lga-labour-blog

[lga-labour-blog]

Local government leaders set out ambitions for ‘Day One’ of Labour Government

Labour leaders set out ‘freedom and funding’ manifesto to empower social change

England most centralised country in Europe: call for ten new freedoms to build homes, schools and children’s centres

Opportunity to plug £7.1bn funding gap by 2020 to deliver real change for communities

The Local Government Association (LGA) Labour Group has set out an ambitious programme for a future Labour Government to ensure councils are properly funded from day one to deliver real change for local communities. The manifesto includes plans to build new council homes, new schools and children’s centres.

In a report entitled ‘On Day One’, aimed at an incoming Labour administration, the authors outline the damage caused by Tory austerity and set out new funding requests to address the funding gap. Cuts of almost 50% have been made to central government funding for councils between 2010 and 2018, and Tory-run Northamptonshire County Council issued a section 114 notice effectively declaring they were ‘bankrupt’.

In an article to be published on Tuesday, Cllr Nick Forbes, Labour’s local government leader, will argue that councils should lead social movements to deliver change, seeking inspiration from groups such as Momentum, and #MeToo.

The manifesto demands new freedoms for councils - including powers to build new council homes, open new schools, create a children’s centre in every community and a call for the next Labour government to invest heavily in early intervention and prevention.

Cllr Nick Forbes, the leader of the LGA Labour Group said: “If the next Labour government wants to deliver immediate and visible change for the many, not the few then the fastest and most direct route lies through local government.”

“Communities across the country are demanding change to fix the housing crisis and support young people. With sufficient funding and greater freedoms local councils can generate economic growth, build new homes and strengthen communities.”

The report has the backing of shadow Local Government secretary Andrew Gwynne MP, who in a foreword to the report writes:

“The future of our country cannot be formulated by politicians in Westminster, but needs to be built in partnership with local leaders and local people.”

The Local Government Association Labour Group report sets out the size of the funding gap in local government – the calculated shortfall is £5.8bn by 2019/20, plus £1.3bn that is needed to stabilise the care system, £7.1bn in total. Councils are responsible for £1 in every £4 of government spending, but retain less than 10% of locally-raised taxes – making England one of Europe’s most centralised countries.

Ten Freedoms for Local Communities

The publication sets ‘ten freedom tests’ for an incoming Government to start delivering On Day One.

Social Care

For every £1 of council tax collected in 2019/20, as much as 56p could be spent on caring for the elderly and vulnerable. The Government’s one-off investment of £2bn in social care over three years runs out in 2020, and allowing councils to levy an extra 6% precept on council tax has simply shifted the burden onto local residents. Many care workers across the UK have to work just 15 minute visits which leave them unable to provide the care that is needed, and many are not paid for their travel time between visits. Some work on zero-hours contracts, and receive just the minimum wage.

The report argues for:

1. Effective funding for social care to ensure care visits are provided according to the needs of the individual, with local councils setting the eligibility criteria, allow people to choose the sort of care and support they require, free at the point of need.

2. A better deal for care workers, adopting Unison’s Ethical Care Charter, paying care workers a Living Wage and allowing greater career progression to improve recruitment and retention.

Housing

Housebuilding has fallen to its lowest level since the 1920s, and affordable housing is at a 24- year low, while rough sleeping has risen by 169%. At the same time, a total of over 1.83m social housing properties have been sold under Right to Buy, with sales in the last 4 years averaging four times greater than the five years before that. From Day One, Labour councils should be given the funding and freedom to build a new generation of council housing, as Cllr Rishi Shori, leader of Bury Council sets out in his chapter, and councils could start work on building new homes within weeks.

The report argues for:

3. The abolition of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing cap.

4. Local councils to be able to keep 100% of right to buy receipts to reinvest in building genuinely affordable new council homes.

Children and Early Intervention

More than 500 Children’s Centres have closed since 2010 and councils desperately need the opportunity to shift public spending away from crisis management, and into early intervention and prevention.

The report argues for:

5. Letting councils invest in the early help services that guarantee better outcomes for children at a lower cost.

6. Restoring the power of councils to ensure every child has a place at an excellent local school and allowing councils or maintained schools with a good record to take over failing free schools and academies.

True Devolution

Councils are responsible for £1 in every £4 of government spending, but for every £1 generated locally by taxes, only 9p remains with local authorities – making England one of Europe’s most centralised countries. Greater freedom is needed to unleash the innovation of the ten Core Cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield). Core Cities research shows that by 2030 they could create 1.16 million more jobs and £222 bn – equivalent to adding the entire economy of Denmark to the UK.

The report argues for

7. More financial independence for local government, starting with the abolition of the council tax referendum limit, increased powers to levy land value tax, tourism tax, and possibly even retention of income tax.

8. An end to ringfencing of funding, to give local councils the flexibility to     deliver what works best and shift priorities as evidence emerges of best     practice; and freedom to borrow capital used to invest in infrastructure for future growth.

9. Greater spending freedoms for the councils and local control of the skills agenda.

10. Councillors to have a wider voice in a Labour administration with a senior local government figure offered a Cabinet seat, and a local government representative invited to every ministerial team meeting along with greater representation on Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

ENDS

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Andrew Gwynne MP speech to Labour Local Government conference - 3rd February 2018

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Thanks for inviting me here today,

Firstly; a thank you for all you do. Whatever the challenge, however hard the fight, Labour Councillors stand as the frontline of government for our communities and often are the last line of defence.

You are improving the life chances of our children and young people, delivering the services that people rely on, putting our values into practice.

I will make sure that this is not forgotten by the next Labour Government and will place our councillors and local people at the heart of rebuilding our communities.

I want to also thank the LGA Labour Leadership team for all the work you do championing local voices on the national stage - Cllr Nick Forbes, LGA Labour leader and leader of Newcastle, and the two deputy leaders: Cllr Lib Peck, leader of Lambeth, and Cllr Michael Payne, deputy leader of Gedling, and all the other councillors from around the country who participate in the LGA and help to ensure there is a strong national voice for local government.

Can I also thank the Chair of the ALC, Simon Henig, and the regional members of the Executive.

A Labour leader who particularly deserves recognition is Sir Steve Bullock, who will be standing down as Mayor of Lewisham this year. Steve has led the London Borough of Lewisham for 21 of the last 30 years, first as leader of the council between 1988-1993, and then as the first directly elected Mayor of Lewisham since 2002.

He is also a close friend of the Local Government Association, and played such a key role in it's creation that many say he practically invented it.

I also want to pay tribute to some of those that are not with us today.

Cllr Keiran Quinn, leader of Tameside Council, sadly passed away on Christmas Day this year. His passing was a shock to us all -  Kieran wasn’t just a political colleague, but a friend. He believed in the power of local government to make a difference to people’s lives and always sought to do the right thing for Tameside.

Kieran took on the leadership of Tameside Council in 2010, just as Tameside lost half of its grant funding - but despite this, he always retained that vision of creating a fairer, more equal, better borough.

His passing was a shock to us all, and at this sad time, my thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Sue, and their boys Matthew and Liam.

It reminds us all too of the sacrifice made by those in political and civic life. It’s more than a post, a job or title. It’s about that deep, indescribable drive to make our communities better places.

Our thoughts are also with Cllr. Peter Rankin, leader of Preston, who is currently battling against a brain cancer. His work in Preston continues to be an inspiration for the sector, building and retaining wealth for the benefit of the community.

In the speech, I made to conference last year, I spoke of the honour and pride I felt to represent my community - first as a Labour councillor and then in Parliament, and now as Shadow Secretary of State.

I'm proud to stand here representing the area where I have always lived, where I grew up, went to school and am bringing up my family.

I know all of you with the privilege to represent your communities share the same pride in the areas you serve, day in day out, dedicating your own time to help people in need.

And that is why it is important you and your communities are given more power to shape the places that you represent -

I’m committed to delivering true devolution, as part of a new partnership between national and local government.

I stand ready to defend local government, to defend the independence of our local labour groups - but also when asked to ease tensions at a local level that’s what I’ll do.

That is the task that was brought to the NEC by Nick Forbes, and I was asked to help bring back together a local Labour Group dealing with a divisive issue - and that is a task that still needs to happen.

This is not about the NEC interfering in decisions made by Labour councils, local council Labour Groups are sovereign, they make their own decisions.

It is about the duty that we have to each other within the Labour Family - to work through our differences for the sake of those that we represent.

All of us are where we are today due to this movement - Labour values implemented as Government policy. This is the vision that unites us.  

Clare accomplished much in her near-decade in charge, and we can all agree she will leave a proud legacy at Haringey and that she will continue to be a powerful voice for the sector.

There are lessons to be learned from what has happened - but as the Government prepares to release its local government finance settlement, we need to move the conversation onto the problems that have held Local Government back over the past seven years.

One of the Government’s own councils last night became the first in 20 years to issue a Section 114.

The failure of Northamptonshire County Council sends a clear signal that the Government’s approach to managing our public services does not work.

Local Government has suffered the biggest austerity cuts of any part of Government - with Labour communities hit the hardest.

When faced with choices; of where to cut, and where to invest - I believe the government has failed to show that they understood the real life, human challenges facing this country.

The Autumn Budget in November saw tax breaks for bankers, and oil companies - but nothing to address the major challenges facing our communities.

Nothing for children’s services, nothing for adult social care.

We all hoped that the Government would take notice in the Local Government Finance Settlement.

But the day came, and the finance settlement came - riddled with holes and mistakes, but offering nothing for vulnerable children, and nothing for social care.

And whilst this Government starves our services of funding and fails to provide concrete answers when asked about how the sector will cope - the Secretary of State continues to shirk any responsibility -

Instead, passing the buck for his Government’s mistakes to you on the front line.

There is a real risk that services and councils are reaching a financial breaking point and the sector needs certainty for how it will be funded beyond May 2020

But the money for our children’s services needs to be delivered now. The Government cannot ignore this crisis.

Good local government is about strengthening society. It’s about supporting one another; bettering the life chances of the many and helping those in need.

This is why we all came into politics - to make our world better for the people we grew up with, our neighbours, our family, our community.

Despite the challenges the sector has faced, our Labour Local Government Family has been at the forefront of protecting communities and the local services that people rely on.

And it will be at the forefront of delivering the better, fairer, and more equal society that we will aim to create through the next Labour Government.

END

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Jeremy Corbyn speech to Labour Local Government conference - 3rd February 2018

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We meet here in Nottingham at a time of growing strength for our party, after the surge in Labour support at last year’s general election, and when, this year, people are talking about Labour winning councils in the May elections that our party has not run for a very long time.

This is a people-powered transformation driven by the huge increase in our membership with activists flooding into our party and out onto the streets, knocking on doors and running street stalls as they will again this year.

And it is people-powered because our party now relies on people to fund it. We have no super-rich donors, no oligarchs or big business backers, just the thousands of small donations from our members and supporters, and from trade unionists banding together to support a party that represents them.

In years to come many of those new members will be Labour councillors and even Labour council leaders following in your footsteps.

We should welcome new people, fresh ideas, and young energy into our party. It’s a mass participation that we all must embrace. Because what our communities are facing is no less than the dismantling of the civilised society we all love. It will only be defended if we campaign together –  members, councillors and MPs together.

So much that is great about our country and our communities was delivered by Labour governments, Labour mayors, and Labour councils so thank you for all you have done, all you are doing, and all you will do in the future working hand-in-hand with a transformational Labour government.

And I speak as a formal councillor myself – in fact the first Labour leader since Clement Attlee to have been a councillor.

But today this Conservative government has sent our public services spiralling into crisis. After nearly 8 years of Conservative government councils have lost 50% of their funding from central government. And yesterday we found out that Tory-run Northamptonshire council is effectively bankrupt.

What more evidence do we need? Austerity is unleashing chaos across our country, squeezing our local authorities and putting jobs and services at risk. When local councils face cuts, local people pay the price.

On Wednesday the local government finance settlement will be announced. We can expect more of the same, the same old Conservatives taking away funding and powers from local communities. And this year their cruelty has been compounded by incompetence or worse – getting their sums wrong in December and taking promised funding away from some of the poorest areas in England.

I want to pay tribute to our Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary Andrew Gwynne for holding Sajid Javid to account and standing up for local councils.

Our schools are facing significant cuts – another 5% slashed by 2020. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves, absolutely unprecedented numbers – 50,000 last year alone. Class sizes are soaring and there are now 24,000 unqualified teachers working in our schools. Colleges and adult education budgets have been slashed, ripping away opportunities from young people and from workers wanting to re-train.

In recent years over 600 youth centres have closed and over 3,600 youth worker jobs have gone. And here in Nottingham cuts risk your ability to meet your ambitious, and vital, goal of becoming the world’s first slavery free city.

The work Nottingham University does on tackling modern slavery is so important and shows what can be achieved when everyone comes together – the university, the council, churches, businesses, and charities. Because, as the Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery report has identified we need action across the board to end this evil for good.

And local government has a key part to play, as a first responder seeing the early warning signs of trafficking, exploitation and slavery.

Our local communities have lost more than 21,000 police officers and nearly 7,000 Police Community Support Officers. Crime is going up – violent crime is up 20 per cent in the last year alone. Across the country Chief Constables are telling this government they cannot keep their communities safe due to the cuts to their budgets.

In the last year gun crime has increased by 20 per cent. The Chief Constable of Merseyside said recently: “Have I got sufficient resources to fight gun crime? No, I haven’t”?

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, said it was, “inevitable that without further assistance our police officer numbers will drop.”

And the Chief Constable of Avon & Somerset stated: “we cannot sustain further funding cuts without extremely serious consequences”.

The same level of cuts have hit our fire and rescue service with 11,000 fewer firefighters and dozens of fire stations closed.

When Labour says “austerity isn’t working”, it’s not just a slogan. It’s the reality that drives public service workers to despair as our communities suffer the consequences.

Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to our NHS. The NHS is in its deepest ever crisis with multiple causes – the cuts to social care, the loss of GPs, the cuts to councils’ public health budgets and the creeping privatisation that is leeching resources into the pockets of the few.

And it is exacerbated by austerity – rising poverty, homelessness, more people at food banks, and the number of people being diagnosed at hospital with malnutrition. Malnutrition – in modern Britain – has trebled in recent years. Poor quality housing, substandard conditions of poor insulation, damp and mould which is estimated to cost our NHS £1.4 billion a year.

And I’d also like to pay tribute to Karen Buck for her relentless campaigning to make all homes fit for human habitation and to those Labour council that have brought in landlord licensing including Liverpool, Newham, Waltham Forest, Barking & Dagenham and Croydon.

Those schemes are testament to the experience of Labour councils who know we can’t just let the market decide because power isn’t equally shared.

Austerity and privatisation are dismantling our civilised society and causing misery. We must urgently move on from Tory austerity and the failed privatisation obsession that has allowed services for the many to become cash cows for the few.

In the last month the arguments for privatisation – always threadbare and flawed – have now been brutally exposed by events.

Chris Grayling’s bailout of the East Coast mainline franchise. The implosion of outsourcing firm Carillion. the National Audit Office report into exorbitant PFI schemes.

The whole edifice of the ‘private good, public bad’ dogma has crumbled. We have seen what privatisation means: services get worse or are lost, jobs get cut, workers’ pension funds are left to wither, while boardroom executives get huge bonuses on top of eye-watering salaries and private shareholders dine off public services.

This is why Labour councils are taking measures to bring services back in-house and reject costly PFI-style models and to show the efficiency and resourcefulness of local government. And I pay tribute to Unison, GMB and Unite members who work so hard to deliver local government services day in and day out.

But what Labour councils up and down the country are doing is more than that – with amazing creativity in the toughest of times we are seeing the first shoots of the renaissance of local government for the many not the few, the rebirth of municipal socialism.

Just look here in Nottingham with Robin Hood Energy and inspiring Liverpool Leccy and Angelic Energy in my borough of Islington.

In Newcastle where the Tyne & Wear Metro has been taken back in-house after forced contracting-out, and the service is running better meeting people’s needs

That’s the lesson too for councils like Cardiff and here in Nottingham which have hung on to municipal bus companies and regulated bus services. In Redbridge waste services will come back in-house next year as they have in many other council areas.

And it’s about time we acknowledged a truth we all know- when it comes to running public services it’s the public sector that works best, that delivers for the many, not the few, accountable to the public and acting in the public interest.

Local government can be incredibly innovative which is why I urge everyone to read Labour’s 100 Innovations in Local Government. Labour in power can be creative and innovate to meet our people’s needs and create public value.

In many London boroughs and in many of our major cities housing is a key issue.

And the Tories record of abject failure shows why: home ownership levels have fallen, homelessness has doubled,

more families are living in temporary accommodation – over 120,000 children spent last Christmas without a home to call their own,  private rents have risen faster than wages, housebuilding is lower, and the building of new social rented homes is now at the lowest level for a quarter of a century.

Working with our shadow housing minister John Healey, we will tackle the housing crisis: build the housing our communities need, including more council housing, clamp down on bad landlords renting substandard accommodation, give all renters greater security of tenanacy and stable rents, and tackle the homelessness epidemic blighting so many lives.

And I know many of you are engaging with John in the Social Housing Review he is undertaking.

And let me just briefly touch on the contentious issue of the HDV regeneration proposals in Haringey. For a massive regeneration programme with private company Lendlease. Faced with Tory cuts and a huge housing need the council leadership felt that this public-private proposal was the best deal it could get for residents.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all Labour councillors and councils across the country for their service and strength when faced with the appalling choices forced upon them by Tory cuts. But HDV is highly controversial with local people worried about their futures. That’s why 40% of Labour councillors opposed the proposals, as did the majority of party members in both CLPs, both Labour MPs, and local unions.

It has been a unique situation which is why the NEC unanimously asked the council leadership to put their plans on hold and take part in a mediation process to bring everyone together. Because when we bring people together and listen to everyone’s voices we make better decisions.

Democracy creates better outcomes for communities.

That’s why I was so pleased to be with Sadiq Khan, Labour’s Mayor of London, yesterday as he announced in Tory-controlled Barnet, his plans to give residents real  control through a ballot before redevelopments can go ahead.

Regeneration must put local people first not property speculators which is why Labour is committed to giving residents the right to a ballot across the country so that when we’re in government we can deliver real regeneration for the many not the few.

In the election campaign the Tories ducked the debates because they have contempt for democracy, they took people for granted and come polling day they got the shock of their lives. This May let’s compound their misery and ensure more people wake up with a Labour council protecting them as much as possible against this destructive Conservative government.

Conference, even in the toughest of circumstances many of you have achieved so much to protect your communities and to innovate.

A Labour government will enable you can do so much more because we will ensure you have the resources your communities need and the powers that are necessary to deliver for them.

We set out in our manifesto how a Labour government would have funded investment into the NHS, to social care, to the police and fire service, and to schools and colleges.

And we also know that the system of local government finance – slashed by half since 2010 – is not sustainable so we would have put an extra £2 billion into local government this year.

The Tories seem to want local government to only get decent levels of funding in richer areas that can afford it. But we would have initiated a review of local council funding to make it sustainable for the long-term.

But it’s not only about money, but about the powers you need. The powers to borrow to build the council housing our communities so desperately need. And that’s why we will set up a National Investment Bank with regional development banks listening to local councils about the investment needs of their communities. Local government is an enabler of economic development and will be at the heart of our investment strategy.

Because we will only get real growth translating into good, secure jobs in every part of the country if we work at the local level.

And we will only tackle the housing crisis if councils can borrow to build so we will remove the arbitrary cap and allow councils once again to borrow to build.

That is the contrast between this Conservative government that taken away resources and devolved only cuts.

The next Labour government will give you the power and resources to help us build a country for the many not the few.

Next week Andrew Gwynne, our Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and our Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell will be speaking at a conference on Community Wealth Building in Preston. Preston is a Labour council that has achieved so much and they will be sharing their experiences alongside community activists from around Britain and the United States.

As Labour members and politicians we know there is always much more to do, much more we can learn, and that we are much stronger when we listen, when we are inclusive and when work together.

And what makes a difference is applying our principles in power. And I know you share my determination that after May this year more people will have a Labour council putting Labour’s principles and priorities into practice.

And after that a Labour government in Westminster to deliver right across our country, for the many not the few.

Thank you.

Ends

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Nick Forbes speech to Labour Local Government conference - 3rd February 2018

Thank you, and welcome to first time delegates; to seasoned campaigners; to Next Generation graduates; and to the Labour Local Government Family.

Thank you to all the people who have made this conference happen – LGA Labour Group Office staff and ALC staff.

Particular thanks to the sponsors, Regis Mutual Management, who are working with the LGA to establish a transparent and cost-effective mutual insurer for local government, as an alternative to the existing market offer.

In the last few months I have attended funerals of Paul Watson, Leader of Sunderland, and Kieran Quinn, Leader of Tameside. I know they will be sadly missed by us all, and I know a few glasses were raised in tribute last night.

Both eulogies were full of praise for their achievements for their communities. Not always headline grabbing, not always about grand policy initiatives, but the daily positive impact that determined and committed Labour leadership can make in a local area.

And that’s why I’m delighted that Debbie Wilcox, the Leader of Newport City Council and of the Welsh LGA, is running to be Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour. This is a testament to the respect in which Local Government is held in Wales, and I know we’re all cheering Debbie on in her mission.

And I’d also like to extend, on behalf of all of us, a warm welcome to Jeremy who will be speaking shortly. Jeremy is a steadfast friend of local government. I know he sees us as important in delivering the priorities of a Labour government, and that Labour councils are the guardians of our values in office.

One of the important things we’ll be discussing today is the future of Local Government within our Party. The Party Democracy Review, led by Katy Clark and ably supported by our colleague Claudia Webbe, needs to fix some of the problems in our party’s rules relating to councillors.

When we discussed the original terms of reference at the NEC, there was agreement that it was an opportunity to raise the profile of the vital work of local government, to fix once and for all the undervalued status of councillors and the contribution that we make to our communities.

I believe it’s an opportunity to show how we lead by example. We are, for instance, the most accountable of all elected politicians in the country.

We are accountable to the law.

To our council’s code of conduct.

Through our Groups and through scrutiny arrangements.

We are accountable to our local media, to our constituents when they come to see us in our surgeries or stop us in the street.

Council leaders are the only politicians who can be asked questions, on any area of their responsibility, every month, by any member of the public in our council chambers.

So let’s use our experience of accountability to shape how our party demonstrates our commitment to public service.

The Democracy Review is also an opportunity to give us a stronger, more effective role in our party. CLPs are represented by nine people on the NEC, the Trade Unions by thirteen. By contrast, we only have two – myself and Alice Perry. I don’t think this is a fair balance, when you take into account the complexity and significance of local government and the magnitude of issues that we’re dealing with. After all, we contribute more than 5m to the party – directly, through our subs, and indirectly, by supporting local campaigning – and many of us give several thousands of pounds a year without recognition in the same way that higher value donors get.

We need a stronger role for local government in planning election campaigns – Andrew Gwynne recognises this, and for the first time ever has invited local government reps to help shape the approach to this years’ local elections. But we need more than a gesture of good will, we need this involvement written into the rules.

And we are an asset that the party can and should use more. When was the last time a local government figure was the party’s spokesperson on Question Time? Why, when we have experienced, eloquent and passionate speakers like Richard Leese, Judith Blake, Steve Bullock, Sharon Taylor, Simon Blackburn, Rishi Shori, Debbie Wilcox or Lib Peck, to name just a few of our team, are we not playing more to our strengths?

And the Democracy Review is a chance to show the rest of our party just what an extraordinary job Labour Local Government has done in shielding the vulnerable from austerity over the last seven years.

Let’s not forget the Tories and Lib Dems VOTED to take millions of pounds away from the poorest in our communities.

Let’s not forget the Tories and Lib Dems VOTED to introduce the Bedroom Tax

Let’s not forget the Tories and Lib Dems VOTED to strip money out of support for children at risk of violence and abuse.

Let’s not forget the Tories and Lib Dems VOTED to impose the sheer, horrific magnitude of austerity, with Labour councils being the hardest hit of all.

And let’s also not forget, in fact let’s be proud, that Labour councils have stood shoulder to shoulder with our communities in times of need.

Creating jobs, and supporting apprenticeships, because we know that the best route out of poverty is a decent, well-paid, secure job.

Finding new ways to deliver public services, true to Labour values, working in partnership with Trade Unions, the voluntary sector and other public sector bodies.

Building new homes, despite being hamstrung by the Right to Buy, Pay to Stay, and the HRA Borrowing Cap.

So the Democracy Review needs to represent a new settlement for Local Government in the Labour Party.

One based on mutual respect.

Let me be clear:

We respect the leadership of Jeremy and senior party figures in Westminster.

We respect the right of our membership to shape policy and select candidates.

We respect the work of our Trade Unions, and their role in representing their members.

We respect the Labour front bench, and wholeheartedly support them in challenging the worst Tory Government in history.

But we also have rights.

Our right to be supported by party staff that we pay for in our towns, cities and regions, not just from a head office in London;

Our right to be protected and supported in the difficult leadership roles we undertake, not undermined by some on the fringes of the party;

Our right to determine policy in our democratically elected Labour Groups that is right for our communities, not to have interference based on supposition and poorly informed opinion.

Mutual respect.

Because delivering good quality public services is easy when there is enough money to go around. But knowing how to deliver good quality public services when our money has been cut in half or disappeared altogether is hard – and this is the defining intellectual question for Labour in Local Government.

How to do more with less.

How to find new ways of serving people, remaining true to our values.

How to work with new partners – the voluntary sector, local businesses and other public sector bodies.

This is the business of Labour councils day in day out – finding a way, any way, to protect our communities and give them the chance to build a better life.

Because they can’t wait for the next Labour government, and neither can we.

A vulnerable child, at risk of harm, can’t wait for the next Labour government – so as Labour councillors we will stretch every pound we have left to ensure we have enough social workers to protect them.

A frail older person, who needs daily support to live an independent life, can’t wait for the next Labour government – so as Labour councillors we will be creative and innovative in designing services that ensure they can live with dignity today, and for the rest of their days.

A homeless family, shunted from one unstable and insecure temporary home to another, cannot wait for the next Labour government – so yes, Labour councils will consider using whatever tools we have left to build new social and affordable homes, however uncomfortable this may feel to those who enjoy the luxury of commentary without the burden of elected responsibility.

Because as Labour party members, we are desperate for an end to this directionless, ignorant, dreadful car crash of a Tory government, we cannot wait for the next Labour Government.

But as Labour leaders and Labour councillors, elected by people who look to use for help today, not in 2022, we cannot wait for the next Labour government – we have to act today, and we do act, with courage and determination, and we are proud to do that for the communities we serve.

And in doing so, we ask nothing more than the respect and support of our leaders, of our party, and of our colleagues.

We act every day for the many and not the few. And in our party, we deserve the support of the many and not the few.

[lga-labour-blog]

LGA Labour leader ‘unreservedly welcomes’ cap-busting pay offer, as Labour leaders unite to demand Chancellor funds it

Cllr Nick Forbes, Labour’s leader in local government, has ‘unreservedly welcomed’ today’s pay offer to council staff, in which they will receive a 2% pay increase in each of the next two years. But more than ninety Labour council leaders have today written to the Chancellor demanding that he fully funds the pay rise.

The letter, organised by Cllr Nick Forbes, Labour’s leader in local government, calls for an end to the public sector pay cap, and demands that a guarantee from the Chancellor that he will fully fund a fair pay offer for council staff. The Labour leaders note that local government workers have suffered real terms pay reductions since 2010 that mean they’ve lost the equivalent of £1 in every £5 they previously earned.

Commenting on the pay offer and the letter, Cllr Nick Forbes, Labour’s leader in local government, said:

"Millions of people across the UK depend on the hard work of council staff – from care workers to parks attendants, and from social workers to street sweepers. We unreservedly welcome the decision of the National Employers for Local Government to recognise the hardship faced by many council workers in recent years, and to offer a 2% deal for each of the next two years.”

“Labour councillors have been clear that enough is enough. The Tory policy of austerity has gone too far – it is just not fair to ask loyal local government staff to once again pay for this failed policy through lower wages. But local government has suffered the biggest cut of any part of the public sector so it is vital that the Chancellor uses next week’s Local Government Finance Settlement to fully fund the cost of this deal, and to start to reverse the appalling cuts planned to local government.”

“Therefore today Labour council leaders from across the country are writing to the Chancellor to demand that the pay cap is formally lifted, that he fully funds the offer that has been made, and that he urgently addresses the £5.8bn gap in funding that all parties now accept councils face by 2020.”

Andrew Gwynne MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government said:

“Labour leaders in Local Government have worked tirelessly to urge the Government to scrap the 1 per cent pay cap and provide funding to give public sector workers the pay rise they deserve.

“Local government workers provide an important and essential service to the public, but for years they have seen their pay held back by this Government in the name of austerity.

“Given the Tories’ harsh cuts to authority budgets, it is vital that additional funding is provided to back up this pledge, to avoid simply placing extra burden on already over-strained budgets.”