Further progress for the cause of transparency and accountability. Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis has announced new rules to increase town hall transparency by producing guidance requiring councillors to register trade union affiliations and dealings. This is intended to avoid conflicts of interest when councils consider issues directly affecting trade unions, such as reviews of taxpayer-funded subsidies given to trade unions.
Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said:
"For too long residents have been kept in the dark about what union affiliations their councillors hold. All councillors should disclose all their personal and financial interests on a public register, including registering union interests. Given the public debate about ‘facility time’ and ‘pilgrims’ in local government, it’s vital that conflicts of interest are avoided. These transparency reforms will give local people the confidence that their councillors are putting residents’ interests before their own.
"The new guidance builds on existing transparency measures introduced as part of the Localism Act and is part of the new arrangements for local authority standards that replaced the bureaucratic and controversial Standards Board regime, abolished in 2012, which ministers believe had become a vehicle for malicious, petty and politically motivated complaints."
Councillors in the pay of trade unions should not participate in votes deciding whether or not trade unions should be in the pay of councils.
Canterbury City - Seasalter:
Ukip 644, C 522, Lab 307, Lib Dem 147, Green 54. (May 2011 - Three seats C 1681, 1610, 1538, Lab 773, 707, 698, Lib Dem 353, 292, 275. May 2 2013 by-election - C 789, Ukip 706, Lab 427, Lib Dem 93, Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts 41).
Ukip gain from C. Swing 10.2 per cent C to Lab.
Dudley Borough - Coseley East:
Lab 1053, Ukip 478, C 190, BNP 120, Green 33, National Front 16 . (May 2012 - Lab 1366, C 468, Ukip 430, National Front 177, Green 71).
Lab hold. Swing 3.4 per cent Lab to Ukip.
East Hampshire District - Four Marks and Medstead:
C 749, Ukip 348, Lab 119, Green 73. (May 2011 - Two seats C 1729, 1703, Lib Dem 682, Lab 228, 184).
C hold.Swing 4.5 per cent C to Lab.
Oxford City - North:
Lab 367, Lib Dem 330, Green 262, C 100. (May 2012 - Lab 516, Green 385, Lib Dem 353, C 291).
Lab gain from Lib Dem. Swing 3.5 per cent Lab to Lib Dem.
Woking Borough - Maybury and Sheerwater:
C 1057, Lab 833, Ukip 255, Lib Dem 252. (May 2012 - Lib Dem 1088, Lab 1072, C 685, Ukip 345).
C gain from Lib Dem. Swing 23.1 per cent Lib Dem to C.
The Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles gave a speech recently on Britishness.
Mr Pickles noted that the challenges to British values come from different places:
"Here in Britain tolerance, decency and respect for others are embedded deep within our psyche. Our warmth and hospitality, our willingness to welcome other views and embrace other ways of life are what has made Britain a beacon of hope around the world. Now a few voices from the fringes try and challenge those values:
Each in their own way attempting to corrode and destroy from within with lies, aggression and violence.
These purveyors of hatred are anti-British.
A powerful theme. These extremists do feed off each other. Mr Pickles added:
After the horrific murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich - a young man in the prime of life wearing a ‘Help for Heroes’ t-shirt - Muslim communities were united in revulsion and shouted the loudest of all of us to say not in my name.
In the wake of this senseless death there were a number of attacks on mosques, but still the community was resilient. Still they refused to be cowed or put in the corner - instead they said firmly: we will open our doors, we will welcome in our neighbours and we will work with our community to build a better nation.
We saw that in York where the Muslim community responded to EDL provocation as any Yorkshireman would do - with a cup of tea.
Showing compassion and courage and generosity - a very English gesture and an act of pure genius.
Meeting hatred and anger with friendship - completely defusing the situation.
What a gesture of sincerity, which did so much more good than the self indulgent and pompous posturing of groups like the UAF who are more interested in stirring up further trouble than in actually solving problems.
"the self indulgent and pompous posturing of groups like the UAF who are more interested in stirring up further trouble than in actually solving problems."
The DCLG are supporting the work of Youth United - a group which encourages young people from all communities to join groups like the cadets.
Expressing the case in human terms rather than jargon is welcome. Attacking multiculturalism has been misinterpreted. I was pleased that Mr Pickles avoided it. Debating these concepts can often cause more confusion than enlightenment. The most important way of breaking down barriers in our society is that those settled here are all able to speak English. This is one of the many issues that Mr Pickles is dealing with.
The TUC funded group False Economy has discovered that the cut in spare room subsidy has caused an increase in rent arrears. This is unfortunate but not surprising. The change will be difficult in the short term while the tenants affected make adjustments in their arrangements. Whether taking in a lodger, getting a job, or moving to a smaller property, there will be a period of time before matters are sorted out.
Of course many started planning before April when the changes came in but it is human nature that others delay making changes as long as possible. It is right to offer transitional help.
Labour seems to have shifted towards calling for the spare room subsidy to be restored. The Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne says: "This is the final proof, as if we needed it, that the hated tax must be dropped and dropped now."
I suppose at the next election Labour could say: "Yes we did want it dropped in 2013 but it is now 2015 and so it should be kept - the time to drop it has passed." I think that would be a difficult message. Probably we have that rare sighting: a Labour policy.
So how would Labour pay for reinstatement of the spare room subsidy? The Government modestly estimated that it would save about £540 million a year. That assumes that 660,000 households stay where they are, don't change their behaviour, but simply find the extra £15 a week in rent (on average) by cutting their spending on other things.
Yet in reality many will change their arrangements. Those who swap with a family in overcrowded conditions won't cause a saving in Housing Benefit (although, of course, such a change is greatly to be welcomed by all fair minded people.) On the other hand, those who take a job as a result of the change and come off benefits altogether save the taxpayer much more.
Some figures I have seen from Barnet Council suggest the impact of the policy in causing people to switch from welfare to work has already been very significant. On the National Housing Federation's estimate there are 2,000 households in that borough affected. Barnet Council tells me that "the number of cases that were affected by the under occupancy charge as at 01 April 13 and who are not now in receipt of Housing Benefit is 228 cases."
It is reasonable to say that there would have been some fall anyway. Unemployment generally has fallen in Barnet since April. But at less than half that rate. It is also true that some of those on Housing Benefit will have been on part time work and will have increased the numbers of hours. However, it is also reasonable to believe that more of the 2,000 affected were prompted to seek work as a result of this change, than otherwise might have done so.
If only 10 per cent of the overall 660,000 households affected have someone who switches into work as a result of this change, then the savings for the taxpayer become much greater than the £540 million estimated. Housing Benefit averages around £75 a week, JSA is another £71.70 a week. If 66,000 people are off these benefits then the taxpayer saves another half billion or so. Then there is the tax revenue that is being paid as a result of them working.
It's early days. It's only Barnet. Perhaps the figure will end up being below 10 per cent nationally - I suspect it will be higher.
The difficulty for Mr Byrne is that by the time of the 2015 General Election it will be much clearer. By then we will be better able to estimate just how effective the spare room subsidy cut has been in rewarding work and thus providing a saving for the taxpayer.
Mr Byrne has said "there is no money". So where would the extra billion come from? Also why spend a billion pounds to restore an arrangement which meant more families in overcrowded conditions and more under-occupiers better off on welfare than work?
Cllr David Millican, the Conservative opposition leader on Ealing Council, says something is rotten in his borough
Anyone looking for evidence of the incestuous and murky nature of politics need only look at Ealing Council’s Labour Group.
Recently, the Labour Leader of the Council, Cllr Julian Bell, arranged for the director responsible for planning and other senior planning officers to meet Dr Onkar Sahota, Ealing's Labour London Assembly member, on site to discuss Dr Sahota’s very contentious planning application.
The Leader even continued to add to the grandeur of the event by attending the site meeting as well.
This gold plated service is of not available to ordinary members of the public. In fact, ordinary members of the public find it hard to get through to the Planning Department, whose phones are permanently set to voicemail.
On top of the above, the Ealing Council Labour Leader, Cllr Bell also works for the local Ealing Southall MP and former Ealing Councillor, Virendra Sharma, for two days a week as his researcher at Westminster. So when you meet Cllr Bell, you don’t know whether you are talking to him or the MP. And when you talk to the MP you don’t know whether you are talking to him or the Council Leader.
Such is the level of farce that Cllr Bell was recently forced to open a new £2.5 million car park in Southall, even though publically admitting it was in the wrong place and declaring that the Council was on its knees financially. Such is the influence of the Southall Councillors.
The residents of Ealing deserve better from their publicly elected officials.
Quietly UKIP are losing councillors who are resigning, being suspended or defecting.
Cllr Dave Whittingham of Fareham Borough Council has returned to the fold as a Conservative - after a spell as an independent and then a UKIP councillor. Welcome back.
Brian Hawes, who was a UKIP town councillor in Haverhill in Suffolk has resigned after saying: "We don't give leaflets to black people."
Lincolnshire county councillor Cllr Chris Pain, who was the UKIP group leader has been suspended from the party. He has some dispute with the UKIP national chairman Steve Crowther the details of which have not been disclosed.
They have had some seats they gained in May already lost in byelections. Eric Kitson resigned as UKIP councillor in Worcestershire after making anti semitic posts on his Facebook page. UKIP lost the byelection to an Independent and Health Concern candidate. In Norfolk Labour gained a byelection from UKIP in Norfolk when a UKIP councillor resigned after admitting to shop lifting.
To be fair these difficulties should be seen in context. UKIP gained 139 seats in May - the large majority remain in place. They make net gains in defections and byelections. Where one of their councillors makes a blatantly racist comment they generally get the message that they are expected to stand down.
Yet it is reasonable to reflect that a Party appealing to malcontents will reap what it sows.
David Skelton is the Director of Renewal, a campaign organisation aiming to broaden the appeal of the Conservative Party. Follow David on Twitter.
Devolving power further needs to be at the core of a future Conservative offering. And cities need to be at the core of this new wave of devolution. ‘Trusting the people’ and empowering cities will be a fundamental element to balanced economic growth and urban revival over the next few decades. A devolution of power to cities must be a fundamental part of the Tory agenda for the next decade.
Most of the high growth during the Blair years benefited only the South East of England and failed to reach the low-paid. Although economic growth was over 11 per cent between 2003 and 2008, real incomes actually stagnated and the North-South divide widened. That can’t be allowed to happen again and empowering our cities is a real way of delivering economic growth that benefits everybody.
Edward Glaeser, in his superb ‘Triumph of the City’ has set out why the city will be at the core of economic growth in a globalised economy. And the more autonomy and power a city has, the more likely it is to pull in talent and investment and to become a thriving centre of regional economic growth. The Government’s ‘City Deals’ represent a great start to making that happen and they provide a real platform to Government should be ready to devolve powers over planning and welfare to work to cities, in a way that will give our great cities the ability to innovate and promote job creation.
The role of central Government should be to ensure that our cities have the right transport and digital infrastructure to be able to flourish. Devolving powers over welfare conditionality would enable cities to take active steps to help people back into work. Cities should follow the example of Preston, which was the third fastest growing city in the UK between 1998 and 2008 because it was able to adopt a much more liberal planning policy, meaning that businesses were much more likely to invest there.
If cities in the North and Midlands did adopt a more liberal planning policy, it would stand in stark contrast to parts of the South who seem completely resistant to further development. Allowing cities to expand, so that good quality homes could be provided within easy reach of all the amenities of a big city could tempt workers and companies sick of the cramped South East to relocate to the North or Midlands.
It's also clear that the most successful cities globally are those with strong leadership figures who can represent the city both nationally and internationally. Despite badly mishandling the referenda for directly elected mayors, the Tories should again make the case for an elected Mayor with proper powers,
Over the next few years, Conservatives should look to be even more ambitious in devolving real powers to cities. If Government is ready to give up real powers to our cities, then these cities will be culturally vibrant centres of renewed economic growth.
This piece appears as part of a collection of essays on the future of local government collated by the New Local Government Network.
After a split in the Labour Party the Conservatives have now formed a minority administration on Harrow Council. Congratulation to Cllr Susan Hall, the new Conservative leader and the first woman leader in the history of the authority.
Cllr Hall was elected the new Leader last night by 31 votes to 24 after a number of Independent Labour councillors abstained or voted for her.
It will certainly be a challenge to achieve tangible results between now and the elections in May. However Cllr Hall and her team are capable and determined and well aware of the need to apply strong Conservative principles to achieve better value for money for local residents.
Cllr Hall says:
“We are obviously delighted with the result of the vote, and I’d like to thank each and every councillor who voted for me. It is an honour and a privilege to become Leader of Harrow Council, and my colleagues and I are looking forward to getting to work straight away.
"We know that the task facing us is daunting, and that the Council faces many challenges. But as I said at the Council meeting, our priority will be to make Harrow cleaner, safer and fairer – and we hope to enshrine these principles into everything the Council does. We want a Council which does what our residents want, which looks out for them, and which is on their side.
"In the coming days I will be appointing a Cabinet, and focusing on problem areas where we need to take action straight away – such as the appalling cuts Labour made to public realm services. The budget process for 2014-15 is also just getting underway, so we will be turning our attention to that. It’s an exciting time, but we are very much aware of the challenges which confront us.”
Excellent news.
The Department for Communities and Local Government are pressing ahead with changes that will end the "check off" system - this is the arrangement where instead of trade unions collecting their own subs the Government does it for them via the payroll system. The Public and Commercial Services Union, led by their Trotskyist General Secretary Mark Serwotka, challenged the plan and won on a technicality involving the staff handbook terms agreed by the last Labour Government which will now be changed.
The Mirror has triumphantly reported that the legal action would cost taxpayers £90,000. However they did not report that the PCS still owes the Government money - due a larger unpaid bill from two years ago for costs awarded to the Government after PCS's failed judicial review of the Civil Service Compensation scheme reforms.
There is also good progress being made on cutting "facility time staffing costs" - this is the scandal where staff are paid by the taxpayer by spend their time working as union officials, the "Pilgrims." The saving for the DCLG and it's various agencies will come to £400,000 a year as these posts are phased out.
Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis says:Ministers in this Department believe that the current subsidies and support given to the trade unions by the public sector are poor value for money and represent an unhealthy relationship between the state and voluntary sector.
Trade union activities and campaigning in local government, and indeed our Department, should be funded by members' subscriptions, not bankrolled by the taxpayer. Greater freedom from state dependency will help ensure that trade union bosses better reflect and respond to the wishes and views of the grassroots members who pay the bill.
On the "check off" arrangement Mr Lewis adds:
Ministers in this Department do not believe it is appropriate for public resources to be used to support the collection and administration of membership subscriptions and believe is an outdated and unnecessary 20th Century practice. It is also unsatisfactory that trade unions like PCS collect the political levy via check-off, but make no attempt to inform would-be members that the political levy is optional or even mention the right to opt out on their membership forms. It is the view of Ministers in this Department that this is a misleading and dubious marketing practice through omission.
The PCS is a union who memebership has been falling by around 10 per cent a year. Why should the taxpayer bail them out? Mr Serwotka has "pay package" of £125,000 a year and lives in a detached house in Surrey from where he wages a class war - although he is unclear about whether he still supports George Galloway's Respect party. Given the sectarianism of these Trotskyists sects it is hard to keep track.
What is clear is that our taxes should not be going into the coffers of Mr Serwotka's outfit. Mr Pickles is right to be putting a stop to it and other Government Departments should do the same.
UPDATE
Mr Serwotka's spin doctor Richard Simcox has been in touch. He says the PCS have offered a "settlement" for the money they owe the DCLG but he won't say how much. Shouldn't it be the full costs? At any rate I am assured the sum is in excess of £100,000 and so the PCS owes the Government money not the other way around.
Mr Simcox adds:
You could decide that it is in the interests of honesty and openness to clarify that our "larger unpaid bill from two years ago" is not yet settled because the government didn't indicate until June this year that it wanted to recover the costs, and that we have made a formal offer that is currently sitting with the Treasury Solicitors. Not to do so, we argue, leaves your readers thinking the government chased us for the costs two years ago and we have refused to pay. Which is clearly inaccurate.
A good point. How many other government departments are pathetically slow to chase up money they owed by trade unions mounting failed legal challenges? Perhaps the Taxpayer's Alliance should do one of their Freedom of Information efforts to find out.
John Bald writes in praise of...Fiona Millar
Hats off to Elizabeth Truss for her riposte to the collection of early years specialists, academics and pundits who have tried yet again to persuade us that the root cause of educational failure is too early a start to school.
As Ms Truss points out, the seeds of educational failure for poor children are sown early, and the later education starts, the more they will lose out. One of the ironies of the letter is that so many signatories are connected with the Montessori movement, whose key idea is to create a highly-structured environment that builds an educational outcome into whatever a child chooses to do.
Play it may be, but it is play on adult terms, and could not be further removed from the neglect that seals the fate of too many children before they have started school. Montessori, moreover, was an early and effective advocate of phonics as a means of teaching reading, and English Montessori schools were active in the phonics revival of the early nineties. Maria Montessori would probably have had more in common with the government than with its critics.
Scarcely less praise is due to the government's arch-critic Fiona Millar, for her admission in The Guardian that cheating at GCSE is sufficiently widespread to need urgent action. No system will be perfect, she says, but integrity seems to drain out of the current one on a daily basis and something radical is needed now.There is a real problem in this situation for those who have uncritical faith in headteachers. The evidence from whistleblowers is that the pressure to inflate coursework grades is coming from heads - according to Ms Millar, unsurprisingly, from Academy heads - who are placing teachers in an impossible position.
The conflict of interest when schools are made judge in their own cause has simply become too great and Michael Gove is right to put a stop to it - I hope sooner, rather than in Ofqual's good time.
The sympathy I had for headteacher Jonny Mitchell (Educating Yorkshire, C4, Thurs) vanished this week when he excluded a pupil, as the boy's friends said, "for being bullied." The boy, like other "Swats and Geeks" (Mr Mitchell's words) was subjected to constant abuse from pupils who did not share his commitment to doing well at school, and would lash out at his tormentors when it became too much
to take.
Mr Mitchell acknowledged the problem, and said he was dealing with it. However, he was not doing so in a way that prevented it and gave a hardworking pupil the protection to which he was entitled.
Instead, the boy is given anger management counselling in order to make him tolerate the intolerable to the extent that he accepts the justice of his fate. Mr Mitchell's description of his school as "a nurturing environment" begs the question of exactly what he is nurturing.
We had a clue in the final comments of Georgia, who had run through the school's range of carrots and sticks to the extent that, like the boy in the final episode of Educating Essex. she was not allowed to attend the school's final prom. "I wish I could start again," she says, "but I can't." In the end, tolerating her anti-social and anti-educational attitudes has not only made life a misery for other pupils, but left her in the lurch herself.
Mr Mitchell's failure to stamp out negative attitudes as soon as they come through the school gate leaves him with no option but to take action at the very end of the girl's school career, when it hurts her the most and when it is too late for it to do her any good. The issue is at the heart of the conflict between Sir Michael Wilshaw and his fellow headteachers, and shows exactly why he must be supported. Somehow, Georgia has managed to "pass" no fewer than thirteen GCSEs.