Every local community is unique. Each and every one has a complex set of needs which can best be understood by people who work, live and maybe even have grown up in the place they represent, as I have in Stevenage. As councillors, this is what makes us unique. And this local knowledge is the starting point for the LGA’s latest campaign Investing in our nation’s future: the first 100 days of the next government.
In Stevenage, I’ve seen how locally led initiatives like our ‘No More’ project which tackles problems of anti-social behaviour often caused by the perpetrator’s use of alcohol or drugs have a much better chance of success. This is because the project works one to one with clients on a similar basis to the ‘Troubled Families’ programme. It has tackled the chaotic lifestyles of the clients, reduced their substance abuse and greatly improved life for their neighbours. In addition, the programme is generating savings across the public sector as the police, health services and council were incurring significant costs in dealing with this group.
We have also worked with Citizens’ Advice Bureau and our Stevenage Credit Union on a ‘Money, Money, Money’ project providing support and advice for those in debt and education programmes in our schools as well as campaigning against loan sharks and high-cost money lenders.
These programmes work because they deliver locally tailored solutions to our local problems.
‘100 days’ is going further, advocating a radical devolution of powers letting councillors raise funds locally and then spend that money in the best way for the local area.
That means letting councils keep 100 per cent of business rates growth without a corresponding cut in revenue support grant. It means allowing councils to set rates for council tax and business rates. And it means letting councils set fees, charges and subsidies according to the realities of their local area.
In short, ‘100 days’ proposes real flexibility, helping councillors be the local leaders our residents need through locally led, tailor-made, joined-up public services.
Our work on the Local Government Innovation Task Force clearly demonstrated that jobs and skills are an area where a local approach is essential. Real recovery can only happen where the local economy is properly reflected in skills and training and where local employers are involved in its design and delivery. Even in so-called ‘well-off’ areas like the south-east, the postcode lottery is alive and well. Travel just a few junctions south on the A1 from Stevenage within our county and the average yearly salary goes up by more than £20,000.
We need to make sure that local people get the same opportunities for skills and jobs – regardless of where they are from. That does not mean sending jobseekers on the same CV-writing course again and again. And it does not mean confusing young people with 35 different schemes to get them into work.
‘100 days’ recommends bringing together these fragmented employment schemes to stop people falling through the cracks. It also proposes establishing a locally led careers service. Job hunters in Stevenage, for example, need to know that in Hertfordshire only 540 people trained for jobs in the automotive industry, when there were more than 2,000 available. This local approach to jobs could reduce youth unemployment by half and long-term unemployment by a third.
If the next government commits to ‘100 days’ through real devolved power, community budgets and long-term planning, councils could save taxpayers £11bn. Genuine devolution should also involve a radical localism that empowers partners across the public sector to work together to deliver for and with their communities and devolves the funds to them to enable them to take action. Just as importantly, this would yield real results for residents in Hertfordshire and across the country. It would not only let councillors drive local growth and reduce unemployment, it would help people live independently in their own homes for longer and let councils build more than half a million homes during the next parliament.
I am looking forward to discussing this impressive, progressive and constructive vision for local government’s future at the upcoming Labour party conference!
———————————
Sharon Taylor is deputy chair of the Local Government Association, parliamentary candidate for Stevenage and leader of Stevenage borough council. She tweets @SharonStevenage