It was wonderful to see, albeit from a far, both the Prime Minister and Sir Keir Starmer choose Hackney to give their new year speeches last week. I don't know whether it was coincidence* they were both drawn to the borough and Here East in Hackney Wick, perhaps it was because it’s home to an incredible cluster of creative businesses and universities. A part of our Olympic legacy and an example of what partnership between national, regional and local government can achieve.
I've written before for Labour List about Keir, the Labour leadership and why we need to build on Labour's record in power in local government and why we must in our next manifesto fully articulate what a new Labour local government settlement would look like.
Since then, neither LGA Labour nor Keir, Angela, Lisa or Rachel have backed away from this debate. It's felt like we were on the verge of something radical and exciting to reset the relationship between Whitehall and town halls across the country. Alongside us, they’ve rightly levelled harsh criticism of Tory failures to deliver, particularly in relation to Levelling Up. The latest strikes and crises in the NHS and wider public sector highlights services under immense pressure, which continue to deliver due to the good will and commitment of staff despite perpetual under-resourcing.
Keir's speech in Hackney gave us a real sense of what the journey to ‘Taking Back Control’ might mean. A clear reset in the Labour’s first King's Speech with a bill to transfer power to citizens, communities and the Councils that represent them. It's a thoughtful and credible solution to the hollowing out of our communities and the powerlessness so many feel.
However, let's not pretend this will be easy. This bold approach will likely face opposition within the party, from Labour MPs and potential ministers, who've now spent years out of power and who as they enter Whitehall departments for the first time in a generation, will now be tasked with shrinking their departments and devolving their new found power to communities. It will also face entrenched civil service resistance not just from departments, but most crucially the Treasury who must be forced to let go of so many of their levers of power and control.
Although not yet confirmed, there are significant signs pointing towards (greater devolution): Ed Miliband’s Conference announcements on Climate Change, Rachel Reeves’s Green Prosperity Plan and being the first 'green chancellor', and Lisa Nandy's book rethinking the state - all the ingredients are now there for a bill with teeth. Demonstrating a Labour Government committed to something much bigger, tangible and impactful, than the wasteful competitive, lumpy, and uneven approach to investment and devolution the Tories have taken.
As we focus rightly on communities left behind, level up & deliver devolution, it can't be a levelling down of London, and the boroughs that surround Here East may well be closer to Whitehall than Carlisle, Plymouth or Newcastle, but they are still as remote from the powers they need to create truly fairer and greener local economies.Why does London and the UK’s cities still only have access to two regressive tax revenues - council tax and business rates.
So my shopping list for this bill is picking the big areas where Labour in power over the past decade of austerity has proved itself better in local government and Wales, than Westminster in delivering.
We need to harness local government’s record on skills, training and jobs, by finally breaking up DWP and DfE and giving the powers and funding associated with Job Centre Plus to councils, with more local investment in Further Education and a reset of apprenticeships funding. With this we could do so much more with the residents and businesses who we know, who trust us to deliver.
On schools, scrap the undemocratic structures of forced academisation and regional schools commissioners and reset the roles between schools, community and councils. Hackney already has some of the best schools, outcomes and high performing school improvement; don't break what is working and intervene only in education systems that really need central support.
On housing, communities shouldn't have to beg a distant secretary of state to licence landlords, ban Section 21 evictions, introduce rent control or even pause or reshape the right to buy. These decisions and powers can and should sit locally. On development, give councils access to right to buy receipts from day one, deliver proper local funding for social and council housing and let us get on with building the homes our communities so desperately need.
On climate, let's take the bold energy and ideas from Miliband and Reeves and use GB Energy to unlock community and municipal energy. Putting assists in the hands of the people, not private companies or a new wave of nationalised businesses, would create the buy-in for a just transition. Giving communities control and a stake in assists to shape their own energy future and create jobs and resilience across coastal, rural and urban areas.
From village halls, to seaside towns and urban estates solar, wind and energy networks could be built, maintained and owned by the people. Already there are tangible examples out there from coops to Stokey Energy, Hackney Community Energy Fund and Hackney Light and Power, with the Energy Bill in Parliament we can put some of the ideas forward now as well with cross party support deliver the sort of localism found in the Local Electricity Bill.
We should also push for devolution on taxation and including new powers to level a hotel or overnight tax. The latter is common across America and Europe, where Governments trust communities to make these decisions, and could create additional revenue common across the world to fund culture and local economic innovation. If this was in turn supported by a new business rates system grounded in the reality of local economies - councils would have a real toolkit to partner with business.
I could go on, but I'm not writing the bill and Labour aren't yet in government nor finalising the manifesto quite yet, but let's be clear and bold in every area of policy what permanently handing back control could really mean. For those worried about the risks and costs, let me reassure you it will be cheaper and more efficient, because while Whitehall has grown and become more remote, local councils have had to do more with less for every year since 2010. What we have never had though is control, with it we can deliver even more.
So let's build something as bold as the vision set out last week, something hopeful in contrast to the already stuttering relaunch of Sunak's already failing premiership. A bold new settlement that seeks to heal the wounds of Brexit, rejects utterly the lack of compassion and dog whistle culture wars at the soul of the postmodern Tory party and starts to really rebuild this country from the bottom up.
A real Labour reform of our broken political system which will make the decisions and debates in our communities count. A new constitutional settlement to unite not only the country, but all parts of the Labour Party and our movement - making us the natural party of government in every village hall, town hall, city hall, shire hall, assembly, and nation in the UK.
*I can also make Valentine’s Day Hackney restaurant recommendations if they are still making plans.
Showing posts with label Leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leadership. Show all posts
11 January, 2023
06 February, 2021
One year on, how is Keir supporting Labour to win in local government? (first appeared on Labour List)
It’s difficult to believe that it has only been one year since the last Labour local government conference and LabourList takeover.
One year ago, I wrote for LabourList on the four Labour leadership candidates as they set out their visions for localism and their relationship with us in local government. Many of us would have argued back then that local government was already the ‘fourth emergency service’, but little did we know just how important local public services would become to saving lives, not just improving them.
Councils throughout this year have stepped up to support their communities during this pandemic like never before. They have set up food delivery services, coordinated personal protective equipment for council and local care staff, helped improve coronavirus tracing efforts and housed thousands of rough sleepers off the streets and into safe accommodation.
So far, Keir has put words into action. He and his team have shown new leadership through an impressive level of engagement with local leaders and by backing us on the big issues of the pandemic. One of his first events was a call with local leaders from across the country, which was a refreshing direct engagement that we had not seen in recent years.
At the same time, in between set-piece events, the shadow cabinet has continued to engage and learn from us. Whether on schools, food, private sector contracts or test and trace, the issues and solutions of this pandemic have all involved or been led by local councils, and the shadow cabinet has listened at every step of the way, taking local evidence and insight directly into parliament.
Local councils pointed out the flaws in the tracing programme and pushed for local involvement. In Hackney, we ran a tracing pilot and pushed successful tracing rates from 70% to the SAGE-recommended over 80%. Councils across the country have helped improve successful tracing rates in their areas. And against the backdrop of dodgy government private sector contracts with Tory donors, shadow cabinet member Rachel Reeves has rightly been leading a campaign against more outsourcing, citing Labour councils as an example of transparency and best practice.
Councils have continued to resource efforts to keep their communities safe, including working with the NHS to support vaccination efforts in their areas. Shadow Community and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed and Keir have made council cuts and council tax rises a vital part of their campaign to see more support for families, which has rightly highlighted that there will be no end to austerity or tax rises without financial support for councils.
Where the Tories left a vacuum of leadership on education and schools, local councils have acted. It was local councils that raised the issue of school safety and opening during the second wave, and the shadow education team stood by us. And it was also Keir who advocated on behalf of councils’ radical solutions to increase sustainable and active travel like low-traffic neighbourhoods, when even Labour MPs often failed to lead.
Last year, Keir pledged to support more devolution to “set local government free” and we saw him deliver a major speech on devolution. But, like I said in my previous article for LabourList, Westminster and Whitehall can feel as remote to the needs of London’s boroughs as they can in Carlisle or Plymouth. Devolution is not just about geography or a useful narrative to stave off the SNP. Devolution is about power: it must be seen as a vital tool in empowering communities to rebuild a better country and rebalance our economy.
The structural and cultural change in the party that Keir has talked about is still needed. Councillors contribute over £2m to the party every year as well as a vital activist base, yet local government is only represented by two seats on the party’s national executive committee. The lack of a national conference has understandably halted any much-needed internal reforms. A lot has changed culturally with the Association of Labour Councillors (ALC) and Local Government Association (LGA) Labour group now much more front and centre, but as soon as conference is back on the timetable, reform must be back on Keir’s agenda.
Finally, we are in a critical election year. London mayoral and assembly, Senedd and Scottish parliament, county, district and police and crime commissioner elections will all take place this year. Commentators will talk about these elections as Keir’s first ‘test’ – as if local elections are purely a polling opportunity for the national party.
But Labour’s success in 2021 will not just come from Westminster. It will come from Labour cities and town halls across the country, on the ground and in our communities. Keir needs to pivot party resources to those efforts, and then listen to what works. Because making Britain the best place to grow up and the best place to grow old will only happen if Keir and our leadership keep engaging with the Labour councils that are leading the way.
After these elections, we must move swiftly to harness the innovation happening at a local level. We must see Keir, with his shadow team, using all our energy and experience to develop fresh national policies that we can take into government, rebuilding the social and economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic.
One year ago, I wrote for LabourList on the four Labour leadership candidates as they set out their visions for localism and their relationship with us in local government. Many of us would have argued back then that local government was already the ‘fourth emergency service’, but little did we know just how important local public services would become to saving lives, not just improving them.
Councils throughout this year have stepped up to support their communities during this pandemic like never before. They have set up food delivery services, coordinated personal protective equipment for council and local care staff, helped improve coronavirus tracing efforts and housed thousands of rough sleepers off the streets and into safe accommodation.
After a tumultuous year, which has tested both the new Labour leader and Labour local government, how has Keir lived up to his pledge to put us at Labour’s heart?
So far, Keir has put words into action. He and his team have shown new leadership through an impressive level of engagement with local leaders and by backing us on the big issues of the pandemic. One of his first events was a call with local leaders from across the country, which was a refreshing direct engagement that we had not seen in recent years.
At the same time, in between set-piece events, the shadow cabinet has continued to engage and learn from us. Whether on schools, food, private sector contracts or test and trace, the issues and solutions of this pandemic have all involved or been led by local councils, and the shadow cabinet has listened at every step of the way, taking local evidence and insight directly into parliament.
Local councils pointed out the flaws in the tracing programme and pushed for local involvement. In Hackney, we ran a tracing pilot and pushed successful tracing rates from 70% to the SAGE-recommended over 80%. Councils across the country have helped improve successful tracing rates in their areas. And against the backdrop of dodgy government private sector contracts with Tory donors, shadow cabinet member Rachel Reeves has rightly been leading a campaign against more outsourcing, citing Labour councils as an example of transparency and best practice.
Councils have continued to resource efforts to keep their communities safe, including working with the NHS to support vaccination efforts in their areas. Shadow Community and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed and Keir have made council cuts and council tax rises a vital part of their campaign to see more support for families, which has rightly highlighted that there will be no end to austerity or tax rises without financial support for councils.
Where the Tories left a vacuum of leadership on education and schools, local councils have acted. It was local councils that raised the issue of school safety and opening during the second wave, and the shadow education team stood by us. And it was also Keir who advocated on behalf of councils’ radical solutions to increase sustainable and active travel like low-traffic neighbourhoods, when even Labour MPs often failed to lead.
Last year, Keir pledged to support more devolution to “set local government free” and we saw him deliver a major speech on devolution. But, like I said in my previous article for LabourList, Westminster and Whitehall can feel as remote to the needs of London’s boroughs as they can in Carlisle or Plymouth. Devolution is not just about geography or a useful narrative to stave off the SNP. Devolution is about power: it must be seen as a vital tool in empowering communities to rebuild a better country and rebalance our economy.
The structural and cultural change in the party that Keir has talked about is still needed. Councillors contribute over £2m to the party every year as well as a vital activist base, yet local government is only represented by two seats on the party’s national executive committee. The lack of a national conference has understandably halted any much-needed internal reforms. A lot has changed culturally with the Association of Labour Councillors (ALC) and Local Government Association (LGA) Labour group now much more front and centre, but as soon as conference is back on the timetable, reform must be back on Keir’s agenda.
Finally, we are in a critical election year. London mayoral and assembly, Senedd and Scottish parliament, county, district and police and crime commissioner elections will all take place this year. Commentators will talk about these elections as Keir’s first ‘test’ – as if local elections are purely a polling opportunity for the national party.
But Labour’s success in 2021 will not just come from Westminster. It will come from Labour cities and town halls across the country, on the ground and in our communities. Keir needs to pivot party resources to those efforts, and then listen to what works. Because making Britain the best place to grow up and the best place to grow old will only happen if Keir and our leadership keep engaging with the Labour councils that are leading the way.
After these elections, we must move swiftly to harness the innovation happening at a local level. We must see Keir, with his shadow team, using all our energy and experience to develop fresh national policies that we can take into government, rebuilding the social and economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic.
(This article first appeared on Labour List and can still be found there: https://labourlist.org/2021/02/one-year-on-how-is-keir-supporting-labour-to-win-in-local-government/)
08 February, 2020
Our leadership candidates must set out a localist vision for Labour (first appeared on Labour List)
The Labour Local Government conference taking place in Nottingham today will hear from all four of the party leadership candidates at another hustings event. But this is a hustings with a difference. An audience of councillors and mayors from across the country is an audience with the party’s real campaigners-in-chief – if I do say so myself – with direct experience of the difficult doorstep conversations that were had last December. And even more crucially, a meeting with those representing Labour in power.
Many of us here have direct experience of delivering for our communities – in the Welsh government, regional authorities, and in local councils. We are implementing Labour’s values in our local areas, being collectively trusted with billions of pounds of public spending every year, and acting as the real ‘red wall’ between our communities and this Tory government.
In the build-up to the hustings this week, we have heard from all four candidates who have written in more detail about their approaches to working with local government colleagues. As a leader in local government who is undecided, I have been asked to share my thoughts and what I am hoping to hear this weekend.
When it comes to discussing the power of local government and devolution the candidates have, so far, been largely singing from the same hymn sheet. All candidates attribute Brexit to a feeling of lost power and place, and see devolution and more democracy as one of the answers.
We have heard from Keir Starmer this week who has called for a constitutional convention, devolving power from Westminster with an aim to “set local government free”. ‘Power away from Westminster’ is a well-worn metaphor but as others have said, Westminster and Whitehall can feel as remote to the needs of London’s boroughs as they can in Carlisle or Plymouth – so it isn’t just about geography, but also who has power.
Rebecca Long-Bailey puts this front and centre in her pitch this week, labelling the “over-centralised governance system” as a contributor to the “feeling of powerlessness and falling behind of local communities that the Brexit vote exposed”. Importantly, both her and Emily Thornberry make the link between community campaigning and local councillors as one of the solutions.
This valuable community role in the party, with councillors dedicating hours each week to casework and campaigning for our communities, is hardly recognised by current party structures. Labour councillors are the second largest contributor to the national party, raising £2m every year through the councillor levy. Yet central resources rarely trickle down to the frontlines of local government campaigning, nor is there meaningful involvement for us in forming national campaign strategies in local elections.
To repair this bridge between local groups and the national party, one point of Thornberry’s three-point plan includes a full time organiser for every Labour group in the country. This would make sure we get the share of the party resource that we contribute, and send a strong signal internally and externally that the national party is there to support Labour councillors, not to undermine them.
Lisa Nandy points out in her article the link between local and national results, highlighting the loss of Darlington Council last May followed by the loss of the parliamentary constituency six months later. Building on this, she calls for local government to be “empowered with a greater influence at every level of the party”.
Nandy specifically references the national executive committee (NEC) but stops short of making a specific suggestion to alter the party’s ruling body. Starmer makes more than just signals, specifically stating he would increase councillor representation on the NEC and deepen the relationship with shadow ministers. Nandy has gone further and offered a place in the shadow cabinet, a role in future leadership nominations and dismantling of local quangos.
But there have also been too many missed opportunities by all of the candidates so far to reference the radical policies that Labour are implementing in their local areas. Hustings have discussed nationalising industries, social care, social security, and the climate emergency without mentioning local authorities’ role in all of those issues.
The green industrial revolution was a highlight of the 2019 manifesto, so this week it was good to see Long-Bailey and Nandy highlight our role in tackling the climate emergency. The Local Government Association (LGA) has already done extensive work to show that the ambitions of Labour councils are being met with real action on the ground. But we need the Labour frontbench to shout about our work ─ from investing in renewable infrastructure to setting up publicly-owned, municipal energy companies.
Nandy highlighted an important point about the nationalisation debate that many of us in local government have been saying for years: why stop at nationalisation? Why create public structures that can be so easily torn-down by new Tory governments? Listen to the good work of Preston Council, highlighted by Starmer, who are disrupting private markets and building community wealth in their areas through co-operatives, social enterprise and council-owned public services and from him the cherished hope of greater fiscal independence.
What do we need more of today? A good start would be a clear recognition of a need for cultural shift in our party, so that we can bring about radical change to the country; clear promises to give more power to local government; and clearly pledging to endorse LGA Labour’s 10 pledges.
Once the wooing is over and the selection won, we must ensure that unlike so many past Labour leaders they don’t turn their back on Hackney, Halifax and Hartlepool, stop listening, infantilise local government in the party and develop only Whitehall-based solutions. I for one am looking forward to uniting behind a new localist vision of Labour.
(This article first appeared on Labour List and can still be found there: https://labourlist.org/2020/02/our-leadership-candidates-must-set-out-a-localist-vision-for-labour/)
Many of us here have direct experience of delivering for our communities – in the Welsh government, regional authorities, and in local councils. We are implementing Labour’s values in our local areas, being collectively trusted with billions of pounds of public spending every year, and acting as the real ‘red wall’ between our communities and this Tory government.
In the build-up to the hustings this week, we have heard from all four candidates who have written in more detail about their approaches to working with local government colleagues. As a leader in local government who is undecided, I have been asked to share my thoughts and what I am hoping to hear this weekend.
When it comes to discussing the power of local government and devolution the candidates have, so far, been largely singing from the same hymn sheet. All candidates attribute Brexit to a feeling of lost power and place, and see devolution and more democracy as one of the answers.
We have heard from Keir Starmer this week who has called for a constitutional convention, devolving power from Westminster with an aim to “set local government free”. ‘Power away from Westminster’ is a well-worn metaphor but as others have said, Westminster and Whitehall can feel as remote to the needs of London’s boroughs as they can in Carlisle or Plymouth – so it isn’t just about geography, but also who has power.
Rebecca Long-Bailey puts this front and centre in her pitch this week, labelling the “over-centralised governance system” as a contributor to the “feeling of powerlessness and falling behind of local communities that the Brexit vote exposed”. Importantly, both her and Emily Thornberry make the link between community campaigning and local councillors as one of the solutions.
This valuable community role in the party, with councillors dedicating hours each week to casework and campaigning for our communities, is hardly recognised by current party structures. Labour councillors are the second largest contributor to the national party, raising £2m every year through the councillor levy. Yet central resources rarely trickle down to the frontlines of local government campaigning, nor is there meaningful involvement for us in forming national campaign strategies in local elections.
To repair this bridge between local groups and the national party, one point of Thornberry’s three-point plan includes a full time organiser for every Labour group in the country. This would make sure we get the share of the party resource that we contribute, and send a strong signal internally and externally that the national party is there to support Labour councillors, not to undermine them.
Lisa Nandy points out in her article the link between local and national results, highlighting the loss of Darlington Council last May followed by the loss of the parliamentary constituency six months later. Building on this, she calls for local government to be “empowered with a greater influence at every level of the party”.
Nandy specifically references the national executive committee (NEC) but stops short of making a specific suggestion to alter the party’s ruling body. Starmer makes more than just signals, specifically stating he would increase councillor representation on the NEC and deepen the relationship with shadow ministers. Nandy has gone further and offered a place in the shadow cabinet, a role in future leadership nominations and dismantling of local quangos.
But there have also been too many missed opportunities by all of the candidates so far to reference the radical policies that Labour are implementing in their local areas. Hustings have discussed nationalising industries, social care, social security, and the climate emergency without mentioning local authorities’ role in all of those issues.
The green industrial revolution was a highlight of the 2019 manifesto, so this week it was good to see Long-Bailey and Nandy highlight our role in tackling the climate emergency. The Local Government Association (LGA) has already done extensive work to show that the ambitions of Labour councils are being met with real action on the ground. But we need the Labour frontbench to shout about our work ─ from investing in renewable infrastructure to setting up publicly-owned, municipal energy companies.
Nandy highlighted an important point about the nationalisation debate that many of us in local government have been saying for years: why stop at nationalisation? Why create public structures that can be so easily torn-down by new Tory governments? Listen to the good work of Preston Council, highlighted by Starmer, who are disrupting private markets and building community wealth in their areas through co-operatives, social enterprise and council-owned public services and from him the cherished hope of greater fiscal independence.
What do we need more of today? A good start would be a clear recognition of a need for cultural shift in our party, so that we can bring about radical change to the country; clear promises to give more power to local government; and clearly pledging to endorse LGA Labour’s 10 pledges.
Once the wooing is over and the selection won, we must ensure that unlike so many past Labour leaders they don’t turn their back on Hackney, Halifax and Hartlepool, stop listening, infantilise local government in the party and develop only Whitehall-based solutions. I for one am looking forward to uniting behind a new localist vision of Labour.
(This article first appeared on Labour List and can still be found there: https://labourlist.org/2020/02/our-leadership-candidates-must-set-out-a-localist-vision-for-labour/)
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