Thursday 6 December 2012

Can councils shape communities?


The National Association of Local Councils’ (NALC) Shaping Places conference  last week saw how new exciting opportunities are being presented to very local (parish and town) councils.

The conference showed how local councils can be an even better community leader, encourage communities and members to take advantage of the new planning, housing, community assets protection and development powers that have come their way.

NALC believes that now is a crucial time for localism and local councils have an important role to play in local community action, representation and service delivery.

Eric Pickles MP, secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, said: “Local (parish and town) councils are localism’s magic wand and that local services are at their best when they are run by local people.

“Localism requires local accountability and this is where local councils can provide this democratic mandate.”

He then issued a challenge to local councils by saying: “We are giving you the power, now we are looking for you to deliver.”

At the same conference Communities secretary Eric Pickles told parish councils to rethink average 3% hikes to their council tax precept - which he said are outstripping levies raised by the rest of local government.

Mr Pickles urged local councillors to make sure they are not overburdening residents with increased taxes.
"It hasn't escaped my noticed that, at a time when most districts are freezing their council tax, the average parish precept has gone up by 3%. And the trend is seeing parish increases outstripping the rest of local government," said Mr Pickles.
He added the DCLG (department of Communities and Local Government) was prepared to review principles governing council tax referendums, but demanded parish councillors 'square' any rises with their electorate. 'Can you really look your local folk in the eye?' Pickles asked delegates.
Elsewhere in his speech, the communities secretary said parishes should embrace neighbourhood planning to build proper neighbourhoods, asking them 'to choose activism not Nimbyism'.

Mr Pickles full written speech can be viewed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-value-of-parishes and to listen to his speech please visit:  http://audioboo.fm/boos/1093989-eric-pickles-speech-at-nalc-2012

The secretary of state came under fire in the Q and A session over the Government's apparent U-turn over the localisation of council tax support.

Carolyn Downs, chief executive of the Local Government Association, said: ”The Community Rights legislation is not necessary to improve the relationship between different tiers of local government. It is about getting the culture right and this will led to more service devolution and the giving away of power to communities and local councils.” 

John Findlay, chief executive of NALC, responded: “Power still rest with principal authorities (county, district, unitary and borough) as they have the final decision on the devolution of power and services to the communities and local councils. If localism is really to succeed, then power should go to the local community to make the final decision and not be at the discretion of the principal authority.”
           
Cllr Michael Chater, chair of NALC said: “Localism represents exciting opportunities for local councils but there are many challenges that lie ahead because of capacity and resources issues for these community minded bodies.”

Friday 30 November 2012

Getting ahead of the fire


Small is beautiful so that is local parish and town councils taken care of. But what if you are large. Well making the case for large local authorities was the County Councils' Network at their annual event.

They took their cue from St George's Park (Football Association's Centre of Excellence) and promoted good practice amongst county councils but they were in mutinous moods with regards the department of Communities and Local Government.

Ministers came under fire this week from county leaders who accused them of overseeing a ‘pro-district’ agenda.

In angry exchanges at the County Councils Network conference, the leaders accused local government minister, Brandon Lewis, and DCLG secretary, Eric Pickles, of failing to understand the impact of benefit changes, the council tax freeze and a late grant settlement.

In a question-and-answer session with Mr Lewis, East Sussex leader Cllr Peter Jones claimed MPs saw the world through the eyes of district councils because their constituencies were coterminous.

Cllr Jones claimed that the New Homes Bonus and business growth incentive bypassed counties.

Buckinghamshire CC leader Martin Tett said his county needed to find £2m to fund the shortfall in council tax benefit when payments were localised from next April.

There was applause when another county leader complained at the late grant settlement this year.

Mr Lewis, a former leader of Brentwood DC, said: ‘We’re very aware that counties have a hugely important role.’

He said the finance settlement, which he indicated was now due on 17 December, was delayed because of the late Autumn Statement on 5 December.

In the Conservative leaders’ group meeting, both he and Mr Pickles came under fire over plans to freeze council tax for two years with a 1% grant. Leaders warned it reduced their tax base.

Later, Mr Pickles told delegates he expected the 2013/14 settlement to be ‘moderately difficult’. He joked: ‘Think of a very low number and halve it. Next year we’ve got to get serious about joining up functions,’ he warned.

A dozen counties are considering pooling business rates with their districts to keep more of their business rate growth income.

NALC’s chairman, Cllr Michael Chater, at the conference said:  “Growth and economic prosperity is just about the biggest challenge facing our country right now, and as one of the themes for this conference will have been much discussed by councillors and officers alike.

“How local government at all levels can play its part in delivering the type of growth that our communities and nation needs, while balancing the protection and preservion of the environment, is a severe test. But is a test I know local government will not shirk. Furthemore it is a test where I know many parish and town councils are stepping up to plate.”
 
“Take Sevenoaks Town Council in Kent, who for the past four years have focussed on developing its local economy, with the emphasis on establishing Sevenoaks as one of Kent’s foremost towns to visit and enjoy. Activity has included:
- establishing a job club to help get people back into employment and through the Future Jobs Fund getting 13 young people into paid employment;
- taking over the Stag Theatre and Cinema leisure venue, resulting in 25,000 visitors per month who used to go elsewhere;
- setting up the Sevenoaks Town Partnership, bringing together key individuals and business representatives in the town, to work together, share resources and develop ideas and initiatives, such as a town wide website, listing and promoting all businesses and local venues/attractions, and the installation of digital promotional screens in large footfall areas;
- leading a successful bid to DCLG for Portas funding, with Sevenoaks Town Partnership being recognised as a Town Team and receiving a £10,000 grant towards the provision of a vintage bus operating during the summer on a circular route moving tourists through the town to and from Knole House, the National Trust property just outside the town centre, where at present many of the 100,000 tourists per year do not visit the town’s shops and facilities;
- in July the Town Council opened a youth café - in response to cuts to youth services in the area - as a great place for young people, open after school, weekends and during the school holidays, which has helped reduce anti-social behavious. But it is also helping to benefit the local economy – parents and carers can shop, eat out, go to a show or the cinema without paying for a babysitter. The youth café is also being used for a young person’s job club, via Connexions, and as a venue for monthly networking meetings for charities and third sector organisations where free legal advice is supplied by local lawyers.”

All in all it was another excellent County Councils Network conference but did witness the first signs of local conservative councillors anger at the Coaltion Government, well only time will turn if this continues or is just mid term blues. But we on the other side we know county councils are really interested in working proactively and positively with local councils to promote community well-being.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Making it easier


Neighbourhood planning groups established under the Localism Act could be allowed begin the process of setting up new parish councils without the need to demonstrate local support, under government plans put out for consultation.
Under the Localism Act, in areas where there is not a town or parish council, neighbourhood planning can be carried out by anyone who wants to set up or join a group which is designated as a "neighbourhood forum" by the local principal authority.
Currently, local authorities can decide to create new parish councils (which can then resolve to be called town, neighbourhood, village or community councils) via a mechanism called a "community governance review".


However, for local residents to get the council to instigate such a review, they must obtain the support of ten per cent of the electorate via a petition. 

The Department for Communities and Local Government consultation document says the current process "doesn’t allow designated neighbourhood forums for neighbourhood planning a distinct role in the process of creating a new parish council. They have to trigger a review in the same way as any other group."


Among its proposals, the consultation suggests that the number of signatures a petition needs in order to trigger a community governance review could be halved, as follows: for electorates of below 500, 25 per cent; 125 signatures for electorates between 500 and 2,500; and 5 per cent for electorates above 2,500. 

Another option proposes that a neighbourhood forum could submit an application to trigger a community governance review, rather than having to submit a petition with the required number of signatures. 


The consultation document says there are a number of reasons why a neighbourhood forum should be involved in the process of creating a new parish council. 

It says: "Firstly, a designated neighbourhood forum has an open membership of people with a genuine interest in the local community and a focus on improving local well-being. 

"Secondly, the neighbourhood planning process should generate community interest and engagement in the idea of shaping and improving the neighbourhood. That may mean that it can also be a good starting point for considering the creation of a town or parish council.

"Thirdly, when that forum has had a neighbourhood plan agreed at a referendum, it has shown that it has community support in developing proposals for the future of the neighbourhood. It may therefore be appropriate to allow it to start the process of creating a parish council more easily than the current petition process allows."


Communities secretary Eric Pickles said: "Parishes are popular with people and for too long communities have battled with burdensome bureaucracy to get them created.

“Our proposal to remove red tape, simplify and streamline the current process to create parish councils is commonsense. We want to give local people a real sense of community control in their areas, giving them freedom to make changes and improvements which best serve their community and area."


Commenting on the proposals Councillor Michael Chater, chair of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) said:
"We welcome the creation of more new local (parish and town) councils to deliver wider services to local communities and be the voice of local people. We agree with the proposal to consult on how local councils could be given more power to deliver grassroots services and looking forward to hearing of innovative and radical approaches on how this will happen."

For more information, please visit: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/localgovernment/2246734


The formal consultation documents can be downloaded at
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/parishdiscussionpaper


The consultation ends in early January 2013.

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Cockermouth is now an angel


It was an auspicious start to the English Heritage Angel Awards when it was announced that the main sponsor, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber was waylaid by ‘Jesus Christ’. Well actually we mean here the national tour of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar”. So the wonderful Claire Balding, the real star of the Olympics and Paralympic Games stepped in a brilliant and witty fashion.

The English Heritage Angel Awards are annual competition that celebrate the efforts of local people in saving England’s heritage. More on this at: http://bit.ly/Vyr4H3

Cockermouth Town Council as part of the Shopfront Steering Group was a big winner of the English Heritage Angels Awards 2012.  The group won the Angel award for the Best Rescue of any Heritage building or site. See the video of Cockermouth at: http://bit.ly/RRBUBn

Heavily damaged by floods in 2009, the Cockermouth High Street has undergone works to repair damage and improve the appearance. The town council along with the borough council, local civic trusts, and architects formed the Shopfront Steering Group to run the scheme. Improvement has been made to 24 properties to date, including replacing traditional signage. Cockermouth Town Council says: “The result had been amazing and people are really proud of the town.”

The ceremony, held at The Palace Theatre, was hosted by TV presenter Clare Balding, with Graham Norton, Philip Mould, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, Melvyn Bragg and Charles Moore presenting the awards.

Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber chaired the judging panel which comprised Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, Charles Moore of the Telegraph, historian Bettany Hughes and the Bishop of London, the Right Revd Richard Chartres.

Lord Webber said: “All 16 shortlisted groups were exceptional and the judges had a hard time deciding between them. But in the end the winners stood out for their passion, perseverance and imagination, for the scale of the challenges they had taken on and for the legacy they leave behind – a secure future for beautiful historic buildings which without them could so easily have simply disappeared.

“I am delighted that this first year of the award scheme has brought so many heritage Angels into the spotlight and look forward to many others joining their ranks in the years to come.”

Simon Thurley said: “Once again we have been dazzled by the energy, invention, commitment and public spiritedness of thousands of people determined to save their precious heritage. While the angel awards were presented to five people, we are all winners, as we can now enjoy the historic places they have saved for the future.”

Clare Balding said: “I’m thrilled to be presenting the Heritage Angels Awards once again. I was so impressed with last year’s entries and know from this year’s list how much hard work has continued to be invested in revitalising our country’s magical buildings. These awards reward those who have completed work and inspire those who have just begun.”

Other Award winners were:
  • Angel Award for the Best Repair of a Place of Worship: Pauline Burkitt and Simon Pleasley, Church Wardens for St Mary’s Church, West Somerton, Norfolk
  • Angel Award for the Best Craftsmanship Employed on a Heritage Rescue: Station Developments for Tynemouth Station, North Tyneside
  • Angel Award voted for by English Heritage followers and Telegraph readers: Russell Savory, Friends of Stow Maries Aerodrome for Stow Maries Word War I Airfield, Maldon, Essex
Films about all 16 of the shortlisted candidates, including the winners, can be seen on the English Heritage website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/angelawards

The English Heritage Angel Awards are co-funded by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation: www.andrewlloydwebberfoundation.com 

For photographs of the winning projects and of the awards ceremony: http://bit.ly/PnrNsl 

For films of the shortlisted entries, see: http://bit.ly/RZDg0b 

For films of the four categories, see: http://bit.ly/OYzcgm 

Wednesday 17 October 2012

What Next for Localism?

 
All too often in recent years the debate and narrative around community empowerment, Big Society, localism and the future of local government and public services has overlooked or merely scratched the surface of the role of local (parish and town) councils.

Whilst successive Government’s have aimed - successfully in some instances, less so in others - to set out a vision, policy framework and series of tools and levers to develop the potential of our first tier of local government, there tends to be a feeling that more could be done.

It is also true that sometimes local councils themselves could react and respond more dynamically to this rapidly changing policy context and to local needs and aspirations.

The National Association of Local Councils, www.nalc.gov.uk, is the nationally recognised membership and support organisation representing the interests of around 9,000 local councils and their 80,000 local councillors in England.

We have long supported the notion of devolution and a fundamental shift of power to councils, communities, neighbourhoods and individuals. That’s why we so strongly hold the view that empowered local people coming together to take more responsibility for their community through local councils is a tried, tested and trusted model of grassroots neighbourhood action.

The most local level of our democracy works tirelessly to be the voice of and represent the local community, providing services to meet local needs and working to improve quality of life and community well being. Put simply our sector is full of brilliant people doing brilliant things to make a difference.

Fuelled and driven by what their people and communities want, local councils take social action, which makes a real difference. They can achieve outcomes for their respective very local societies - often working closely with principal authorities - in ways that are unique, diverse and effective.

Whether it is helping to run the local library; working with local schools; saving the pub or Post Office; providing leisure, sports and recreation facilities; organising community galas, shows and events; working with and often providing funding to local voluntary groups; coming together with business to support economic development and prosperity; delivering community broadband solutions; local councils at their best are standard bearers for community empowerment and localism in action.

The Localism Act provides some very welcome tools for local councils in particular to respond to the needs of local people, especially the new general power of competence. Long overdue reforms to the way local councils can make payments are also hugely welcome, as are initiatives to provide support and investment at the local level to encourage the take-up of the new community rights and neighbourhood planning.

More than anything we must come up with radical new ideas to help hyper local democracy truly flourish into the future. The Localism Act does not mark the end of our ambitions for local councils; it marks the start of the next phase.

This might mean new powers, reform of old ones; red tape swept away, more investment in some initiatives and less in others, radical changes in practice and procedure, much more innovation and creativity.

That is why NALC is working with the All Party Parliamentary Group on local democracy and its Chairman Rory Stewart MP to kick start this debate through our ‘What next for localism?’ inquiry.

We want this discussion to be open, transparent and inclusive. We want to hear from everyone with an interest and passion for local democracy and neighbourhood action, are they involved locally or nationally.

We want to hear your ideas to help shape the future for local councils and help us answer the question: what next for localism.

The What Next for Localism publication is intended to kick off that debate with a series of essays from parliamentarians, think tanks and others sharing their ideas and thinking. I look forward to hearing your ideas too in coming weeks and months.
We want this discussion to be open, transparent and inclusive. We want to hear from everyone including county councillors and councils with an interest and passion for local democracy and neighbourhood action, be they involved locally or nationally.

Ideas already have been submitted covering the areas of the local economy, business rates, council tax, training and development, working relationships between tiers of local government, minor planning, gap year community service and the depoliticisation of parish councils.

We want to hear more of your ideas to help shape the future for local communities and help us answer the question: what next for localism. Visit and submit ideas to www.whatnextforlocalism.org

Thursday 4 October 2012

Benn hails localism



Hilary Benn MP, shadow secretary for Communities and Local Government welcomed the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) innovative "What next for localism?" inquiry at the NALC fringe event held on Sunday 30th Sepember at the Labour Party Conference.

He said:  "NALC is doing a great job. This new policy booklet is excellent, manifesting the wide and cross-party support for the localism agenda, for NALC and for community, parish and town councils.

"Very local councils have a great future, bringing new power to local communities. This is the key to rebuilding local democracy: giving people a real sense of ownership of the decisions that affect their communities." http://t.co/pT3bWCgJ

But this was not enough for LCR. We went and asked him what Labour really thinks of localism.

Q: What is the Labour Party's view on localism?
A: Well it's all about enabling decisions to be taken as close to the people that they affect and to give us a say, a chance to participate, an opportunity to contribute to our community, our neighbourhood. Because actually, society is about the relationships we have one with another and I've been profoundly influenced in that view by my experiences as a councillor. I was a councillor in West London for 20 years, in Ealing, and also as a member of parliament for a constituency, which is a network of different communities, each with their own history and identity.
           
Q: What role is there for local councils within localism?
A: Well, they play a really important role up and down the country where they are in place, responding to very local concerns, using the resources that they have got to provide facilities, to help deal with problems that have arisen. [Plus] in rural communities as well as in some of our towns – obviously, they don't apply everywhere – are helping to run village halls, contributing improved lighting and play facilities, and so on. I think they make a real difference because the job of elective representation, at whatever level, is to one, help deal with problems and two, to assist all of us in realising our hopes and aspirations for a better world. Those are the two parts of the job.

Q: What are your thoughts on Neighbourhood Planning?
A: Well, it's going to be interesting to see how that works in practice. I was in Milton Keynes recently and was talking to someone who is leading there on the development of a Neighbourhood Plan. She said that it was quite an undertaking and there's a lot of work involved and they've got volunteers and supporters. They've had some funding from the pilot schemes.
I think the two issues are going to be: what is the definition of a neighbourhood where there aren't parish councils? Because clearly a parish council self-defines as a neighbourhood as ministers said when the legislation was going through. And secondly, having the resource and capacity to do the work. What will be particularly interesting is to see how communities wish to use Neighbourhood Planning, because when it was going through, if you take the question of housing, some people thought, a-hah, well then we can say, well we don't want quite so many houses in our community.
But of course, the way the policy's been set up is it's a one-way lock; a Neighbourhood Plan could increase the amount of housing but not reduce it. Look, I think it's a chance to give people an opportunity to shape what their community's going to look like. But it remains to be seen how extensively it will be taken up.

Q: Would Labour stick with Neighbourhood Planning?
A: I think we should. I'm all in favour of giving it a chance to work and see what comes out of it. To tell you a story from my experience as an MP, there's a part of my constituency, it actually moved at the last election of the boundary changes, called Halton Moor. It was an estate that has had problems; over the years the council had demolished perfectly good homes, not because there was anything wrong with the bricks and mortar, but because of the problems that there were in the area, for example people didn't want to live on the estate.

Eventually, the residents got together and formed a neighbourhood action group and said we need to do something about this. I suppose looking back at it, although I didn't realise this at the time, we formed a sort of neighbourhood forum. I chaired it, we brought together the representatives of the action group: the police, the housing provider, all of the local services, to say here are the problems – that rubbish wasn’t being collected, there’s a problem of anti-social behaviour, what are you going to do about this, that and the other? Over time things improved, and that's not my judgement, if you talk to the local residents, they would say things got better.
It really brought home to me the power of – at a very local level – people coming together to work in partnership with others, what you could do. It replaced a system that didn't work and where people felt that the powers that be had abandoned them, to a system where you built relationships with police officers who were keen to deal with the crime, housing officers who actually did want to get the repairs done and the people responsible for street cleaning, and I think it's a very powerful model, whether it is in the form of the local councils or whether it's in the form of area committees – and I think it should be a matter of genuine local choice.

It should be a matter of local choice, because you should have, locally, the structure that works for you. But I do believe very strongly in trying to devolve responsibility for those kind of things down the line, because my experience has taught me that you get a better outcome, and in building relationships, you build trust and confidence and people then have a greater sense that they can deal with the problems in their area or achieve things that they want, than if you don't have that kind of set up.
           
Q: What is Labour's thought on the new community rights?
A: The fact is, if you look at communities up and down the country this is something that communities have done already. So, in a sense, you have a right to say, well we'd like to save this building for the community. Now, whether the council responds is another matter, and I think, like Neighbourhood Planning, it remains to be seen how this is going to work in practice. But look, again, drawing on my own experience, we have a sports centre in South Leeds that, in the end, the council is no longer able to run because of the big budget cuts it’s facing. There have been efforts made to try and take it over on a community basis, so far unsuccessfully, but the community tried to do that. I can think of another former school building that was taken over by a social enterprise and is running, now, very successfully, with the agreement of the council, as start-up units for businesses, a meeting space and offices for more established businesses.

So this is certainly something that we should encourage because it's not about where we just have, in a community, facilities – local facilities that are run by the council and nothing else, there really is a place for all of those things, and if communities have got the capacity to do that and runs things through social enterprises which meet a need, that’s great.

Q: Would you give any new powers to local councils?
A: They have a range of powers as set out in the law, but if a local council wants to do something that is outside of its powers, however it is in the interest of the people they are looking after, we should try to enable them to do this. Further, we need to look to move a situation where there is clearer definition of the role of each tier of local government and avoid unnecessary duplication.
It’s about having the clarity about what the division of responsibility is. But what all of this is about for me is a huge amount of innovation, creativity, determination, knowledge of the community, passion to do things, and we need more of that. I often draw on the analogy of how society progressed in the 19th century, because it was local communities at the forefront of making this change happen.

That's really what we're talking about, local government is a form of expression of it, it's the process. But it was local communities, through their representatives and others, coming together, saying, look these are the problems we face where we live. In the 19th century they brought gas, electricity, water, sewers, schools, hospitals, better housing to communities up and down the land. Did they wait for someone to send them a circular to tell them to do it? No, they didn't, they looked around and said we've got a problem, we've got a challenge, we've got things we need to do now let's get on and do them.

There is no denying that Mr Benn and Labour believes that local councils are at the frontline of defenders of local communities. Also that local councils act as a voice for local people to speak to principal authorities and other public service providers. But does he have a localist remedy to solve community problems? Well, the jury is out on that for now.

Friday 28 September 2012

Don is not done

So Don Foster has crashed back into the lives of local councils and localism after years of being shadow Liberal Democrat spokesperson and a back bench MP. And he has done it in some style. At last week’s NALC’s People in Action conference,
http://www.nalc.gov.uk/Latest_News/NALC_Media_Release_20_September_2012.aspx

Don Foster MP, minister, department of Communities and Local Government, legally authorised, new powers for local councils and communities to help prevent the rapid sell off of treasured community assets and buildings so they can be protected. He said: “The Community Right to bid lets communities decide what's important to them and 'stop the clock' on sales so they have them the time to get together a bid, put together a plan and ensure that prized local assets can live on, this time run by the local community for the local community."
http://www.nalc.gov.uk/Latest_News/Media_Release_24_September_2012.aspx

If this was not enough. The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) launched its innovative “What next for localism?” inquiry at a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference on Sunday 23rd September. The inquiry will look at the successes and failures of the government's localism policies so far. It will look further at how to get to make localism work better for communities and people.into the success of government efforts to give more power to local communities.

Don Foster MP, said: "I am a passionate advocate of localism and delighted we passed the Localism Act last year. We are working hard to promote awareness and understanding of the new powers and opportunities as well as now providing significant investment, help and information for communities and local councils. I’m keen to work with NALC on this and see what else we in Government need to do, so I’m open to your ideas.”
http://www.whatnextforlocalism.org

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Walking to the Top

Rory Stewart, @RoryStewartUK, is a Conservative MP going places, and this could be great news for local councils if he wants to take them with him. I went to meet him to find out where his latest journey is going History is littered with politicians who were destined for great things and high office but have fallen by the wayside. The question is whether the MP for Penrith and the Border, Rory Stewart, is to be any different to the litany of those who have been laid to waste. His reputation as a man of unnatural achievement depends a little on the increasing impact of his CV – the giddy rush of soldier-diplomat-adventurer-writer-politician. He was elected to Parliament in 2010, having already passed through many of the key institutions of the British establishment, including Eton College, the Army, Oxford University and the Foreign Office where he had stints working in the British embassies of Indonesia and Montenegro. He resigned from the Foreign Office in 2000 and then embarked on his next big ‘job’, that of walking across Asia – a journey that was to last two years. A series of treks took him to the rural districts of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Nepal, an expedition totalling around 6,000 miles, during which time he stayed in 500 different village houses. Continuing this passion for walking, his next feat was to journey across post-9/11 Afghanistan. This resulted in his first book, The Places in Between, which was highly praised by many, including the New York Times, which said it was a "flat-out masterpiece". He stepped back into politics after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, taking up the position of deputy governorate co-ordinator in Southern Iraq for the coalition forces, and wrote his second book, The Prince of Marshes, based on his experiences in this role. It too was critically acclaimed with The New York Times saying, "Stewart seems to be living one of the most remarkable lives on record”. But is there another side to all this internationalism? Well find out more from my interview in LCR magazine.

Friday 7 September 2012

A step into the modern financial world

Local councils want to take the new localism agenda forward in their communities with taking more control over public services or having a greater say in the way they are run in their area but this is being hampered with arcane rules from the 19th century Act still in force. It is strange to think that all 9,000 local (parish and town) councils have to adhere to financial payment rules set out in the 1894 Local Government Act. Oddly at present all local councils must adhere to the Act, which requires the signature of two members of the council on every payment or cheque. Hardly a fine example of modern 21st century local government. The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has been waging a decade long campaign with successive governments to change this historic oddity. We want local councils to be able to do electronic banking and modernise how they make payments like in other parts of the public sector. The 1972 landmark Local Government Act allowed other tiers of local government to make their own arrangements for the proper administration of their financial affairs. Now it would appear that this Coalition Government is finally going to do something about it. The Government has recently issued a consultation on a Legislative Reform Order, which could make the changes that NALC has been after for a while. If local councils are to be at the heart of localism and new ways of connecting communities to the levers of power then surely it makes sense that they should be freed of outdated and prehistoric legislation, which prevents them from working in a more efficient and effective manner. It must be remembered that local councils work towards improving community well being and providing services at a local level. Their activities fall into three main categories: representing the local community; delivering services to meet local needs; striving to improve quality of life and community well being. The use of cheques is falling fast. They made up just 3% of UK payments in 2010 - a 59% decline since the start of the century. Also the 'two signatures' rule also adds to the costs of businesses, or other public bodies, forced to receive cheques from the councils. So definitely time for a change. But this should not be dictated from Westminster, as there should be a flexible approach taken to this, which allows local councils to choose the best payment methods that suit them. Many local councils are likely to continue with the tried and tested process of two signatures, but the majority will move to new electronic systems. Proper safeguards will be necessary and normal banking arrangements now allow for remote approval of payments. Local councils will hopefully shortly be in a position to work towards the abolition of cheques for all payments. This reform has been on the agenda for many years and finally the Government are listening to us on this. We expect local councils to express their strong support for these proposals. This is an important step forward in reforming the many outdated rules, which prevent local councils operating in modern and efficient ways. For more information on the payments consultation please visit: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/parishcouncilspayments. The closing date for responses is Tuesday 11th September.