The government’s tactics in bringing forward elections to November seem designed to generate some momentum and interest around the country, as well as forcing the hand of those Councillors and civic leaders who have so far been hostile to the Mayoral model. All the evidence is that politicians who oppose the Mayoral model in referendums struggle to get elected to the post, whereas advocates for the Mayoral role do better.  

Many councils object to government interference in how their cities are run, not least because it has long been legally possible for them to adopt a Mayoral model, but with the exception of Leicester, they’ve chosen not too.   

The real game changer would be if the government spelt out serious new powers that they will grant to City Mayors on areas ranging from the economy to transport, the environment, policing and health.  

The failure to get Whitehall signed up to devolving powers is a sign of how sceptical many Ministers are of city Mayors.

As I wrote in my predictions for 2012, councils will find themselves at the forefront of the charge towards recovery this year. Communities secretary Eric Pickles has a plan for this charge; by changing the way local business rates are distributed to incentivise local growth.

Reform here is much needed. Currently, all money collected is pooled together and then redistributed back out to councils. This is rather uninspiring for everyone involved.

Understandably, because of its unglamorous nature – and perhaps because it is a little confusing to journalists – local government financeisn’t an issue that gets the media buzzing, nor ministers hurrying to expend energy on it. Local government has seen suggestions for change come and go, but not make much impact on the ground.

So after decades of dither and delay, it’s quite exciting to see such ambitious plans put forward by Pickles. Giving locally elected representatives real powers and incentives to shape regional economies is a crucial step towards re-energising local democracy.

But speaking to authorities across the country, it’s clear that there are real anxieties about how the plans will play out over time. Will the proposals actually put more power in the hands of councils? Will top-ups retain their value over time? Will a permanent hierarchy between rich “tariff councils” and poorer “top-up councils” emerge?

Perhaps the biggest difficulty though is how hard it is to see far into the future; many councils I’ve spoken with have aired concerns over their medium-term financial strategies.

Under the new plans, a council would be able to borrow against their estimated increase in business rate, but what if that doesn’t come to pass and the town hall is left with massive loans to service? Will central government step in with money to save the day, as it did with Southern Cross?

What might all this mean for diversity in local economic development? Some councils may offer incentives to large supermarkets in attempt to certify long-term income. If they were to do so, how would this fit with retail guru Mary Portas’s vision of rejuvenating the high street – and would central government feel the need to interfere?

Some councils may even choose to make further cuts and play it safe by putting some extra cash into reserves as a rainy day fund.

Results may vary across the country, but that’s OK, providing councils have sufficient power to determine their own destinies. That’s why localists should welcome the ambition behind these plans. Economic localisation is the first step in a fundamental shift in the centre of political gravity, whereby the local becomes the first point of political and economic identification.

Whatever you think of the Bill, it signifies the most fundamental changes in the sixty year history of the NHS – and the role for local authorities in health will increase significantly bringing new opportunities, challenges and responsibilities.

We therefore thought it would be useful to outline 10 key things that you need to know about the Bill.

1. Overview of the Bill. The Bill is intended to improve quality and cost effectiveness in health through improved commissioning. It establishes the national NHS Commissioning Board and local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Responsibility for public health will transfer to local authorities who will also establish health and wellbeing boards (HWBs) to lead integrated commissioning and provision.
2. The debate is not yet over.  The Bill has had a rocky passage and further amendments, on issues such as limiting competition and increasing transparency in CCG governance, have been proposed in the Lords. The government may accept some changes to ensure that the Bill is passed before the end of the Parliamentary session. Subject to the Bill’s enactment, most reforms should be in place by April 2013.
3. Many reforms are already underway. Strategic health authorities have been formed into four clusters – North, South, Midlands and London. The 151 PCTs have been clustered into 50 groups each with one chief executive. CCGs are considering their configurations. There is considerable uncertainty for staff and organisations at a time when £20bn in NHS savings is required.
4. HWBs are now forming. Over 90 percent of local authorities opted to become early implementers. In some areas, HWBs are viewed as providing some stability during a time of transition. Early implementers stress the importance of organisational development approaches to establish new relationships. Note: districts are not included as they are not responsible for setting up HWBs (although District councils may be represented on HWBs).  
5. Some shadow HWBs have started work. Some are mainly focusing on elements of reform such as the transfer of public health, establishing CCGs, establishing HealthWatch, and developing Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies. Others are also starting to consider joint commissioning.
6. Overall, there has been support for public health reform. But now there are concerns about a lack of detail on implementation, and on how budgets will be identified and allocated. A baseline expenditure exercise in PCTs resulted in wide variations. The DoH have published factsheets and some guidance (all of which we have covered in briefings this month) and published a public health outcomes framework this week (briefing to follow). There is still uncertainty about the finances to be made available and its distribution. The DH say it will publish a finance update soon and further information on the health premium. An engagement team, chaired by the chief executive of Hereford Council, has been set up to road-test policy.
7. The government has stated that CCGs should not normally cross council boundaries. The original pathfinders ranged from populations of under twenty thousand to over five-hundred thousand. Now, smaller groups (possibly less than 200,000 patients) are unlikely to be authorised. HWBs will give a view on local structures, and discussions with CCGs should be taking place.
8. Councils will have a larger role in health beyond the interface with social care and public health. HWBs will be involved in the development of CCG commissioning plans and have the power to refer these back to CCG boards or even the NHS Board if they do not take account of the joint health and wellbeing strategy. The NHS Board (subnational) will work with HWBs.
9. The new system will face challenges. For instance, reconfiguring unviable (but probably valued) NHS services is seen as critical by the DH. There are also concerns about potential conflicts of interest in CCGs through GPs taking on a commissioning role. Quality of healthcare provision is likely to be an on-going issue.
10. When considering what to prioritise, councils should focus on developing an effective HWB and good partnerships with CCGs. They will also need to define the roles of the HWB and Scrutiny, and promote public involvement through developing a robust local HealthWatch.

This is our list, so what do you think? What have we overlooked? Please leave comments in the box below.

LGiU issues regular policy briefings for members on the Health and Social Care Bill and how it’s being implemented. These briefings are available to all LGiU subscribing members. We also occasionally publish free briefings on this blog – to subscribe, please follow this link.

This article first appeared in the December issue of C’llr mag.

The Brixton Pound (B£) is designed to support Brixton businesses and encourage local trade and production. It’s a complementary currency, working alongside (not replacing) pounds sterling, for use by independent local shops and traders, with a view to maintaining the diversity of the local high street.

The B£ is the UK’s first local currency in an urban area and the fourth transition town to have its own currency, following the Totnes Pound in Devon, Lewes Pound in Sussex and Stroud Pound in Gloucestershire. Supported by Lambeth Council, the B£ is now accepted by over 40 local shops in the Brixton area.

On Wednesday 28^th March 2012, Simon Woolf from the B£ will be running a special seminar at the LGiU to share the B£ story: how it works, the opportunities and challenges, the benefits to the high street and how other councils can adopt a similar approach.

The Brixton Pound: How to build a local currency– guest speaker Simon Woolf, Director, B£

13.00 – 14.30,  Wednesday 28^th March, 2012

LGiU, 22 Upper Woburn Place, London, WC1H 0TB 

We would like to open the event up to council officers and elected members. Tickets are free but numbers are highly limited due to space. To reserve a place, please email info@lgiu.org.uk.

For more info on the B£, please visit their website http://brixtonpound.org/

Food for thought in the TES, Observer and Telegraph.  First off, a piece on a storm brewing in Wandsworth over Katharine Birbalsingh’s planned secondary free school.  There’s a little local difficulty over the fact that the school will open in a Borough that has spare places in its secondary schools but not enough space in its primaries.  The Observer carried a piece headed “Katharine Birbalsingh criticised over ‘wasteful’ free school project”.

Now, as Toby Young points out, Birbalsingh is not wholly to blame for the fact the school has ended up in Wandworth.  She had originally planned to site the school in Lambeth, a Borough that does indeed lack secondary spaces.  Young says that the bid fell foul of opposition from “left wingers” who control the council.  As we’ve argued previously, Young is being disingenuous in assigning this debate a neat political divide: there are both left-wing supporters and right-wing detractors of academies and free schools.  Indeed, as Birbalsingh points out in her own blog, Labour MP Kate Hoey “is a big supporter of ours”.  But the point, that Birbalsingh tried to locate her school in an area in need of secondary places and couldn’t, stands.  She points out in her defence that it’s still located on the border of Wandsworth, Lambeth and Merton so will be more broadly accessible.

All that’s not to say, however, that the system actively encourages this kind of  behaviour.  The argument for free schools was never really to provide capacity but rather to promote innovation.  For what it’s worth, I’d certainly support Birbalsingh’s advocacy of mathematics over ICT lessons.  But privileging innovation over population-linked need does mean that schools are more likely to crop up in areas where they aren’t really needed.  It’s the availability of a skilled provider with good ideas, rather than need for school places in response to an increasing birth rate, that will increasingly drive the future allocation of education resources.  This is compounded by the fact that the road to establishing a new community school, where a local authority deems it necessary, is a long and torturous as all other options must be exhausted first.  The result, given the surge in primary numbers, will be authorities lagging behind demand and more bitter battles over scarce resources.  

What will the impact of all this on educational standards be?  The TES has a good piece on the Welsh education system which under-performs in comparison with England.  The freedom that academies and free schools have is mentioned approvingly by a headteacher interviewed as part of the piece.  Far more important than structures, however, seems to be the amount of money invested in education and expectations of standards.  The ever-sensible Dylan Wiliam of the IoE argues that’s “there’s probably not enough pressure on pupils and teachers in Wales, and too much in England”.  This is compounded by a shortfall of nearly £600 in per-pupil investment.  As Tony Blair had it, the important thing is standards – not structures.  

The LGiU and Bristol City Council are hosting a major one-day policy conference in Bristol, for the south-west and west midlands. The Localism Act – over to you brings together Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell, Cities Advisor Lord Shipley, with a range of local councillors and officers as well as senior officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Speakers confirmed 

 Follow this link to order tickets online 

Exploring what the localism legislation means for councils, the conference looks at the context for the policy reform and the ensuing challenges and opportunities that face councils, including General Power of Competence, LGRR (including business rates) and the Core Cities amendment.

Detailed sessions will focus on planning – including neighbourhood planning, community forums, and sub-regional collaboration – as well as community rights and the implications for local authorities in strategic planning and service delivery.

The conference will include Q&A opportunities and an opportunity to meet the Minister.

Further details:

Wednesday 8 Feb 2012  9:30-17:00

The Council House, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR

LGIU members: £45.00

Non-members: £75.00

Voluntary sector: £25.00

Special rates for District council

LGiU member District councils: £25.00

Non-member District councils: £45.00

* NB non-members starting a ‘free trial’ LGiU membership are eligible for the member discounts; to find out how to start a trial contact chris.naylor@lgiu.org.uk

LGiU had some new neighbours move into the next office over the holidays. We are very excited to work alongside Changemakers as we believe their aims match ours - empowering people to take a lead and strengthening communities.

As a way to introduce them to our network, we have asked them to write a guest blog outlining the great work they do, and how you can get involved with them. Over to Anna…

Changemakers works to unlock young people’s leadership potential. We offer a leadership development programme to young people offering coaching, training and support to help build their capacity to lead. We run an organisational development programme that builds the capacity of organisations to engagemore effectively with young people. We campaign to tackle the barriers that young people face when trying to access leadership roles, including being a Councillor, and to increase the number of young people in such positions. We also run several flagship programmes to offer real and paid leadership roles to young people.

Kirsty Wilson is a changemaker from Newcastle and worked with Urban Games on an Organisational Development Programme. Before becoming a changemaker Kirsty had been volunteering and studying towards an NVQ course in youth work.

Kirsty took the opportunity to gain more skills and experience in different areas that she hadn’t focussed on before. Through being involved with Changemakers she has grown more confident in presenting, campaigning and public speaking. Since completing the Changemakers programme Kirsty has now got a job with NE Generation where she’s organising an event in June.

One major piece of campaign activity Changemakers is working on at the moment is an awards programme designed to celebrate and recognise employers who value and develop their young employees. The awards will reach beyond the realms of the Times 100 Top Graduate Employers and will offer winners invitation to an awards ceremony and associated PR.

If you’re interested in applying then visit www.changemakers.org.uk/campaign to find out more or contact Changemakers at info@changemakers.org.uk. The deadline to apply is 31^st January 2012.

(c) josephpilgrim.com

As part of Social Media Week, LGiU have teamed up with Lambeth Council to put on ‘The Lambeth Social’.

This informal, and free, event is designed  to bring together local politicians, residents, bloggers, volunteers and community activists to discuss how social media can foster new collaborations and build more co-operative communities.

The event will feature a couple of presentations with networking opportunities – including one speed-meeting session –  between, during and after.

Speakers

• Rob Dale, LGiU
• Tom Barrett, Lambeth Council
• Cllr James Barber, Southwark Council (invited)

For more information, please get in touch with Rob on rob.dale@lgiu.org.uk or tweet @robandale 

The following 11 different awards will be up for grabs at the 2012 ceremony:

• Age UK Pride of Place Award – New for 2012
• Bruce-Lockhart Member Scholarship (with £10,000 bursary) – New for 2012
• CCLA Award for Outstanding Contribution to Financial Performance 
• Community Champion of the Year 
• Judges’ Special Award for Contribution to Local Government – New for 2012
• Leader of the Year 
• Online Councillor of the Year 
• Partnership Achievement of the Year 
• Scrutineer of the Year 
• Sustainability Champion of the Year 
• Young Councillor of the Year

It is free to enter the 2012 awards, anybody can nominate a councillor, and the closing date is now set for 5pm on Friday 13th January, 2012.

As a point of clarification – in response to some recent queries – individuals are free to nominate as many councillors, in as many different categories as they wish.

What’s more, it only takes 15 minutes to complete one of our streamlined nomination forms, so if you read this blog as it’s posted then you still have time to nominate 104 councillors before the deadline.

The winners in each category will be announced at a ceremony in Westminster City Hall during the last week of February, 2012. Several high profile speakers are expected to attend, including Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles (confirmed).

For further details on the different awards and the new streamlined nomination process please visit the C’llr Awards section of our website, or contacts us at awards@lgiu.org.uk.

The Government has listened to concerns about the equalisation of local rates with proposals for top-ups, tariffs and levies. However, many people within local government are anxious about how the scheme will work over time and   whether the top ups will retain their value. Others fear a permanent hierarchy between rich ‘tariff councils’ and their poor relations the ‘top up councils’.

Certainly, we look forward to further details of the levels at which tariffs and top ups will be set.  It is essential for local government to have confidence that these proposals will provide them with a stable foundation at a time of financial uncertainty.

Nonetheless, localists should welcome the ambition behind the plans.

Giving locally elected councils real powers and incentives to shape local economies is a crucial step towards re-energising local democracy and a long overdue recognition of the key role that local councils have in economic development, especially at this crucial time in the nation’s economic recovery.

In the next few months, working jointly with Age UK, I will be publishing a review of these conversations. We will be exploring issues such as the changing nature of local partnerships, the impact of new legislation, revising inspection, assessment, guidance and duties, as well as how councils are meeting funding pressure

I wanted to gain insights and stimulate thinking – theirs and mine – about the current challenges and opportunities for local government.

We know that councils are facing unprecedented funding reductions, and as they look ahead, cost pressures and demands are rising. As democratically elected community leaders, councillors must lead in developing a local vision that involves new ways of working, effective partnerships, and engaged communities.

There is much talk of how councils are doing this through different approaches, from the ‘commissioning council’ to the ‘co-operative council’, or even the ‘e-bay council’. In this review we will look behind headline language, to understand the potential for different models and approaches to service delivery, and what the role of the council in the community will mean in practice.

What is clear is that we are at a formative stage in what will be a fundamental period of change in the role and relationship between citizens and the local state. Some councils expressed a view that councils need to address the culture of dependency on public services.

One council leader talked about the need to prepare people for “the changing relationship with public services”. Councils from across the political spectrum talked about taking a pragmatic approach to the future. One leader said “we don’t do ideology”, another said “we do things pragmatically, rather than grand visions!” Other council members mentioned the value of strong leadership.

All councils seem to recognise that the role of the council as a service provider, ranging from social care to transport and community facilities, such as libraries, will be reduced in the future. For some councils this is a source of regret, caused by financial pressures. One leader told me that “the funding cuts from central government are pushing us down a particular road”.

Other councillors may see service reductions as a positive thing, like the leader who said “this is a unique opportunity to break it [local provision] down and build it back up again”.

The speed and nature of the changing role was articulated in different ways. Some councils still talk about services from the perspective of a provider of services, while the majority are now thinking much more about becoming a facilitator or enabler. One leader said: “in the long term we don’t expect to have direct services, just some social workers to do assessments and commissioning.”

Another leader put it like this: “there is a ‘core’ that we are going to deliver, and we will hold the ring on all the commissioned services”. Another council described it as providing “part of the support people want, but not seeing ourselves as the total solution”.

While another said “councils have responsibility to ‘arrange’ services for all”. One council went further still saying “there will be no resemblance between what services looked like in 2007 and in 2014”.

I have queried the impact of ‘localism’ on the ground and how this could manifestly change local services and local engagement with citizens. Leaders acknowledged the current variations between local authorities in the type and nature of local services, and in areas such as charging. They agree that the variations are likely to become wider and more controversial.

Leaders welcomed ‘localism’ but one commented “it is frustrating to be told I’ve got the freedom to do something, then be told I’ve got no money to do it”. Another felt it was important that government learned to “let go and let local government make mistakes”.

The Guardian reports that Sutton Council is spoiling for a fight with Education Secretary Michael Gove over its plans to raise the cap on primary class sizes to more than 30 pupils.  The Chief Executive of Sutton Council Niall Bolger is reportedly contacting other local authorities to test support for raising primary school class sizes.  It’s been driven by the massive boom in demand for primary school places across London as the number of primary pupils soars by over half-a-million between 2010 and 2018.  Councils are already building mobile class rooms to cope with the squeeze.

The debate on the Today programme this morning focused on the impact that big classes have on standards and quality of education.  Small classes have been a political obsession for years as successive secretaries of state have sought to emulate typically smaller classes in the average private school.  For the record, the evidence that small class sizes have an impact on learning is tenuous at best.  Top performing South Korea has bumper-size classrooms that turn out hundreds and thousands of gifted engineers and mathematicians.

But whether or not increasing class sizes will lower standards or not is, in our view, almost a side issue.  What’s far more important about this story is that it demonstrates the need for a local authority to take systems-wide decisions about how the local education system as a whole should respond to societal change.  In this case, Sutton Council is seeking to share the pain of raising pressure on school places across the Borough to ensure that the most popular schools aren’t adversely impacted.  This, of course, will be impossible as more schools become academies independent of local government control.

Flash forward to 2015, when up to 80 per cent of schools have become academies, and it’s not difficult to imagine that Mr Gove will be in a tricky spot as he – rather than the unfortunate Mr Bolger – has to decide between letting classes expand and facing the opprobrium of parents outraged that their little Miles and Oliviers will have a few more classmates or else going cap-in-hand to Mr Cameron and asking for a wedge of cash that, on present form, seems highly unlikely to be forthcoming.  Not an appealing set of choices in an election year.

This article was first posted on the Children’s Services Network