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Greetings!
I hope you managed to take some well-deserved time off over Easter and are now re-charged and ready to go again! Local elections are upon us again on 2 May and good luck to all involved!
This week, the LGA held its Informal Group Leaders meeting, attended by our Deputy Leader, Councillor Caroline Jackson. Hot topics included the Local Government White Paper and the LGA Corporate Environmental Policy. Our members are taking a lead in shaping the Corporate Environment policy and it is the first step in the LGA showing its own commitment and accountability towards Net Zero.
Caroline shared Lancaster City Council’s dashboard, demonstrating many councils are further ahead than just the policy. The recently published climate score cards is a report by Climate Emergency UK and shows that most councils are 33 per cent of the way to being on target, with some even at 60 per cent. It is essential at this stage that the LGA does all it can in supporting councils to reach their targets.
As we prepare for our upcoming LGA Annual Conference in Harrogate this year, please remember all authorities in membership have been invited to submit motions for consideration at the LGA General Assembly before the deadline of Wednesday 1 May. A submission form is available on the website with further information on the process and criteria for submitting a motion. Helpful motions that take the LGA forward are generally the most effective.
Similarly, our own Independent AGM will be taking place from 10.00am on Tuesday 2 July at the LGA Conference in Harrogate. You can attend the AGM in person for free, and please register with the Independent Group Office to attend. We will also be inviting members to attend online. If you are planning on submitting any motions for consideration by our members, these must be received by the Group Office no less than 14 days before the date of our AGM (18 June). All prospective motions are reviewed by the Independent Group Executive and if taken forward to the AGM, the proposer must attend in person or via a substitute to speak to the motion.
Many of you might be campaigning and canvassing for re-election in the upcoming local elections. I have led the cross-party LGA ‘Debate not Hate’ campaign against abuse and intimidation.
The Guardian Newspaper did a feature on our current campaign to scrap the law requiring councillors to publish their home addresses, and I shared some of my thoughts and experiences. The LGA is currently asking for testimonies from members who have experienced abuse and/or intimidation whilst on the campaign trail and are happy to speak to the media, if needed. The LGA are happy to anonymise members if they so wish when sharing their testimony.
If interested in participating, please let the Group office know by 15 April.
In closing, please remember the support networks available: Independent Network, Association of Green Councillors and the Plaid Cymru Councillors’ Association, if you are standing for election of re-election this year or preparing for next.
Government letter on home addresses
The Minister for Local Government, Simon Hoare MP, wrote to chief executives on 18 March, reminding them that councillors can request for their home addresses to be treated as a sensitive interest and redacted from the public register of interests. The letter reiterated previous ministers' plea for monitoring officers to treat such requests with sympathy while also confirming that there need to be legitimate concerns of violence or intimidation, which raises the ongoing issue as to whether councillors' addresses could be proactively withheld from the public register or if an incident or event is required to precipitate the removal. We continue to lobby for legislative change to clarify this point.
Safer canvassing guide
With elections in May in every part of England, and a general election due within the next 10 months, many councillors will be taking part in canvassing. To help with this, the LGA has published a practical guide to safer canvassing setting out seven principles for safer canvassing and providing helpful, practical hints for councillors and candidates
Social cohesion and democratic resilience
DLUHC has published The Khan Review in which the Government’s independent social cohesion adviser outlines current threats to social cohesion and democratic resilience. The report notes a growing and dangerous climate of threatening and intimidatory harassment of politicians, including councillors, and adds that councils are on the frontline of tackling threats to social cohesion. The report highlights the LGA’s Debate not Hate campaign as an exemplar in attempting to address the abuse and intimidation of councillors. In response to the report, we said councils need urgent funding to counter extremism and misinformation, with the restoration of Special Interest Group on Countering Extremism (SIGCE) funding and effective regional support.
Debate Not Hate toolkit
The LGA’s Debate Not Hate campaign toolkit has a range of resources councils and councillors can gain access to, resources include posters, social media assets and virtual meeting backgrounds. The toolkit also includes a template Debate Not Hate motion as well as template letters you can use to write to your local MP and relevant Minister to highlight our key ask focused on councillor home addresses. Thank you to the councils who have already passed a Debate Not Hate motion or signed up to our public statement, if you have passed a motion but are not listed on our website, please do email DebateNotHate@local.gov.uk so we can add your name.
Weekly food waste collections
Defra has announced that councils in England will be supported with up to £295 million in funding to introduce weekly food waste collections by 31 March 2026. New funding will cover new food waste containers for homes and specialist collection vehicles, targeted at local authorities that have yet to fully put a food waste service in place.
Heat Networks Efficiency Scheme
Round 7 of the Heat Networks Efficiency Scheme is now open and will close for applications on 26 July 2024. The scheme is open to public, private, and third sector applicants to support improvements to existing district heating or communal heating projects that are operating sub-optimally.
Housing First Framework
Housing First is a housing-led intervention with open-ended, intensive support for people experiencing multiple disadvantage, designed and delivered in line with the seven key principles. To support this work, Homeless Link has produced a resource, Staying on Track, a fidelity assurance framework for Housing First in England. Join Homeless Link and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for a launch webinar on April 22 to hear more.
Wednesday 24 April 2024, 10.00am – 11.30am, virtual
This virtual session will provide councillors with practical ideas and advice about how to be a good corporate parent. Hearing directly from young people with care experience, it will also cover the type of support care leavers want to see and best practice in delivering a local offer of support for care leavers.
Tuesday 30 April 2024, 10:30am - 12:00pm, virtual
A national recruitment campaign for local government has been co-produced with local authorities and Solace: ‘Make a Difference, Work for Your Local Council’. This event will present the campaign, the findings from a pilot delivered in the North East, and the ambitions for a national roll-out.
Thursday 9 May 2024, 2.00pm - 3.30pm, virtual
Seventy-eight per cent of the local government workforce are women. However, our gender pay and gender pension gap figures show that women continue to face inequality in our workplaces. Join our virtual event to explore how to create workplaces where councils can close these gaps and reap the benefits of a thriving female workforce.
Tuesday 2 – Thursday 4 July 2024 | Harrogate
Join us in Harrogate for the biggest event in the local government calendar, where we’ll be discussing the latest issues affecting local government.
Together, these groups of experts provide challenge, advice and support to help councils and councillors address their priorities. Get in touch now!
Lead peers
Cllr Adam Paynter
Independent Group National Lead Peer
Email: cllr.adam.paynter@cornwall.gov.uk
Cllr Linda Gillham
Regional Lead Peer for London and Southeast
Email: cllr.linda.gillham@runnymede.gov.uk
Cllr Georgina Hill
Regional Lead Peer for the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside
Email: georgina.hill@northumberland.gov.uk
Cllr Jo Beavis
Regional Lead Peer for the East of England and East Midlands
Email: cllr.jbeavis@braintree.gov.uk
Cllr Sue Baxter
Regional Lead Peer for the West Midlands and Northwest Regions
Email: sue.baxter@bromsgrove.gov.uk
Cllr Jim McKenna
Regional Lead Peer for the Southwest Region
Email: cllr.jim.mckenna@cornwall.gov.uk
Supporting Green members
Cllr Andrew Cooper
Email: andrew.cooper@kirklees.gov.uk
Cllr Zoe Nicholson
Email: zoe.nicholson@lewes.gov.uk
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