in core central government funding for local authorities over the 2010-2015 Parliament.

As part of the wider activity around the launch of “Future Funding”, we worked with MPs, including members of the Communities and Local Government Committee, to raise awareness in Parliament by tabling a cross-party Early Day Motion (EDM) about the long-term funding of local government.

EDMs are formal parliamentary devices that MPs may table and sign in order to raise awareness about a specific view, campaign, event or cause. A motion calls for a debate on the subject in the House of Commons, and many EDMs attract a great deal of interest from constituents and stakeholders, and some receive media coverage.

The subject of EDMs range from local and national issues, such as wild animals in circuses or a specific local hospital, to those of international standing, such as the Bahrain Justice System. As the motion will often call for action by the government of the day, there is an unwritten rule that, to avoid committing their government to act, ministers do

not table or sign EDMs. New EDMs are published on a daily basis in Parliament, and more than 900 were tabled in the 2014-15 session.

Although tabled during the last days of Parliament, “EDM 877, Local Government Association Future Funding Campaign” was signed by 30 MPs from across the political parties.

It states: “This House welcomes the Local Government Association’s Future Funding campaign and supports its aim of securing sustainable long-term funding for local authorities; acknowledges that councils have made £20 billion worth of savings since 2010, and applauds their resilience and ability to innovate; recognises that millions of people rely on local services and that any reductions to public spending in the next Parliament need to be driven by public service reform to improve outcomes; and calls on whoever takes power after May 2015 to engage in meaningful devolution of decision-making powers and funding to communities through councils.”

Looking forward, after the General Election, the LGA will continue to promote “Future Funding” in Parliament as we seek to achieve fairer funding for local authorities. We intend the campaign to influence the next government’s first spending review for the next five years.

BY-ELECTIONS ANALYSIS

Many voters set for divided loyalty at local and general polls It is a sad truth that many of those who go to the polls on 7 May will be voting in a local election for the first time.

Indeed it is a safe bet that a fair proportion of the 80 per cent of English electors who face a combined election will have little idea that such a contest is taking place until they are handed one or more ballot papers additional to the expected general election one.

In such circumstances we might assume that most voters will ease their decision making by happily seizing on the name of their preferred party and voting the straight ticket at every opportunity. Or will they?

With fewer people now committed supporters of any particular political party, we already know that some voters take something of a short cut in choosing who to support.

There appears to be little if any discrimination by candidate gender, but those whose names appear at or near the top of the ballot paper and those who have a familiar sounding “British” surname enjoy a small but decided electoral advantage.

In multi-member seats – a typical feature in councils holding all-out elections this year – such an advantage even extends to a candidate’s finishing position within their own party slate.

Arguably more rationally, voters also seem to take note of the nuances of an election.

For example, in more than 1,000 local by-elections since 2010, whereas a party has retained its seat in over 70 per cent of cases where the previous councillor has died or resigned, it has held on in only 40 per cent of instances where its representative has been disqualified.

Data compiled for us by the polling company Survation suggests that up to

one in eight electors intend to vote differently at national and local level next month. A minority of those will consciously engage in tactical or protest voting, but many more report seeing the two elections as different and say that their choice will reflect that.

Incumbent councillors, who have both name recognition and a record of local service, are known to attract support over and above that enjoyed by their party; locally insurgent groups can embarrass the bigger parties even on general election day.

In 2005, for example, the Ingelby Barwick Independent Society outpolled all three major parties put together in two wards in Stockton-on-Tees; in 2010, Liberal Democrat Dorothy Thornhill was comfortably re-elected mayor of Watford, polling more votes than her party managed in the whole, larger parliamentary constituency.

And the opportunities for such “split ticket” voting will be plentiful this time too.

The local elections nominations, collated by the indefatigable Adam Gray, show that the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and UKIP are each contesting at least 90 per cent of parliamentary constituencies but fewer than half the local council seats. On the other hand, there will be more than 2,500 Independent and other candidates outside the “big five” seeking support.

It seems certain that it will not only be the General Election that produces some surprise outcomes when the results are announced on 8 May.

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

Local by-elections Authority

Ward

Result

Swing % from/to (since)

Turnout %

Vale Of Glamorgan

Llantwit Major

CON GAIN FROM IND

n/a

30.6

Tandridge

Whyteleafe

LD GAIN FROM CON

15.3 per cent Con/LD (2014)

27.0

Gwynedd

Cadnant

LAB GAIN FROM PC

13.3 per cent PC/Lab (2012)

48.6

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

FIRST POLITICAL

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Join us at the Innovation Zone 30 June – 2 July 2015 Harrogate International Centre The Innovation Zone at this year’s LGA Annual Conference will be a vibrant and creative space for demonstrations, conversations, pitches and presentations from councils who have risen to the challenge of being more innovative.

• Hear the latest thinking from councils showcasing and sharing their innovative ideas and practice to solve their biggest challenges.

• Participate in sessions on leadership, digitalisation, commercialisation, partnership working and integration and community action.

• Take away great ideas to address your own council’s challenges.

If you’re interested, come along, network, join in and be inspired.

For more details and how to book to attend the conference visit: http://tinyurl.com/LGAannualconference