Know your place! the case for whole place financial resilience || Localis at the party conferences || Brighton, Lib Dem | Liverpool, Labour | Birmingham, Conservative

12/08/2024

This year Localis will be holding events at the Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Labour Party Conferences to debate local government finance in partnership with The Norse Group, CIPFA and the Local Government Chronicle.

Know your place! the case for whole place financial resilience

At the start of a new political cycle, and ahead of the next full Spending Review, local public finances are being addressed in a necessary short-term manner to restore stability as well as scrutiny.

However, while the challenges facing local government are significant, they also represent opportunities for transformation in the longer-term. Through the lens of whole place financial management and accountability, there is potential scope for radical transformative innovation in public service delivery.

While some of this has been recognised and is being acted on by local government in England as well as the ‘trailblazer’ combined authorities in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, there is a need to help other parts of the country deliver the benefits of whole place transformation for their people and places.

Across the country, councils act as place leaders, driving policy which runs the gamut of economy, environment and quality of life for residents.

Whole place transformation means an agenda for reform which restructures the settlement between central and local government to better facilitate this role, allowing councils more freedom to focus on the totality of their service offer and create long-term strategic visions for the future. But for this to transpire, we will need an informed and reformed system of local public finance, one which can take in the bigger picture of whole place resilience, in which government is able to, among other things:

Provide a consolidated and long-term financial settlement for local authorities, which can be used to reliably plan for the future and provide a sound basis for long-term partnerships.
Ensure any new funding settlement must commit to the value of upstream prevention and look to move beyond the ‘discretionary’ categorisation of non-statutory services, recognising the value of these services in reducing frontline demand.
Accelerate efforts to fill the local government capacity gap and ensure the workforce is properly equipped to address the service challenges of the future, by working with the sector to further develop and scale-up professional employment and training programmes.

To ensure that this argument is conducted and respectfully heard, Localis together its partners will deliver three set piece fringes – outside the conference secure zones – to bring the issue of local government’s need for whole place resilience to a wider audience.

Liberal Democrat Party conference, Brighton

Time and venue: Monday 16th September from 8.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m., Hotel Du Vin (The Dome room), 2 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD

Register your place

Speakers will include:

Cllr Keith House, leader Eastleigh Borough Council
Helen Morgan MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Ministry of Housing , Communities and Local Government)
Iain Murray, director of public financial management, CIPFA
Martin George, Deputy Editor, Local Government Chronicle
Paul Pawa, Group Strategic Development Director, Norse Group

Labour Party conference, Liverpool

Time and venue: Monday 23rd September from 9.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m., Maldron Hotel Liverpool (Albert Room), 2 Park Ln, Liverpool L1 8AW

Register your place

Speakers will include:

Iain Murray, director of public financial management, CIPFA
Cllr Shama Tatler, member, Economy and Resources Board, Local Government Association
Dame Meg Hillier MP, former chair, Public Accounts Committee
Baroness Dr (Sharon) Taylor of Stevenage OBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Kirsty Weakley, Head of Content Local Government Chronicle
Justin Galliford, CEO, the Norse Group