If we are to learn from the last Partnership in Power process, we need to review what we expect to get out of it. This requires a change in thinking from all sides and a commitment of involvement from government, constituencies, unions and individuals.
It also requires recognition that the Labour Party is in power and, as a result of that, the decision-making process needs to be outward looking, as well as inward. This is why the new process will consult widely during the first year with other bodies to encourage much closer links between the local policy forums and local communities. We all need to recognise that we need everyone in the party to contribute to the policy-making process, and we must understand that successful policy making involves wide political dialogue with all the communities with which, and within which, we work.
It will not be enough simply to react to current policies. The pace of decision-making in the NPF process must understand the pace of change in the government – otherwise members may feel disenfranchised from the whole process. That is why the new process must look at the medium to long term, recognising that looking at policies that are too far down the line to change will inevitably cause friction. The new process will enable members to look at future policies and consider the available options. It will create the environment for future policy decisions.
We also need to recognise that in policy making we are always faced with constraints. Choices have to be made, priorities set. These are our political decisions and everyone in the party must be mature enough to recognise and deal with this fact. The new phase of PiP will be have a more open and discursive style, setting out the challenges we face against the constraints that the government faces, whether they are budget or legislative-related or the state of public opinion.
If we are to draw lessons from the last process we must transform the level of feedback. Party members will not sign up to the process if they feel their views are being ignored. The whole point of the process is dialogue and this is a two-way street. If we are asking members to give up their valuable spare time, then they need to feel a sense of purpose and resolve. This can be partly covered by the changes I have described above but it cannot be achieved by that alone. With the development of e-communications, the party machinery is in a much better position to respond to the various submissions received. The new process will provide members with feedback, they will receive answers to their submissions and where submissions are unsuccessful, members will be told why this is the case.
We have to accept that making policy in government is much more difficult than in opposition and that the expectation that party and government can agree on everything is just not tenable. However, just because we may not agree on everything, that must not stop us from having the debate. We have come a long way over the past four years and whilst we would all acknowledge that the policy forum process had its cons, it has been a positive step forward. Our challenge now, and when I say ‘our’, I mean all constituent parts of the party, is to continue to develop the process so that it is seen as a hub of realistic and balanced policy and political debate which reaches both within, and beyond, the party.