In response to questioning from NLGN Director Chris Leslie, the Prime Minister said that while he could “see the relevance” of this for local government and local councillors, he noted that “there are many different electoral systems operating for different elections” and that today he intended to “focus on the question of Parliamentary elections” and did not want to cloud the issue beyond the system of election to the Commons for the time being.

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s speech, Mr Leslie said:

“Gordon Brown’s restatement of the importance of decentralisation from the centre was a welcome section in this keynote constitutional speech, reiterating as he did the Government’s approach to localism and local public service reform.

“It is essential that the local dimension is not neglected in the grand debates about constitutional reform – and if there is merit for a shift to a ‘preference based’ electoral system rather than first-past-the-post at Westminster elections, then it is equally legitimate to explore the impact it might have on local democracy too.

“There are advantages and disadvantages to moving towards an ‘Alternative Vote’ model at local elections. Many commentators have argued that more proportional representation is needed to avoid some authorities becoming ‘all party states’. The AV model has the advantage of ensuring those elected have a majority mandate and retain a constituency and ward connection. However, there are others who feel that this is an issue of marginal importance and that there are bigger reform questions to be addressed for local government in constitutional terms, for instance, reforming executive leadership and the Mayoral model; improving scrutiny powers; and extending the democratic mandate across a wider array of local services.

“The key issue should be simplicity and clarity for the electorate. If the electoral system is to change for Westminster, then there should be a simultaneous look at a parallel shift for local elections, otherwise there could be considerable confusion among voters especially if asked to ballot on the same day for local and national elections. The experience in Scotland of a considerably high volume of spoilt ballot papers where European, MSP and local systems differ greatly suggests that a consistent approach across our constitution would make most sense.”

“Local people will rightly be intolerant if they are told that frontline services will be cut when their council hasn’t taken tough decisions to introduce shared services, sharing senior staff with other local authorities, PCTs or other bidders, or through making the best use of public buildings,”

Also addressing the conference, Communities Secretary of State, John Denham MP urged councils to work more with third sector organisations to deliver more innovative and efficient services.

View coverage of the conference:

BBC news
The Guardian
Local Government Chronicle
24dash.com
Third Sector
Local Government Chronicle

With David Cameron committed to referendums on elected city mayors in 12 English cities should the Conservatives win the election, NLGN argues that a high level suite of powers needs to be devolved in order to incentivise city-regional mayors (characterised in the paper as ‘platinum level’ powers) and similarly a set of further powers (‘gold level’) needs to be granted for all other elected mayors. Both reforms would see mayors receiving additional powers to the ones they currently hold, trailblazing the decentralisation to local government in general.

There are currently 13 elected mayors in England and some have been credited with developing new forms of civic leadership and tackling long-term problems. However, presently only the Mayor of London has wider strategic power over areas such as transport and policing and overall England lacks well-known and influential civic mayors such as Mayor Bloomberg in New York or Pasqual Maragall in Barcelona.

The report argues that strong local leadership and vision is needed to take bold decisions and citizens need to be better engaged in choices about what can be realistically delivered, particularly with constraints on public spending likely in the coming years. It suggests that elected mayors are well placed to execute this function, and their high visibility and public profile can help capture the attention of the media and citizens.

Publishing today’s proposals, co-authors Nirmalee Wanduragala and Nick Hope argue that further incentives are needed to encourage strong civic leadership and to allow mayors to reach their full potential. Among the recommendations are:

Financial

City mayors should be able to balance their budget over a four-year period, allowing them greater financial flexibility to raise and lower Council Tax. They should also be granted the power to introduce a supplementary business rate of up to + or – 4p, with any extra funds raised to be spent on economic development within the city as deemed best by the mayor.

Public Services

Mayors representing a city-region should be given transport powers that mirror more closely those that the Mayor of London currently enjoys, in particular through chairing (or the nomination of chair) of the local transport body.

City-region mayors should also have the power to appoint a new post of City or Area Police Commissioner or have the right to appoint themselves to the role.

City-region mayors should have power to appointment the Chief Executive of the local Primary Care Trust and to nominate one person to sit as a non-executive member on the board of the PCT.

Democracy

City and city-region mayors should be able to appoint the chief executive of their local authority.

City-region mayors should be automatically granted a seat in the second chamber of the Houses of Parliament, to counter current under-representation of regional perspectives.

However, NLGN also argues that candidates for mayoral contests should be chosen using a US-style Primaries system to encourage people from outside of politics to stand and create a “unique mandate”. Primaries could be based on an “open” system where anyone, regardless of party affiliation, could stand as a candidate, but with the final decision left to party members or supporters. In London a primary was held to find the Conservative candidate for the mayoral elections, where Boris Johnson was selected. In Bedford the Conservative Party also selected their Mayoral candidate through an open primary.

The authors justify the radical plan for Open Primaries by arguing that “more people from a wider range of backgrounds should have the opportunity to shape the rules and take part in decision-making at all levels in our country. If we are ever to see a renaissance of civic involvement, we need everyone to have the chance to identify with somebody in a position of power. We need to open up politics the party selection process for mayoral candidates should be extended beyond party members.”

The report authors also point towards mayors providing more visible leadership, citing polling evidence that, after just 12 to 18 months mayors being elected, on average 57% of people could identify their mayor, compared to only 25% who could identify their leader in councils without a mayor. They also argue that having an elected mayor was instrumental in London’s successful bid to secure the 2012 Olympic bid.

Report authors Wanduragala and Hope conclude:

“Mayors, with their local mandate, are well placed to be granted wide-ranging delegated powers to help transform the way communities and citizens are served. They provide clear lines of accountability, demarcated responsibility, and effective leadership so that it is clear to everyone “where the buck stops”. Ministers can be confident that they will not to be held responsible by the electorate or the media for the particular actions of an administration in a locality.”

He said that “we need to change the way we go about the problems of both skills shortages and endemic worklessness” and said the localism agenda must be a “driving force for what an area is trying to do and be”.

The Rt Hon Jim Knight MP, said that “we are all agreed about the need to deliver services differently and part of that will involve us, as Ministers in central government, being willing to let go – pushing power down to the local level and giving people more say in the services we provide.”

He argued that “it’s not about big and small government, that slightly Westminster bubble debate, it’s about a new form of government that sits alongside people, enabling them to get on and that’s there when they need it”.

“We Can Work It Out: Local employment and skills for economic recovery” calls on local authorities to channel funding to areas of skills training that will most benefit long term employment and economic growth in their locality.

The economic downturn has seen employment in the UK rise to 7.9%, with almost 2.5 million people out of work, just under a million of which are aged between 16-25. In a new report published today (Tues), NLGN argues that a place-based approach is needed for employment and skills, with greater local economic activism by councils to steer funding towards particular sectors to stimulate new jobs.

It recommends that ‘skills accounts’ are reshaped to give individuals more choice over the training they receive and councils greater democratic strategic control, by enabling them to vary the public subsidy for different skills training options based on current and future local economic needs. With such a system, a local authority seeking to diversify the local economy to make it more resilient in the future may, for example, wish to increase jobs in renewable technologies, and could direct skills funding to meet the skills needs of that particular sector.

The report also advocates streamlining some existing skills quangos to create an integrated and less cluttered employment and skills system. It suggests merging current national and regional skills agencies into one organisation – the UK Commission for Employment and Skills – and devolving all operational functions to local authorities.

Report author Nick Hope argues that councils must also do far more themselves to stimulate demand for jobs, by creating the environment for new dynamic business opportunities and acting themselves to forge a new era of municipal entrepreneurship. He suggests that the Government should take forward proposals in their Smarter Government White Paper to allow councils to use their trading powers to create commercial opportunities.

“We must urgently and fundamentally reconstruct the architecture of the skills and employment system, to allow a far more devolved and flexible approach that is not based around programmes, age-categories and funding streams but around the specific needs of particular places and, crucially, individuals.”

“We need to move beyond the concept of “demand-led” skills, where employers and learners drive learning but risk perpetuating a short-sited approach that reinforces industrial weaknesses, towards a “place-led’ era, rooted in an area’s unique assets, characteristics and economic potential. Local authorities must be at the heart of this new era, working collaboratively to orchestrate opportunities and drive economic growth.”

The economic downturn has seen employment in the UK rise to 7.9%, with almost 2.5 million people out of work, just under a million of which are aged between 16-25. In a new report, NLGN argues that a place-based approach is needed for employment and skills, with greater local economic activism by councils to steer funding towards particular sectors to stimulate new jobs.

It recommends that ‘skills accounts’ are reshaped to give individuals more choice over the training they receive and councils greater democratic strategic control, by enabling them to vary the public subsidy for different skills training options based on current and future local economic needs. With such a system, a local authority seeking to diversify the local economy to make it more resilient in the future may, for example, wish to increase jobs in renewable technologies, and could direct skills funding to meet the skills needs of that particular sector.

The report also advocates streamlining some existing skills quangos to create an integrated and less cluttered employment and skills system. It suggests merging current national and regional skills agencies into one organisation – the UK Commission for Employment and Skills – and devolving all operational functions to local authorities.

Report author Nick Hope argues that councils must also do far more themselves to stimulate demand for jobs, by creating the environment for new dynamic business opportunities and acting themselves to forge a new era of municipal entrepreneurship. He suggests that the Government should take forward proposals in their Smarter Government White Paper to allow councils to use their trading powers to create commercial opportunities.

Report author Nick Hope said:

“We must urgently and fundamentally reconstruct the architecture of the skills and employment system, to allow a far more devolved and flexible approach that is not based around programmes, age-categories and funding streams but around the specific needs of particular places and, crucially, individuals.”

“We need to move beyond the concept of “demand-led” skills, where employers and learners drive learning but risk perpetuating a short-sited approach that reinforces industrial weaknesses, towards a “place-led’ era, rooted in an area’s unique assets, characteristics and economic potential. Local authorities must be at the heart of this new era, working collaboratively to orchestrate opportunities and drive economic growth.”

• 15% of high street shops likely to be empty by Christmas
  
• Councils urged to offer business rate incentives for new companies
  
• Call for more independent shops to stop ‘Ghost Town Britain’

As the number of high street stores closing increases, a think tank is today (Mon) calling for councils to step in and offer local businesses tax incentives if they invest in their area.

Independent think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN) is calling on the Government to allow councils to offer lower business rates to incentivise new businesses offset the cost by instigating new powers to increase rates on businesses that could be detrimental to the local area such as betting shops, fast-food takeaways and cheque-cashing stores. It also suggests that councils should have the power to take over existing private shops if there are no plans to fill then and offer them as premises to local businesses.

The report, High-Noon for the High Street also says that local small businesses should be subsidised to take over empty shops in an attempt to reverse ‘Ghost Town Centres’. High Street stores have been hit hard by a combination of the recession and an increase in out of town and internet shopping. Figures estimate that 15% of shops are likely to be empty by the end of 2009 whilst 70% of former Woolworths stores remain empty.

NLGN says it wants councils to support local commerce by taking over empty shops and offering them to local entrepreneurs and small businesses without premises on a basis of free or low-level rent. It says that councils could even own a stake in their business – as in the TV show Dragon’s Den – in exchange for offering subsidised rents. The report also calls for a renaissance in local, independent high street shops, pointing towards evidence that shows that money spent in a chain store is less likely to stay in its locality than a local shop.

The report also argues for “a level playing field” on out of town shopping developments and suggests that the Government could introduce a levy on large-scale developments which could then be spent on enhancing the high-street or town centre. It also points out that many high streets are subject to parking charges whilst out of town shopping centres generally offer free parking, so suggests that councils introduce a small parking levy on out of town developments to pay for a reduction in town centre fees or increased investment in public transport.

The report is published on the last Monday before Christmas – traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. It also comes as online retailers are predicted to have a record year – another blow to high street stores.

Co-author of the report, James Hulme argue that more must be done to save traditional high streets:

“Local councils need to take a pro-enterprise approach to saving the British High Street and responding to the cycle of decline in our town centre. Only the will we get the High Street off the low road.”

“Whilst High Street shops face numerous challenges within these difficult economic circumstances, there is also an opportunity to refresh and redesign how our town centres look and encourage local, independent businesses”

“Councils should be empowered with new rates-levying powers to encourage local small businesses and entrepreneurs, paid for by targeting businesses that often take away more from an area than they give back. This could allow town centres to again become vibrant places for local people to shop, meet and go out”

He said:

“We welcome this paper as a serious and considered effort at refashioning the way our public services operate – and it is especially refreshing to see the central-local dimension thought through in such detail. We believe that this Paper offers a challenging outlook and merits a serious debate among the wider local government community.”

Commenting on specific aspects of the paper he said:

On moves to encourage ‘pooling’ of budgets locally:
“NLGN is a passionate advocate of greater pooling, but this will only happen if hard incentives overcome the tendency for agencies to hoard budgets, especially when finances are being cut back. We urge Ministers to implement a year-on-year incremental requirement to pool budgets locally by 0.5% of total spend annually, to force all areas to change behaviour, coupled with a reward grant for those areas who most enthusiastically embrace a local pooling culture.”

On reducing the National Indicator Set, Chris Leslie said:“Radically downsizing the 188 national indicators by April would imply a complete refresh of the Local Area Agreement process – something that might be timely now in the current economic climate but which would be a significant endeavour for councils to undertake.”

On reducing central grant ‘ring-fencing’:“More detail is needed on which ring-fenced grants are to be opened and placed into the Area-Based Grant, but this is a positive commitment we welcome.”

On moves to encourage councils to take on new commercial opportunities:“Councils will have to increase their income and an entrepreneurial approach to trading and new ventures must surely be a feature of every chief executives’ year ahead. NLGN has already urged councils to offer mortgages locally, establish universal wifi services, insurance products and community banking. In January we publish further recommendations for municipal entrepreneurship, boosting council revenues, reducing pressures on council tax and creating local employment.”

On the potential for opening new data sets for wider public use:“Transparency has got to be the guiding principle, and while much of this data may already be technically available through Freedom of Information means to individuals, the hope that the wider public obtain benefits from real time information and comparative data as consumers is laudable.”

On the notion of a new ‘Civic Health Index’:“Greater efforts are certainly needed to renew civic participation, but we are sceptical that any Whitehall-led central initiative can make an appreciable impact on what ought to be a locally led endeavour.”

On the potential piloting of ‘Social Impact Bonds’:“We would be keen to see decisions on which range of public services are likely to be open to this initiative and precisely how investors would be able to isolate the returns on their early intervention. Reducing certain categories of crime, drug and alcohol abuse may be most amenable to the Social Impact Bond approach but to date the methodologies underpinning these programmes have lacked sufficient rigour.”

• Speech from George Osborne backs principle behind “rewards for recycling”
• NLGN first floated the idea in 2007
• Rewards should be linked to neighbourhood improvement and potentially cutting Council Tax

Independent think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN) today welcomed comments from Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne MP that a Conservative Government would offer financial incentives to households that recycle more – a recommendation made in an NLGN report in 2007.

In a speech today Mr Osborne will promise that the public would be “paid”, possibly with shopping vouchers, to recycle their rubbish.

The NLGN argues that whilst households should be incentivised to reduce waste and recycle more, that councils should reward whole neighbourhoods if their overall levels of non-recyclable waste declines by giving them budgets to spend on projects for their community, such as refurbishing a local park or improving community safety measures. NLGN argues that this would help to build a better sense of community purpose and would result in more tangible public reward; both factors that research shows are strong drivers in changing behaviour.

However it also said that instead of offering shopping vouchers as a reward for recycling, Mr Osborne could look at linking the reduction of waste to reducing household Council Tax bills. More recycling could allow councils to spend less on burying rubbish in landfill and NLGN argues that savings made could be passed on to local taxpayers.

The UK has one of the worst records for municipal waste sent to landfill, with over two-thirds of the 30 million tonnes of waste being buried.

The NLGN first made these recommendations in its report, How can we Refuse? Tackling the Waste Challenge, by Anthony Brand.

NLGN Director, Chris Leslie welcomed support for the concept from the Shadow Chancellor:

“Our analysis suggests that households are more receptive to the carrot than the stick when encouraging recycling and we’re pleased that George Osborne is putting forward some positive incentives to support environmental behaviour, which will save money for both individuals and local authorities.”

However we would urge him to look at offering a “community payback” scheme that rewards whole neighbourhoods for reducing their overall level of waste. By linking together financial rewards for greener behaviour this would allow communities to improve their locality whilst reducing the burden of waste”.

• Warning that dramatic budget deficits could plunge Britain back into era of crumbling infrastructure.
• Local authorities should plan now for a new environment of constrained capital allocations from the Treasury.
• Councils must be better prepared to raise capital in novel ways in order to meet critical investment needs

With the credit crunch causing the “tsunami of a public sector recession” from next year onwards, the shockwaves hitting investment in road and rail, school buildings, housing, regeneration and other public facilities could be extremely severe, according to a new thinktank report. The New Local Government Network (NLGN) says that inadequate investment into public infrastructure could lead to a decline in growth and hamper the modernisation of public services.

The UK has huge demands for the new provision and refurbishment of infrastructure, and it is local authorities who are at the forefront of investment in housing, transport, regeneration, education and waste management.

In its new report “Capital Contingencies” NLGN sets out how local councils could raise alternative forms of infrastructure investment in a scenario where the Treasury begins to clamp down on orthodox capital expenditure. NLGN suggests that local authorities should consider going directly to capital markets through bond issuance, potentially explore alternative revenue raising powers including the workplace parking levy once the recession ends, and that councils should rapidly exploring the potential to apply their own financial reserves more intelligently.

With Treasury plans to halve capital expenditure from £44bn to £22bn by 2013/14 and with private capital now only available to the public sector in a more limited form and quantity, councils will need a stronger approach to partnerships and rethink regeneration and construction plans. In order to lessen the capital funding crisis NLGN is proposing a number of innovations:

• Local authorities to generate new revenue stream opportunities through modest user charging including workplace parking levy implementation, when the recovery allows, and new trading opportunities as permissive powers of wellbeing and general competence become available;
• A new lending approach which treats the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) on a level playing field with other local capital finance models, removing bias and allowing greater local choice;
  A new collective fund for council reserves which could aid infrastructure investment across the country.
• NLGN Director, Chris Leslie, urged all political parties to think hard before making large scale cuts in capital grants and loans:

“Anxiety over the level of public sector debt is set to define the next decade of public service provision in the UK but such a mindset risks a scenario in which economic growth is fettered by inadequate investment in the nation’s infrastructure.”

“Local authorities are the principal agents in much of the nation’s infrastructure development and must be ready to rediscover the skills and techniques that can enable self-determined capital investment. The constitutional circumstances which have created a local government community almost totally reliant on Whitehall now risk leaving much of our public services and facilities bereft of investment. We urge preparedness within the sector for the looming political obsession with national debt which could see a Treasury cutting capital grant and loan availability severely.“

“Councils have the powers, albeit dormant, to relate to capital markets directly should they choose to do so, and also possess great assets and reserves of their own which hold enormous potential for domestic reinvestment. We see it as vital that making more these powers and assets forms the vanguard of future locally-driven investment.”

“To do this we must address on a fundamental level the relationship between central and local government. The parameters within which local authorities operate are too restrictive, and it is only by removing these that the potential for a wider suite of independent options – whether municipal bonds, mutualisation, trading, alternative revenue streams or other forms of partnership with the private sector – can be realised.”

Conservative Shadow Minister Justine Greening speaks of a desire to “cull” vast swathes of regional government and quangos.

The Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Governmentr accuses the Government of dictating policy via top down targets from Westminster and promises that a Conservative Government would ensure that “local government would once again truly be local”.

Also writing in the pamphlet, the Leader of Westminster Council, Colin Barrow sets out in practice how local action is helping to support local citizens and businesses during the economic downturn in his borough.

Council Tax, and how it can be reduced, is the focus of a contribution from Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Something of a poster-boy for efficiency minded Conservatives, Cllr Greenhalgh’s ideas have become a blueprint for many councils wishing to achieve greater value for money services and lower Council Tax.

Finally, Cllr David Parsons, Leader of Leicestershire County Council offers a useful analysis of partnership working, often based upon the very practical experiences of working with varied partners within Leicestershire.

The collection is edited by James Hulme, Head of Communications at NLGN.