Post Election Challenges

Solace In the South EastAbdool Kara, CEX Swale and Solace Spokesperson on Evidence

Based PolicySandy Hopkins, CEX Havant BC & East Hampshire DC, and Deputy

Spokesperson on Innovation and Commissioning

Solace Group changes• New constitution agreed in October• Solace Group now operates as a charity• Re-branding of our commercial arm to ‘Solace in

Business’, and integrating its functions within the Group• Created Solace Policy Board to oversee policy and

external influencing• Spokespeople and Deputy Spokespeople across ten

policy themes, plus representatives from each region• Significant increase in members actively engaged• Your Society, run and managed by its members

Policy portfolios• Children and Families• Civil Resilience and Community Safety• Community Wellbeing• Digital Leadership• Economic Prosperity and Housing• Elections and Democratic Renewal• Evidence Based Policy• Innovation and Commissioning• Leadership and Learning • Local Government Finance

Strategy

• To provide excellent opportunities for the local public service leaders to learn, develop and to network with each other, and with contemporaries from other areas of public life

• To influence the debate about the future of public services, and to ensure that policy is informed by the experience and expertise of our members

• Build the integrity and reputation of public service professional leadership

General Election 2015

• Unexpected Conservative majority • Conservative policy now unfettered from Liberal

Democrat intervention• Key manifesto items:– Continued austerity, with NHS and schools protected

– Including £12bn further cuts to the welfare

– Right-to-Buy to be extended to housing associations and funded by council disposals

– Focus on ‘long term economic plan’

New context• New Secretary of State for Communities and

Local Government• Former Cities Minister

• Advocate for devolution and localism

• Early Government policy announcements – first 100 days

• The Queen’s Speech

• Emergency July Budget

• (early?) Autumn Spending Review

Early policy announcements• City Devolution Deal:

– Chancellor offered major cities in England power over skills, transport, housing, planning and healthcare if they agree to be governed by a directly elected mayor.

– Invited cities to follow the example of Manchester, who have agreed plans to elect a mayor for the whole of the Greater Manchester region in 2017.

• Our view:

– Welcome proposals

– But clarity and content of individual deals important

– And… less reliance on serendipity?

Queen’s Speech• Full Employment and Welfare Benefits Bill: Reduction in the

household benefit cap to £23,000; two-year freeze on the majority of working-age benefits; removal of automatic entitlement to housing support for 18- to 21-year-olds; duties to report on the progress of government policies.

• Cities and Devolution Bill: See earlier slide.

• Housing Bill: Extending Right-to-Buy to housing association tenants; councils must sell off high value vacant stock to fund RTB discounts; councils must support self-builders; statutory register of brownfield land; target of 200,000 new starter homes.

Queen’s Speech• Childcare Bill: 30 hours a week (additional 15) if both parents

work with duty of councils to publish information

• Education and Adoption Bill: More intervention in failing schools and push to Academisation; creation of regional adoption agencies and new powers of SoS.

• Policing and Criminal Justice Bill: Sanctions for public sector workers failure to report child abuse.

• Health and Social Care: No Bill but promise of 7 day NHS, £8bn extra funding and more focus on mental health.

Looking ahead

• Opportunity to re-frame relationship with Government, SoS, and Whitehall

• What is the correct tone for Solace?– Less need to be adversarial?– But acknowledge concerns of Government– Seek to influence what we can positively influence– But retain the right to criticise what needs to be

criticised– Push for evidence based policy making– But also local autonomy and accountability

looking ahead

• What are the important areas for us to focus upon?– Devolution and regional powers

– Prevention and early intervention

– Health and Social Care integration

– Changes to planning and housebuilding

– Schools/education

– Historic child abuse investigations

• What else?

Over to you…