The challenges Labour in local government has faced in recent years mirror those the next Labour government would have to deal with from day one. Being in power requires hard choices. To govern in these times is to walk the narrow path between reducing resources and rising demands. Advancing social justice in these circumstances requires creativity and innovation.
This is exactly what Labour in local government has been demonstrating day in, day out: across the country our councillors have been working relentlessly to deliver for their residents. It is right that our hard work should inform the party’s policy nationally. The innovations led by Labour councils demonstrate how our values can be put into practice, even in a harsh financial climate.
This is why the Final Report of the Local Government Innovation Taskforce is the most significant piece of policy development to date. It is right that the learning from Labour locally should inform and inspire Labour’s national policy. Deeper than that, it should renew our whole purpose as a party. Our colleagues in Westminster can confidently turn their backs on big central state machinery, which was always a pretty blunt instrument.
Instead they can trust local communities and people to take on power and responsibility for their own destinies. Local capacity, energy and dynamism can be built on, not bypassed by services, to add more value. The Taskforce’s package of proposals strikes the right balance – more power and resources devolved in return for greater local accountability and responsibility for outcomes. As locally elected politicians we are accountable to our residents, not Whitehall bureaucrats advocating prescribed priorities.
The reforms proposed lead us in an important direction: towards truly independent local government. This is one I intend to continue. Instead of different ‘tiers’ of local government and the hierarchy that implies, we must operate in terms of ‘spheres’ of governance – different but equal, with clearly defined, separate roles. For true partnership between the centre and localities local government’s independence must be enshrined in law. In other western democracies this is not a radical proposal, it is the norm. Westminster needs to catch up.
There should not be a one-size-fits-all model and that will be a challenge. What works in Manchester might not be right for Stevenage or Blackpool and we must always keep in the front of our minds why the case for devolution is so strong: because at a local level councils are finding the best solutions for local circumstances. To tie those innovators up in structures makes little sense.
We now have an important window of opportunity to influence the next Labour government’s manifesto. Labour local government reps will work with delegates at the National Policy Forum to embed the proposals as policy. We will continue to work with our partners in the parliamentary Labour party, the unions and the wider membership and movement to build a coalition for devolution.
There is urgency for radical reform. But we have momentum and an overwhelming case for change on our side. This is not a theoretical exercise but a comprehensive programme for governance. Labour local government will continue to do radical policy development and pioneer new approaches. I look forward to leading Labour local government as we enter this new era of partnership and respect with national colleagues, for the benefit of the country as a whole.
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Jim McMahon is leader of Oldham council and leader of the LGA Labour Group. he tweets @CllrJimMcMahon
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