David Blunkett wonders why the Coalition's cuts aren't being met by "revolutionary fervour". Perhaps because he is misrepresenting them...?

By Tim Montgomerie
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In yesterday's Guardian newspaper Mr Blunkett launched a strong attack on Eric Pickles' cuts to local government yesterday, arguing that the poor were being hit hardest.

Here are replies to some of his central claims, using public information sources and advice from inside DCLG.

David Blunkett: "Councils are reaching the point where they will only be able to carry out their most basic statutory duties."

We all know that times are tough but according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy funding is actually only back to 2008 levels. The budget squeeze isn't easy but it is forcing local government to innovate (which the Coalition has given it unprecendented freedoms to do so) and also merge functions with other councils or public sector institutions. This, the FT has reported, is accelerating. Eric Pickles recently suggested fifty more ways of saving money to local authorities.

DB: "The prime minister's local authority of West Oxfordshire, one of the least deprived in the country, is losing £34 per head, while Hackney – the most deprived borough – is facing a massive cut of £266 per head."

This is very selective from Mr Blunkett. First of all his numbers lack context. Hackney's revenue spending from April will be £3,851 per dwelling compared to £1,871 per dwelling in West Oxfordshire. More significantly Hackney’s change in revenue spending of just -0.9% in 2013-14 is less bad than the English-wide average of -1.7%.

DB: "The 50 councils worst affected by government cuts will face a reduction of £160 per head on average, despite the fact that about a third of their children already live in poverty."

At this point I'll deploy this killer quote from the House of Commons Library (my emphasis): "‘For each of the expenditure/funding measures the more deprived areas generally receive higher per dwelling allocations than less deprived areas. % reductions are generally smaller for the most deprived and larger for the less deprived areas." In other words the cuts are falling hardest in percentage terms on Tory-voting areas - while during the Labour years those same Tory and rural areas saw their budgets grow less fast.

DB: "‘Local people (because it's not the councils that are taking the cut, but the services provided) are facing reductions far in excess of central government departments."

Because the NHS, schools and other central government budgets are protected then some parts of local government will be cut most but is David Blunkett really wanting hospitals to be cut too? Overall it's too early to judge his general claim. Rightly or wrongly local authority cuts were deliberately frontloaded and many central government cuts are backloaded. Mr Pickles' DCLG is due to make bigger cuts in its own Whitehall budget (of 44% by 2014/15) than it is asking of local authorities.

Mr Blunkett ends provocatively and rather mournfully with this question: "So why isn't there the revolutionary fervour that there was back in the 1980s?"

I'd suggest two answers to Comrade Blunkett's question. First, reasonable voters won't fall for his distortion of what is happening and second, they realise that you can't go on borrowing £1 for every £4 you spend. That way we end up as an impoverished, bankrupt nation - and then we're talking of territory that really is fertile for revolution.

PS Mr Blunkett should read Jeff Randall in today's Telegraph. It really is nonsense to suggest Britain is making deep cuts to the state.

Why are the sexual preferences of Islington's residents any of its council's business?

By Paul Goodman
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Islington Council already has form on asking residents about their sexual orientation if they want to borrow a library book.

My colleague Harry Phibbs has written about the matter on this site previously, arguing correctly that local authorities should not be sex snoopers.

Now I see that Islington has been at it again: the Telegraph reported late last week that the council has accidentally published personal details of over 2000 people online.

These included "the names, addresses, relationship status, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual preferences of 2,400 people re-housed by the council".

It goes almost without saying that Islington's blunder was a breach of the data protection act.  But it should also be asked what the council was doing collecting this data in the first place.

(The Telegraph didn't pursue this question, devoting its report instead to a very full account of Islington's blunder.)

The council cannot blame central government.  Because as Harry pointed out, Eric Pickles has issued guidance stating that there is no requirement for councils to issue such surveys.

The guidance was contained in a single page - which replaced the 56 pages of John Prescott’s so-called ‘Best Value’ guidance.

Footnote: all's well that ends well, since the council said that it would be intensifying our efforts to ensure all staff receive appropriate training".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eric Pickles MP: Five reasons to vote Conservative today

Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

It’s local election day, with local elections across England, Wales and Scotland, and Mayor and Assembly elections in London.

Here’s five reasons why you should go out and vote Conservative today.

1. Conservatives deliver better quality, better value local services. Conservatives charge lower council taxes on an average band D home than Labour or Liberal Democrats. Just look at Boris’s record in London – cutting council tax, compared to Ken doubling it. More Conservative councils have frozen council tax this year than Labour councils. The two year freeze will save families up to £147 on a Band D bill.
2. Conservative councils have been at the forefront of the transparency agenda, opening up their books and finances to public scrutiny. Labour councils, like Nottingham City Council, supported by Labour Shadow Ministers, are refusing to tell their taxpayers how their money is spent.
3. Councils account for a quarter of all public spending, and need to do their bit to help pay off Labour’s deficit. Conservative councils are protecting frontline services by cutting back office costs, improving procurement and engaging in more joint working. But Labour councils are making frontline cuts for partisan ends – playing politics with people’s lives.
4. Conservative councils are cutting municipal non-jobs like town hall ‘pilgrims’ and waste like town hall pravadas. Labour councils are campaigning to defend their propaganda and jobs for the boys.
5. This Government is devolving significant new powers to local councils – over housing, planning, licensing and public health, as well as a new general power of competence. With great power, comes great responsibility: and Conservatives can be trusted to use these powers well.

Don’t let Labour do to your council what it did to the country.

Let Conservatives in local government deliver for you.

Eric Pickles MP: The Localism Bill reverses a century of centralisation

By Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles

Since ancient times governments and politicians have sought to weld power, which has always been about command and control. So it may be surprising to some that this Government is leading the clarion call for more people power. It was the American politician Tip O'Neill who famously declared that all politics is local. For years communities and councils have been crying out for a greater say in local life. For years they have been bystanders as decisions about their lives have been taken in a monolithic way by central government. And finally politicians and people see eye to eye on this one - power should be at the lowest possible level.

It was Victor Hugo who said all the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come. Localism Localism Localism has been our mantra for some time now. We entered Government listening to the people and we were clear localising power and information would be a priority. Even as global problems mounted and dominated public attention, we remained steadfast in our pursuit of localism.

And this week localism officially becomes a reality. Our flagship Localism Bill, has been passed and given the Royal Seal of approval. It marks the biggest shift in power since Victorian age - reversing 100 years of creeping centralisation and it restores a gapping local democratic deficit. As an Act of Parliament it will halt Whitehall's policy monoply and hold over the levers of power, deliver more than 30 of our coalition agreement promises and give local people that raft of new rights and powers that they wanted for too long.

It's the greatest decentralisation of power in a generation, claim Eric Pickles and Greg Clark, as Localism Bill becomes law

By Tim Montgomerie
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Yesterday the Localism Bill gained royal assent and the Department of Communities and Local Government issued a press release to remind us of what it represents.

Conmmenting Eric Pickles said:

“Today marks the beginning of an historic shift of power from Whitehall to every community to take back control of their lives. The Localism Act pulls down the Whitehall barricades so it will no longer call the shots over communities - bug bears like housing targets and bin taxes are gone. For too long, local people were held back and ignored because Whitehall thought it knew best.  That is changing for good.  Councils have their General Power of Competence and residents have a real power over decisions like council tax, town hall pay, planning, community buildings or local services."

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark added:

"For the best part of a hundred years Parliament has been passing laws that increase the Government's powers at the expense of people and communities. This historic Act begins to reverse a hundred years of centralisation. It puts power into the hands of citizens, community groups and local councils. It breaks the monopoly on all new policy initiatives having to come from Whitehall by giving a new right of initiative to people in their local areas. The Localism Act is not the end of the journey towards a more permissive, flexible Britain but it makes a great stride in a direction that the Government will continue to travel."

Eric Pickles MP: How we're helping to rebuild communities hit by the riots

By Eric Pickles, Local Government and Communities Secretary

Last week we saw shocking images across Britain: shops looted, buildings ablaze, families burnt out of their homes, and businesses, sometimes established for decades at the heart of their local community, going up in smoke.

The emergency services have done an admirable job under very difficult circumstances to bring law and order back to our streets.  As the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to Parliament, they will have government’s full backing to do whatever it takes to keep people safe and bring those responsible to justice.

As the police and justice system tackle the criminals, my priority is to set local communities back on their feet, get businesses up and running again, and make sure nobody is left without a roof over their head. That is why I have announced a multi-million pound support package to help local firms and families rebuild their communities. I have written to council leaders telling them how they can claim this money quickly, simply, and with a minimum of red tape. I will also be leading cross-Government work in the longer term to improve integration and secure economic recovery and regeneration in areas which have fallen behind.

Wandsworth Council are the first to issue a rioter with eviction notice

By Joseph Willits 
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Wandsworth Council has become the first to issue an eviction order due to the recent rioting, which has happened across London and much of the country.   The eviction notice will be issued to a council tenant in the borough, due to their son’s involvement the disturbances in Clapham junction on Monday night.  This is the first case of a council tenant being ordered to leave social housing, as a result of the recent looting and rioting.

Earlier today, the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, on BBC News, said he had spoken to all the leaders of councils where looting and rioting had taken place, and they, he said, “were very supportive of it.” Pickles continued that those facing eviction due to their involvement in antisocial behaviour were to be “deemed that they’ve wilfully made themselves homeless” and that there would be “no duty to provide a home under this basis”.  He also said that he did not think that those who have broken the law in riots over the past few days “should be in the way of a law abiding citizen who could probably use that house in a much better way.”

Pickles to councils: keep business rates cash you raise

by Paul Goodman

When I was a member of the front-bench Local Government team, one of the biggest internal debates was about raising local revenue, without which there can be no lasting localism.

The team tended to push and the Shadow Treasury team to resist - understandably on both counts, since the former wanted more local control and the latter proper financial control.

The two present local taxes on the table were council tax and business rates.  When talk turned to the latter, the Shadow Treasury and Business teams would raise memories of the 1980s.

During those years, some Labour-run local councils - Liverpool springs to mind - raised business rates through the roof, driving businesses away locally and impeding recovery nationally.

The compromise struck was cash incentives for councils that build more homes and attract more businesses.  There are details of the latter in the Times (£) today, which reports that:

DCLG flies the United States flag as Eric Pickles pays tribute to Ronald Reagan

Eric Pickles paid tribute to President Ronald Reagan today, by flying the United States flag outside the Department for Communities and Local Government building in Whitehall, next to the Union Flag. 

Following today's unveiling of the statue of Ronald Reagan in central London to mark the 40th President's 100th birthday, Eric Pickles said: 

"Not only was Ronald Reagan a great American hero, but he helped bring freedom and liberty to hundreds of millions of people around the world. His defence of democracy helped defeat the evil tyranny and oppression of communism."

Eric Pickles MP: Smarter procurement in local government could save up to £450 per household

By Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles

We all know the frustration of making a purchase, whether a new computer or a new kitchen - and finding out we could have got it cheaper somewhere else. We feel ripped off.

Well some councils going shopping with our tax money are getting ripped off too. And not by a total of £10 or even £10,000. Cutting edge new research was published by industry experts Opera Solutions this week estimates councils could save up to £10 billion by smarter shopping for goods and services. That’s £452 for every household in this country. Or the salaries of almost half a million bin men. Or 650,000 dinner ladies.

We already knew about massive (in some cases up to 745%) differences between what parts of the public sector are paying for the same goods. It happens centrally as well. Under Labour, its bin quango, WRAP, was paying £3.29 for a ream of A4 paper. Meanwhile the House of Lords paid just £1.65. Paper may not sound like much until you consider the office stationery budget for the public sector is £850 million a year.