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Speech by Cllr David Mackintosh on the Big Society and the Localism Bill
Middleton Cheney Parish Council
Monday 5th September 2011
Good evening. Thank you very much for inviting me along to speak to you this evening about the Big
Society and the implications for all of us who are involved in our communities and want to make them
a better places to live.
Clearly the Big Society is starting to take hold as a recent poll found that 46 per cent of people think it
is a good idea, but clearly there is a lot of work to be done to make the Big Society real. However
having witnessed at first hand its development, I know of the great passion and drive to empower
local people and communities, but the journey will not be easy and will require us all to work together
to bring about lasting change.
And being engaged will be vital as we need to work together to help plan delivery; build knowledge of
communities, groups and people who need help in which ever way and become innovative in sharing
our assets and expertise.
Local councils and their communities will need to embrace the power that is being devolved and come
together and make Big Society work in Northamptonshire and across the country.
For me the Big Society is not just about encouraging more people to volunteer and take responsibility
for their own community. It is also about the decentralisation of power to empower local people and
communities. This week has seen the introduction of the first wave of Free Schools which exist
outside the control of the local authority.
Often bureaucratic local authorities can create unintentional barriers to schools making things happen
and so the concept of Free Schools allows parents and communities to break free from this control.
In Northamptonshire we are already establishing ourselves as a leading County, one that is able to
radically challenge outdated thinking and old fashioned delivery models and embrace the energy and
ideas of local people and groups.
Our desire to implement innovative policies and empower local communities saw me leading a
delegation to Sweden in May to see how the Scandinavian country‟s model of the Big Society works
and what benefits could be replicated in our county.
Sweden has been moving towards a more decentralised system of government for a number of years
and our fact finding trip was a wonderful opportunity to see how things work over there as the Big
Society concept strongly mirrors the Swedish system. Indeed the Free School model which I
mentioned is often referred to as the Swedish Free School system.
In addition to this, I have also been asked by the UK government‟s Cabinet Office to compile a report
based on the visit, which will help keep Northamptonshire at the very forefront of delivering the Big
Society.
As we continue remodel service delivery, I see one of the County Council‟s main roles will be to
support and develop local groups and organisations so that they are able to deliver improvements to
their communities.
Back in September 2010 a report was brought to Cabinet entitled “The Implementation Action Plan of
the Third Sector Commissioning and Engagement Strategies, the Commissioning Intentions for
Advice and Information, and Small Grants Criteria”.
Admittedly this is not a title that would mean much to the man on the street but a central measure
contained in the report was the re-profiling our Strategic Grants Budget to create a suite of Big
Society Funds.
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This will be made up of:
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A £200k Small Grants Fund in which grants awarded range from £500 to £5,000.
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A further grants fund of £100k with grants ranging from £10,000 to £20,000 for initiatives that
support Big Society principles. These funding opportunities will be called Community Action Grants.
And
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The existing Empowering Councillors and Communities Scheme, which gives each elected
members £7,000 a year to award to community projects in their respective divisions.
Our Community Action Grants fund will be open to projects, schemes and initiatives that support Big
Society principles and will be assessed against the following:
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That the scheme will demonstrably improve lives in a community.
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The scheme strengthens community ties and identity.
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Or the scheme identifies and positively addresses a recognised local issue within a
community.
A key tenet of Community Action Grant scheme is to encourage groups the Council currently does not
work with to come forward with their ideas for community action and improvement.
The £100k fund will be administered via a competitive „dragon‟s den‟-style process in which
applications for a single year grant of between £10,000 and £20,000 for an initiative or project are
presented to a panel made up of business, commercial, media and council professionals.
I am confident that this new scheme will help voluntary and community groups take on new
responsibilities and play an increasingly important part in our journey of change – even during these
challenging financial times.
As we progress, the role and need of „local leadership‟ in this new journey will become more
important. As a county we need to be able to support the training and development of those who feel
called to make a contribution to their local communities and neighbourhoods and help develop the
capacity in local groups. Some organisations have a long tradition of raising money and people have
the skills to do this. But – in the grant dependent culture of the last decade – some voluntary groups
have lost their ability to raise considerable funds or function without grants.
A lot of people have said to me that they would like to volunteer and offer their skills and time to make
a valid contribution. But taking that first step is often difficult, and we need to work together to make
this easier. We want to find a way of ensuring that strong local leadership continues to come forward
so that our big society continues in years to come. Our work to make local leadership happen is truly
an investment in our future.
With this in mind, we have been working on an exciting initiative for Northamptonshire to develop a
„leadership academy‟ for our county, something that will be unique to us.
This exciting project will act as catalyst to ensure that the civil society in our county remains vibrant
and active as it will help people and groups across Northamptonshire to help themselves and be free
from the red tape and bureaucracy that can obstruct those who want to build a civil society.
The University of Northampton have already agreed to work in partnership with the County Council to
make this a reality. We have held lots of productive meetings with all sectors from across
Northamptonshire including key players in local businesses of all sizes and we will be making some
exciting announcements about how this will work in the coming months.
We have considerable reasons to be proud of what our county is doing and has done. If we can set
the direction for a future where power is invested in people, common sense is rewarded and that
people are listened to and trusted, we will be well prepared for the future.
But the role of the voluntary sector is only part of the Big Society.
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David Cameron recently said, “The idea at the heart of this – the Big Society – is about rebuilding
responsibility and giving people more control over their lives. But that doesn’t just apply in areas like
volunteering. It’s as relevant when it comes to public services and the decentralisation of power.
Indeed... our plans to devolve power from Whitehall, and to modernise public services, are more
significant aspects of our Big Society agenda than the work we’re doing to boost social action.”
I‟m sure we can all think of examples where bureaucracy and over-regulation have stood in the way of
things we want to do for our communities; acting as a barrier to do us doing what we want to do for
the good of our local communities.
Sometimes I am told of instances where the County Council is this very barrier which stops things
from happening. So we have pledged that the County Council will listen to your concerns and,
wherever we can, to look again at any of the things which are holding you back from making the Big
Society a reality.
And if we do not have it in our power, to add our voice to local communities and I will ensure that the
Government knows about them and that they form part of the discussions in Westminster about how
we move this idea forward.
Northamptonshire is lucky to have lots of strong, active and vibrant communities. If we can build on all
the good work that already takes place, we can all go forward together and make the Big Society a
reality in Northamptonshire. Underpinning a lot of this work will be the recently published Localism
Bill. This new bill offers an exciting new future for us as it promises that councils will be freed from
central government control and diktat.
There are clearly a great deal of opportunities for innovative counties such as ours to take advantage
of as we work together as power is devolved down.
The localism agenda will also undoubtedly bring new challenges and opportunities, but it also
promises to radically alter the way democracy and service provision is delivered across
Northamptonshire. Although the bill is still progressing through Parliament, it is clear that councils
across the County will benefit a great deal as we will be better able to respond to local needs and
pressures, and implement policies that best suit our communities.
As you may know, the package of reforms in the bill will devolve greater power and freedoms to
councils and neighbourhoods, establish powerful new rights for communities, revolutionise the
planning system, and give communities control over housing decisions. The legislation will also help
build the Big Society by transforming the relationships between central government, local
government, communities and individuals.
For councils, the Bill will fundamentally change their freedom to act in the interest of their local
communities through a new general power of competence. Rather than needing to rely on specific
powers, the new power will give councils the legal reassurance and confidence to innovate, drive
down costs to deliver more efficient services.
The public will be given the power to approve or veto excessive council tax rises. Any local authority,
which includes police and fire authorities as well as larger parishes, who set an increase above a
ceiling set by the Secretary of State and approved by the House of Commons will trigger a
referendum of all registered electors in their area. It will make local authorities much more transparent
and much more accountable to local people. If councils want to increase council tax beyond a
specified level, they will have to prove the case to the electorate.
Greater transparency and accountability will help reduce wasteful expenditure. This will be the first
time local people will have the power to decide for themselves if their council tax increase is too high
rather than Government deciding through capping action.
In addition to this, the bill also promises a Community Right to Challenge. This will entail giving a right
for voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, parish councils and local authority employees
delivering a service, to challenge a local authority, by expressing an interest in running any service for
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which they are responsible. A local authority must consider and respond to this challenge. The
challenge may trigger a procurement exercise for that service in line with the relevant procedure,
which the challenging organisation could then bid in, alongside others.
The Bill will also offer a Community Right to Buy. This will require local authorities to maintain a list of
public or private assets of community value put forward for consideration by communities. When
listed assets come up for disposal, communities will be given the chance to develop a bid and raise
the capital to buy the asset when it comes on the open market. This will help local communities to
save sites which are important to the community, which will contribute to tackling social need and
building up resources in their neighbourhood.
As part of our drive towards transparency, Northamptonshire County Council has been one of the
early adopter councils who have already published the list of our assets on the County Council‟s
website and we have a Community Asset Transfer policy so communities and organisations can
clearly see if land or assets are available and the process for expressing interests. This is not about
necessarily giving up our assets for free – as we know only too well how tight the finances are now at
County Hall – but it is about local organisations knowing how to engage in the process, express an
interest and then be part of a proper conversation with the County Council about the possibilities
around assets and how we best serve the community by working together.
Parish Councils are often well placed to articulate the views and concerns of local residents. The
Localism Bill will help to strengthen your ability to get local issues raised through the promise of Local
Referendums.
This measure gives people, councillors and councils the power to instigate a local referendum on any
local issue. Although these referendums will be non-binding, local authorities and other public
authorities will be required to take the outcomes into account in decision making. Local electors
across England currently lack a general mechanism by which they can trigger a local referendum on
issues of importance to them and through which to influence local decision making and make their
views known. To address this issue and provide electors with such an opportunity to influence local
decisions, the Government is committed to give residents the power to instigate local referendums on
any local issue.
I think you will agree with me that giving councils the General Power of Competence is one of the
most far reaching and welcome reforms promised by the Localism Bill. Often we at the County
Council have been unable to do things we have wanted to do because we simply did not have the
legal power. Even when it was in the best interests of the people we represent.
The general power of competence will provide local authorities, including certain parish councils, with
all the same powers that an individual generally has, which will enable them to do anything apart from
that which is specifically prohibited by law.
This measure will mean that local councils will have new freedoms to run services free from Whitehall
diktat. It will to give local authorities confidence in their legal capacity to act on behalf of their
communities and to act in their own interest to generate efficiencies and savings. It will provide more
freedom for councils to innovate and work together with others to drive down costs. It will give them
increased confidence to set up banks, develop property, run new services and own assets.
As many of you will be aware, the issue of pre-determination is a real concern to people seeking
election and, I believe, a barriers to democracy. Currently people can stand for election on certain
election pledges which they are then able to follow through on as they have pre-determined their
position. This is crazy. Councillors should be free to campaign, to express views on issues and to vote
on those matters, without fear of being unjustly accused of having a closed mind on a particular issue
because of it.
Predetermination and bias have proved to be difficult and controversial issues for many local authority
members in the past. The Localism Bill will make it clear that the normal activities of a councillor;
campaigning, talking with constituents, expressing views on local matters and seeking to gain support
for those vies should not lead to an unjust accusation of having a closed mind on an issue that can
lead to a legal challenge. The fear of being accused of bias and consequently having a decision
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challenged or overturned has prevented councillors from speaking up, denying the public their
representation in council. The Bill will give councillors the assurance that they can campaign, discuss
and vote on issues with confidence.
I am sure all Members will welcome the abolition of the Standards Board regime. This will revoke the
centralist model code of conduct for councillors, abolish the need for a local authority to have a
statutory standards committee and abolish the Standards Board for England which regulates local
authority standards committees. The Standards Board regime has become a vehicle for petty and
vexatious complaints about councillor‟s conduct that consumed councillors‟ time and councils‟
resources, as well as damaging confidence in democracy.
One of the key areas of interest in the Localism Bill is around planning and we are probably all aware
of the current national debate around some of these proposals. The Government recently published
for consultation the draft National Planning Policy Framework. This forms a key part of the
Government‟s reforms to make the planning system less complex and more accessible, and to
promote sustainable growth. But this certainly does not mean growth at any cost.
The Framework supports the implementation of neighbourhood planning which would allow Parish
Councils to formulate a Local Plan and play a key part in establishing what local communities want in
terms of development; reaffirms protections for the historic environment and heritage and expects
developers to work closely with those directly affected by their proposals.
The planning system at the moment is unwieldy and complex, making it hard for experts to put into
practice, let alone for communities to understand. The Localism Bill plans to fix the mess they left
behind by simplifying the planning framework in a way that will help communities enjoy a better quality
of life, both now and in the future.
I am excited about the new opportunities we all have ahead of us and it is encouraging that so many
people came along here this evening for us to discuss this. We all know Northamptonshire has a
vibrant, committed and forward looking civil society, with parish councils at its heart. The Localism Bill
will help us build the Big Society as power is devolved and parish councils are given the opportunity to
work with in partnership with the County Council and other local authorities to deliver flexible and
sustainable local services that best respond to the needs of local people delivered by local
communities.