Why do tree surgeons need to be CRB checked?

In June 2010 the new Home Secretary Theresa May called for CRB checks to be "scaled back to common sense levels."

The good news is that the number of CRB checks undertaken by local councils on volunteers was down in 2010/11 compare to the previous year. It is now below a million. In 20010/101 it was 942,329. In 2009/10 it was 1,136,947. Given the time lag between guidance being changed (or clarified) and the difference working its way thorugh to the system it is reasonable to hope there will be a further reduction in th current year.

But the bad news, also covered in The Manifesto Club report, Vetting Tree Surgeons, is that many checks are still being carried out unnecessarily. This is a burden and insult to volunteers and a cost to Council Taxpayers of £45.2 million. For some councils the bill for CRB checks was £1 million each Hertfordshire (21,680 CRB checks), Essex (21,610) and Devon (20,095 checks).

Christina Dykes: Councillors deserve more help to become leaders of the Big Society and Localism

Christina Dykes is working on a report, Tomorrow’s Councillors, which is investigating how Big Society and localism is impacting on the role of councillors.

Two remarkable points about the Public Administration Select Committee’s recent report Big Society: One, it is concerned with implementation; Two, the term councillor is not mentioned in the main text.

A small forest has been chopped down to produce literature on the Big Society and its bedfellow localism. There has been comparatively little concentration on the part that local government plays in the implementation of Big Society and localism.

Although the Government will need many different implementation methods if it wants to ensure that Big Society succeeds, the involvement of councillors is fundamental.  Councillors have a legitimate vox publicus through being elected. They also overwhelmingly live and work within their neighbourhoods. Crucially they hold local purse-strings and historically they have been the arbiter of who get what in local services.

Many councillors can already argue with justification that community leadership is in their DNA.   The problem is that the sort of community leadership that they have come to practise is essentially paternal.  Councillors have been schooled into thinking they are the community voice.  Now, there is an expectation that communities will be their own voice and for councillors to help them make it happen.   It is a change from controlling and distributing money and to one of enabling, brokering, facilitating and arbitrating.  If communities are to have a greater determining role, then elected officers and their officials have to change their way of operating.  It is a profound change in the relationship between elected and elector and it will not happen overnight.

In organisational theory profound change requires a ‘change management programme’ to be agreed and enacted systematically.  There is no time, perhaps no understanding and apparently no will for such niceties and so councillors are left to deliver change on a wing and a prayer.

EU rules thwarting charities from bidding to run council services

Another day. Another reason to leave the EU. The Public Administration Select Committee report on the Big Society. By applying the EU Public Contracts Regulations (2006) councils cause small local charities to give up in despair at putting in a tender to run services. The cost of bidding is prohibitive.

The report says:

We welcome the Minister for the Cabinet Office’s recent announcement on the Government’s intention to re-negotiate EU procurement regulations. We look forward to the Government setting out what changes they are seeking, why they are sought and the timescale for implementation of the changes. We also recommend that the Government set out detailed plans to revise procurement guidance under the existing regulations.

The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action claim that the EU rules are being gold plated by councils. They say there is an exemption for ‘Part B services’ such as “social services of general interest” which covers some of the public services carried out by voluntary groups. Yet the Office of Government Commerce’s EU Procurement Guidance—Introduction to the EU procurement rules "neither set out clearly the exemptions nor explains in practical terms what this means for local authorities."

Maybe council lawyers are being risk averse, maybe it will be possible to negotiate some concessions or exemptions or guidance to make the rules less onerous. But then you read on in the report and see the EU is causing more problems.

Trade unions launch campaign to defend Council employed Youth Workers

In a post a couple of years ago on 100 ways to cut Council Tax without cutting key services, numbers 86 and 87 read:

86. Youth Clubs and Youth Centres. These should not be run by the Council: they are typically pretty drab, dreary institutions when they are. Some of the money saved by closing them could go in higher grants to charitable and church groups which run youth groups, or partnership arrangements with the private sector or groups like the Prince's Trust who provide facilities for the young.

87. Cease employing Youth Workers. Activities such as Youth Forums and Youth Parliaments are generally pretty meaningless and low in numbers participating. Instead look at initiatives that don't really cost money. Hosting school debating competitions at the Town Hall for instance - which can also provide a positive opportunity for children from LEA and independent schools to mix. These can be organised by the schools themselves without employment of Youth Workers.

So I am pleased that local authorities are pursuing value for money with greater rigour in this area.

But the trade unions are not pleased. They have launched a campaign with lots of graffiti-style typography. It presents itself as championing the Big Society and volunteering. This is thoroughly disingenuous. It is championing the vested interests of bureaucracy and the Big State. Their manifesto offers the example of Lambeth. But that is where the Labour Council is very sensibly decommissioning the youth service to free up funding for the voluntary sector.

Povey stands down as Surrey Council leader

Cllr Andrew Povey is standing down as leader of Surrey County Council to develop his business interests. One issue is a personality clash with Cllr David Hodge who resigned as Deputy Leader a few days ago.

I have had some criticisms of Cllr Povey as well as some praise. I obviously wish him ever success for the future.

Cllr Hodge is now expected to stand for the leadership and would be the front runner. He is strong advocate  of value for money and might well review the unpopular Council policy of increasing car parking charges.

The most interesting policy that Surrey has been pursing recently is on libraries. Rather than closing them they are pursing the Big Society alternative of finding volunteers to take them over and this should become a reality in a few months time. I expect it will not just save money but result in an improved service. Resources will be allocated to books or computers according to what is needed. Most of all there will be improved opening hours - with the libraries open more on Saturdays and in the evenings when people actually want to use them.

I gather Cllr Hodge has had a lot to do with the initiative on libraries and he could well find the policy copied by other councils.

Four councils to pilot Social Impact Bonds

I am pleased that my own council of Hammersmith of Fulham is to be a pilot for the Social Impact Bonds - along with Westminster, Leicestershire and Birmingham.

With these Bonds, people are able to invest in social projects and be paid a return from the taxpayer if the projects are successful.

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of H&F Council, says:

"The social impact bond is a really exciting idea that is in tune with Hammersmith & Fulham Council's belief in the hand up rather than the hand out. We need real innovation if we are to address the entrenched culture of entitlement and dependency amongst our most chaotic and troubled families."

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society has launched the programme and it is estimated up to £40 million could be raised by the four pilots. If they work the potential nationally is huge. It is estimated that the public service bill for the 46,000 most deprived families is over £4billion a year, almost £100,000 per family. Often these families suffer from multiple problems such as addiction, abuse and a lack of education. Services currently tend to focus on a single problem of a single person.

The Big Society in Barnet

Cllr Andrew Harper, the Deputy Leader of Barnet Council, gave the following speech to this week's Reform conference

Let me begin with some context.  Barnet is London’s biggest borough – our population is rising 350,000; we are one of the largest unitary authorities in the country; our revenue budget for this year is £904m – we are a big business.

In Barnet, we have been talking for some time about how we open up our services to greater localism, greater resident involvement.

There are two key reasons for this.

Firstly social – we feel the balance of social responsibility has swung too far in the direction of the state – many of us in Barnet quote a headline in one of our local papers about changes in support for residents in sheltered housing: “The neighbours forced to care”, it read. The article went on to say that outraged residents complained that they were now checking on their elderly neighbours each day to make sure they were OK.  What can I say but “Good”. I think it is worrying that our society has ever felt that caring can simply be a fiscal action – and that it can be delegated in its entirety to the state.

Community Right to Buy could help save pubs

The Government's Localism Bill, which aims to take power from the centre and give it directly to communities, will enable people to have a much greater say on what happens in their area.

Councils hammer scouts

The Scout Association (TSA) revealed today that thousands of Scout Groups across the UK are being subjected to enormous rent increases by local councils threatening the future of the Movement and the voluntary work it does in communities. In response to this unfair “tax”, TSA is today launching a campaign
urging councils to take a stand to protect local Scouting, by setting fair and affordable rates for Scouts in their area.   The campaign is called “Don’t Raise Our Rents!’.

Traditionally, councils have only charged nominal rents for the land on which Scout buildings are based, or for the use of local authority buildings by Scout Groups. This has been in recognition of the important role that Scouts play in communities. However, many rents are set to spiral in 2011 as local authorities seek new ways of raising revenue in the tougher financial climate.

In total, at least 2,000 Groups are vulnerable to rent increases with many warning that they will have to reduce outdoor activities, increase subscriptions for parents or even close as a result. This is already affecting different groups in different ways. The 4th Worth Scout Group in West Sussex has been notified of a 29,900% rent rise, while the 12th Morley Group may close by late Spring because of a near £6,500 increase in its rent bill in 2011.

Glyn Gaskarth: Honouring the armed services

Glyn Gaskarth says local authorities need to make public spending cuts but we must still provide for our armed forces community.

The Local Government Information Unit and the Royal British Legion, in our new publication Honouring the Armed Service Community have developed twelve painless steps  councils can take to provide real help for this community which has given so much for our country.

First, local authorities should know how many veterans; reservists and armed forces personnel there are in their area and what public services they are accessing. We can then begin to identify any gaps or areas where we need to improve our services. North Yorkshire County Council has mapped locally based MOD employees as part of an exercise to assess their contribution to the local economy. Twelve north eastern English local authority health scrutiny chairs are undertaking a scrutiny review of the physical and mental health of veterans and their transition to civilian life.

Second, involving representatives of the Armed Forces community on Local Strategic Partnership or Local Economic Partnership Boards should ensure their concerns are raised when designing public services. This could prevent any serious omissions and help them to be rectified, early on, where they currently exist. Leicestershire County Council operates an All-Party Working Group on support to the Armed Forces. North Yorkshire Military Civil Integration Project is run by the MOD to ensure service families receive “the same quality and accessibility of services and opportunity as their neighbours in the civil community.”

Third, councils can assume a voluntary duty to consider the needs of veterans in designing and delivering health, housing and education services in their community. This need not need be imposed by central government. It can be designed in cooperation with an organisation such as the Royal British Legion. This charitable body could assess the practices in different authorities and award a quality mark to high performing councils.