tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/councils-5647/articlesCouncils – The Conversation2024-03-15T17:34:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242852024-03-15T17:34:40Z2024-03-15T17:34:40ZLevelling up is not working as promised – our research shows why<p>The UK parliament has heard findings that <a href="https://theconversation.com/levelling-up-four-problems-with-boris-johnsons-flagship-project-176386">levelling up</a> – arguably the Conservatives’ flagship policy agenda – is beset by critical delays. In a report published on March 15, the <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmpubacc/424/report.html">public accounts committee</a>, parliament’s expenditure watchdog, has said that, as of September 2023, local authorities had spent only £1.24 billion of the £10.47 billion the government promised to tackle regional inequality across the UK. </p>
<p>Crucially, the committee has found that the government has nothing in place to measure this policy’s impact in the long term. In other words, as has been pointed out, there is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/15/no-compelling-examples-of-what-levelling-up-has-delivered-watchdog-finds">“no compelling evidence”</a> that levelling up has achieved anything.</p>
<p>The levelling up agenda was launched in the Conservative party’s 2019 manifesto to highlight – and overcome – the economic plight of the UK’s former industrial heartlands, particularly in the north and the Midlands. The subsequent <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62e7a429d3bf7f75af0923f3/Executive_Summary.pdf">white paper</a> published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in 2022 said the economic prize was potentially enormous: “If underperforming places were levelled up towards the UK average, unlocking their potential, this could boost aggregate UK GDP by tens of billions of pounds each year.” </p>
<p>The disconnect between this prosperity-led rhetoric on local authority funding and the reality could not be starker. Since 2010-11, local authorities have experienced a <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/funding-gap-growing-councils-firmly-eye-inflationary-storm#:%7E:text=Councils%20are%20facing%20an%20%E2%80%9Cinflationary,spending%20power%20since%202010%2F11.">27% real-terms cut</a> in core spending power due to reduced central government funding. <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/local-authority-section-114-notices">Eight of the 317 English local authorities</a> have effectively declared bankruptcy since 2018. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.cipfa.org/cipfa-thinks/insight/addressing-regional-inequalities">research</a> compares how local authorities in England and <a href="https://theconversation.com/other-countries-have-made-progress-in-levelling-up-heres-how-the-uks-plan-compares-176405">other countries</a> are addressing regional socioeconomic inequality. We have found that English councils are struggling to invest for the long term, because of a lack of ongoing funding and insufficient staff. </p>
<h2>Where local government income comes from</h2>
<p>Compared to many other countries, local authorities in England have fewer powers to raise revenue. In <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/local-government-funding-england">2019-20</a> council tax was the biggest source of local authority income (52%), followed by business rates (27%) and government grants (22%). </p>
<p>These government grants include the <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/which-areas-have-benefited-from-the-levelling-up-fund/">£4.8 billion levelling up fund </a>, designed to invest in local infrastructure that has, as the white paper put it, “a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery”. </p>
<p>They also include the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus">UK shared prosperity fund</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/towns-fund">the towns fund</a> (which consists of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/town-deals-full-list-of-101-offers">town deals</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/future-high-streets-fund">future high streets fund</a>, and is accessible to local authorities in England only).</p>
<p>A first challenge to note is that since Brexit, local authorities no longer have access to European Union (EU) funds. The central government funding that has replaced it is less generous. <a href="https://www.ippr.org/articles/the-shared-prosperity-fund-what-can-we-learn-from-government-s-plan-to-replace-eu-funds">Analysis</a> by the Institute for Public Policy Research suggests that the UK Shared Prosperity fund represents a 43% drop in funding compared with EU economic development money for UK nations and regions.</p>
<p>Further, local authorities also now have to compete against each other to access crucial funding. The levelling up fund might be delivered at a local level but funding is not guaranteed. </p>
<p>Councils have to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-levelling-up-bidding-process-wastes-time-and-money-heres-how-to-improve-it-198638">bid</a> to competitive funding pots. Only a handful of bids are successful, when scored against nationally designed success criteria.</p>
<p>What’s more, this competitive model is predicated on short-term, project-based funding pots. Our research shows, however, that for local authorities to best respond to the needs of their constituents, they need long-term funding. We found that in the US, Cleveland’s flagship city project is based on a 20 to 30-year timetable. </p>
<p>Leipzig, meanwhile, has benefited from consistent long-term funding from the German government and the EU. It took 15 years of high levels of funding for unemployment to start declining in Leipzig and a further 15 years to reduce it further closer to the national average. Leipzig’s council’s <a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/how-do-cities-lead-an-inclusive-growth-agenda">long-term approach</a> to planning and designing housing stock and shopping areas has improved local retail options and access to jobs for residents.</p>
<p>By contrast, challenges created by the <a href="https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/buildings/6bn-meridian-water-project-delivery-under-review-13-02-2023/">impact of inflation and rising interest rates</a> have forced Enfield council, in England, to scale back its 20-year, £6 billion regeneration project, Meridian Water. This is despite the project’s aim to create 10,000 homes and 6,000 jobs paid at least at the London living wage. </p>
<h2>How political change affects local government funding</h2>
<p>In England, local authorities often struggle to deliver their visions for economic development because of the sheer frequency of institutional change at regional level across electoral cycles. </p>
<p>In 2010, the incoming coalition government <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05842/SN05842.pdf">abolished</a> the regional development agencies Labour had instituted in 1997. In 2011, these were <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-local-enterprise-partnerships-leps-and-enterprise-zones/2010-to-2015-government-policy-local-enterprise-partnerships-leps-and-enterprise-zones">replaced</a> with local enterprise partnerships, which, in turn, <a href="https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/devolution-and-economic-growth/government-will-end-support-for-leps-04-08-2023/">were scrapped</a> by Rishi Sunak’s government in 2023.</p>
<p>Additionally, the DLUHC <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/43820/documents/217384/default/">has changed the rules</a> midway through the bid process. Thus 55 councils spent an average of £30,000 bidding in round two for funds they could not win because a rule change meant that those which had been successful in round one were no longer eligible to bid again. Roughly £1.6 million was squandered through this lack of transparency.</p>
<p>We have also found that English councils suffer from a lack of consistent, expert staffing. Compared to the international cities we have studied, they are not able to properly monitor and evaluate their efforts. </p>
<p>In South Yorkshire, for example, although stakeholders recognise the importance of monitoring and evaluation, short-term and insufficient funding has meant mechanisms to do so have not been built in from the start of levelling up projects.</p>
<p>In January 2024, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/simplifying-the-funding-landscape-for-local-authorities/simplifying-the-funding-landscape-for-local-authorities">DLUHC began a pilot programme</a> to test how the government could distribute funding to local authorities in a simplified, streamlined way, in order to give them greater spending flexibility. </p>
<p>Establishing a single funding pot across government departments for local authorities would indeed enable them to better respond to local needs, in the long term. </p>
<p>Councils know the strengths their local areas have and the challenges they face. They need the financial and organisational resources to meet them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abigail Taylor received funding for this work from CIPFA and from the University of Birmingham. Abigail acknowledges Jeffrey Matsu, Chief Economist at CIPFA as a co-author of the research underpinning this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Green received funding for this work from CIPFA and from the University of Birmingham. Anne acknowledges Jeffrey Matsu, Chief Economist at CIPFA, as a co-author of the research underpinning this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannes Read received funding for this work from CIPFA and from the University of Birmingham. Hannes acknowledges Jeffrey Matsu, Chief Economist at CIPFA as a co-author of the research underpinning this article.</span></em></p>English councils have neither the ongoing funding or the staffing needed to effectively deliver on the government’s economic development promises.Abigail Taylor, Research Fellow, City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI), University of BirminghamAnne Green, Professor of Regional Economic Development, University of BirminghamHannes Read, Policy and Data Analyst, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2218942024-02-01T14:54:52Z2024-02-01T14:54:52ZFour reforms to stop English councils from going bankrupt<p>England’s councils are in serious financial trouble. Six including Birmingham, Nottingham and Croydon have effectively announced their bankruptcy, in the form of “section 114 notices”, since 2020. Various others, including <a href="https://www.room151.co.uk/funding/somerset-seeks-to-increase-council-tax-to-10-to-bridge-100m-overspend/#:%7E:text=Somerset%20Council%20has%20warned%20that,25%20of%20over%20%C2%A3100m.">Somerset</a> and <a href="https://www.localgov.co.uk/Bradford-Council-to-cut-more-than-100-jobs/58596#:%7E:text=The%20local%20authority%20warned%20last,%2C%20charges%2C%20and%20council%20tax.">Bradford</a>, have warned in <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/economic-growth/regional-development/2024/01/council-bankruptcy-tracker-local-government-authorities-finances">recent months</a> that they might have to <a href="https://www.room151.co.uk/treasury/more-councils-heading-for-section-114-notices-fears-wokings-interim-director-of-finance/">do the same</a>. And now a cross-political party committee in parliament <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/43165/documents/214689/default/">is indicating that</a> the government must plug a £4 billion funding gap across the board. </p>
<p>This comes after years of council grant settlements <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/articles/2024-25-local-government-finance-settlement-real-pain-still-come#:%7E:text=4.0%25%20next%20year.-,Councils'%20cost%20pressures%20are%20outpacing%20economy%2Dwide%20inflation,terms%20cuts%20to%20their%20funding">not keeping pace</a> with inflation, amid rising demand for services and increasing divergence between core funding and needs. While the government has just announced an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/24/england-councils-get-extra-funding-ease-financial-crisis">additional £600 million</a> to help address pressure on social care, amounting to a 7.5% increase in total funding, council grants saw an <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/local-government-funding-england">overall 40% cut</a> in real terms from 2010-20 – including a <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8682/documents/88208/default">25% cut</a> in non-social care funding. </p>
<p>With a general election coming up in the next year, there’s an opportunity to think again. We recently carried out an <a href="https://lgiu.org/publication/learning-from-local-government-finance-across-the-world/">international study</a> of local government finance in Germany, Italy and Japan, in partnership with the Local Government Information Unit, a thinktank for council policy. We have four proposals for improving councils’ financial resilience. Money is likely to be in short supply, so we mostly focus on alternative ways of using existing funds. </p>
<h2>Proposal 1: rework needs assessment</h2>
<p>In England, councils’ financial requirements used to be assessed based on their relative needs. This was suspended <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/business-rate-retention-s-96f.pdf">in 2013</a> when a new policy meant half of all business rates were retained by local government. This has meant that councils’ funding allocations have <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/how-much-public-spending-does-each-area-receive-local-authority-level-estimates-health">gradually diverged</a> from the 2013 needs assessment.</p>
<p>The system was to have been reset in line with a future needs assessment via the government’s “<a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-fair-funding-review-what-does-it-mean-for-local-government/">fair funding review</a>” in 2016, but this is not now expected until 2025 at the earliest. </p>
<p>This situation makes England a significant outlier. In contrast, Germany, Italy and Japan all have mature and detailed needs assessment for local government, with reviews every couple of years. In each case, rates of local government insolvency have reduced following reforms in recent years.</p>
<p>England’s fair funding review should be reopened and delivered, paving the way for yearly needs assessment. Whereas the 2016 version was to be restricted to only some council grants, it could be extended across the board. This would give councils greater latitude to allocate funding between their vast range of tasks, since they would not be restricted by ring-fencing or narrow grant objectives.</p>
<h2>Proposal 2: equitable funding</h2>
<p>Germany, Italy and Japan all redistribute taxes not only from the centre to municipalities but also between municipalities. This is known as territorial equalisation, and England is an outlier in lacking such a system. </p>
<p>Introducing this based on needs assessment would help remove the risk of section 114 notices. It would also help councils to plan for the future. </p>
<h2>Proposal 3: a standing commission</h2>
<p>Discussions between councils and the government about finances are ad hoc and haphazard. Neither side has an incentive to pursue a closer relationship: councils have few cards to play, and know that any gains would probably come at the cost of extra requirements. Witness the recent government announcement that, along with the £600 million funding for social care, councils are expected to follow new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-a-further-600-million-boost-for-councils">“productivity plans”</a>. </p>
<p>We propose a one-stop statutory body for handling financial negotiations between the government and local authorities. This would go hand-in-hand with needs assessment, since once there is a basis for understanding councils’ requirements, there is more of a basis for negotiation.</p>
<p>This standing commission would also be a general discussion forum for consulting on government proposals, raising emerging issues, and mediating conflict. Indeed, the Institute for Government thinktank is proposing a <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/devolving-english-government">similar body</a> for metro mayors and their combined authorities, but we think all councils would benefit from such a forum.</p>
<p>It would help build trust and reduce the constant worry, <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/report/achieving-political-decentralisation">noted by</a> the Institute for Government in 2014, that local authorities will “do something barmy”. Moving away from the current top-down relationship would be unfamiliar, but this was true in <a href="https://lgiu.org/local-democracy-research-centre/funding-systems-for-local-government-international-comparisons/">Italy and Japan</a> 20 years ago, and both have pulled off a similar transition. Germany, Italy and Japan all have comparable standing commissions. </p>
<h2>Proposal 4: assign national taxes</h2>
<p>Councils in Germany, Italy and Japan all receive revenues from a range of national taxes. Most come from “assigned revenues” rather than local rights to set tax rates. In Germany, for example, 25% of national VAT revenues go to councils, distributed according to a needs-assessment. </p>
<p>English councils could receive a fixed percentage of revenues from one or more national taxes, such as income tax, VAT, employers’ national insurance, corporation tax or stamp duty. Again, this could be distributed by needs assessment. </p>
<p>It’s sometimes proposed that councils should raise more of their own taxes – but this could lead to richer areas raising more money per head. Our proposal avoids this and improves on councils’ heavy reliance on council tax and business rates. It would also symbolise that central and local government are partners in public service delivery. </p>
<h2>Implementation</h2>
<p>Our first three proposals could be introduced fairly quickly and lay the foundations for a more stable system. The standing commission could then optimise territorial equalisation through negotiation, and explore how to assign national tax revenues. This would emulate the <a href="https://www.clair.or.jp/j/forum/honyaku/hikaku/pdf/up-to-date_en2.pdf">Trinity Reform in Japan</a> during the early 2000s, which created a legislative framework that made it possible to rework local-government finance. </p>
<p>Of course, councils only occupy a small corner in public consciousness. They have only a walk-on role in health, immigration and crime. It might be tempting for a new reforming government to regard their financial failures as a minor inconvenience that can be tolerated when there are bigger fish to fry.</p>
<p>Yet we all rely on councils for core public services, including social care, roads, waste and planning. They play a vital role in planning and regeneration, community safety, decarbonisation and energy efficiency. In short, they are critical delivery partners for any UK government. If financial difficulties hobble them, the government loses time and capacity too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study of council financing in Germany, Italy and Japan offers some new ideas for how to solve English councils’ financial difficulties.Kevin Muldoon-Smith, Associate Professor in Strategic Public Sector Finance and Urban Adaptation, Northumbria University, NewcastleMark Sandford, Honorary Professor of Local Government, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210162024-01-30T19:10:25Z2024-01-30T19:10:25ZParking apps are sweeping Australia’s cities. Here’s what you may not know about them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571826/original/file-20240129-25-kmnd7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=672%2C5%2C2915%2C2006&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much land does a car need?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/overhead-aerial-view-crowded-public-parking-755276542">pisaphotography/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parking, and the enormous amount of space we cede to it, is undergoing two revolutions. The first is the rise of parking apps. The second is a reckoning with <a href="https://theconversation.com/empty-car-parks-everywhere-but-nowhere-to-park-how-cities-can-do-better-99031">whether we really need so much parking</a>, and what else we could do with all that space.</p>
<p>In the middle of both revolutions sit drivers. Apps like <a href="https://easypark.com.au/">EasyPark</a>, <a href="https://site.cellopark.com.au/">CellOPark</a> and <a href="https://www.paystay.com.au/">PayStay</a> promise efficiency through pay-as-you-go parking, adjusted to the minute and location via a smartphone app.</p>
<p>Drivers avoid the fuss of meters and overpaid or overrun tickets, and parking operators get easy-to-monitor databases. Meanwhile, app providers take a handsome per-session fee in the order of 5–12%, depending on the provider.</p>
<p>Councils and campuses have been sold the trick, festooning parking signs with QR codes, “parking is changing” declarations, and discreet signals of outsourced responsibility. </p>
<p>But who is behind these apps? Are we getting a good bargain? And what does it mean for us and our cities?</p>
<h2>Rise of the parking apps</h2>
<p>Parking apps have been around since the 2000s, with the Australian market picking up strongly in the last five years. Three of the most common apps are EasyPark, CellOPark and PayStay. In New South Wales, there is also a government-backed app, <a href="https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/download-the-parknpay-app">Park'nPay</a>.</p>
<p>EasyPark is a <a href="https://easyparkgroup.com/our-story/">Scandinavian export</a>, now owned by private equity firm <a href="https://www.vitruvianpartners.com/archives/investment/easypark">Vitruvian Partners</a>. Tactically, EasyPark Australia’s spread through a city can feel like a stack of dominoes. In Perth, the app popped up in a string of outer councils before closing in on the prized centres of <a href="https://www.stirling.wa.gov.au/your-city/news/2019/november/parking-in-the-city-is-about-to-get-easier-with-ea">Stirling</a> and <a href="https://perth.wa.gov.au/en/news-and-updates/all-news/paying-for-parking-in-the-city-of-perth-just-got-even-easier">Perth</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A pink parking sign that states 'Pay by Phone EasyPark'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571832/original/file-20240129-25-sl38e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">EasyPark is one of several parking app providers in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Encircled by EasyPark’s magenta signs, the service’s <a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/about-us/location-and-campuses/campus-services/transport-and-parking/easypark">most recent adoptee</a> is the University of Western Australia (the author’s home institution). Their competitor CellOPark didn’t get a look in, despite <a href="https://smartercity.com.au/case-studies/#post-3380">operating in the state for over a decade</a>, including just down the road at Curtin University. </p>
<p>Australian-headquartered CellOPark services over 75% of Australian universities <a href="https://site.cellopark.com.au/tariffs/">offering a parking app</a>. Its service fee is <a href="https://site.cellopark.com.au/tariffs/">6%</a> to EasyPark’s <a href="https://easypark.com.au/help/en_au/2650">11.5%</a>, and it integrates directly with university authentication systems.</p>
<h2>Terms of the bargain</h2>
<p>App providers deserve payment as much as the next business. But parking apps strike deals that go beyond convenience, so we need to assess them fully and transparently.</p>
<p>The NSW Department of Customer Service recently learned this when it was <a href="https://www.themandarin.com.au/236623-parking-meter-app-contract-lacked-transparency-value/">slammed by NSW’s Auditor-General</a> for dealings with Duncan Solutions (developer of Park'nPay). The auditor cited <a href="https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/our-work/reports/procurement-of-services-for-the-parknpay-app">no evidence of “value for money</a>” and a rushed procurement process.</p>
<p>There are several key considerations. The first – parking apps generate honeypots of detailed information on people and their movements. This presents new privacy costs and risks, as experienced by EasyPark’s European customers when home addresses, phone numbers, emails, scrambled passwords and partial financial information were stolen in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/26/hackers-steal-customer-data-europe-parking-app-easypark-ringgo-parkmobile">December 2023 hack</a>. (The company claims <a href="https://www.easypark.com/en-nl/comm">no parking data was accessed</a> in the breach.)</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-so-many-data-breaches-a-growing-industry-of-criminals-is-brokering-in-stolen-data-193015">Why are there so many data breaches? A growing industry of criminals is brokering in stolen data</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Those wanting to offer parking apps must determine precisely what data the apps collect, where it goes and what is done with it. They should conduct thorough risk assessments on potential data misuse. Preferably apps should maintain customer and location information encrypted and on-device, reducing the risk of improper third-party access.</p>
<p>Second, we need proper “value for money” assessments to address how parking apps cut into public revenue without significantly reducing costs (parking inspectors still patrol, and digital meters still need maintenance). Councils and campuses must publicly justify the trade-off – money paid to app providers reduces budgets for building public amenities or supporting core business.</p>
<p>In sum, there should be complete, public assessment of the financial, privacy, access and inclusion implications of adopting parking apps. To prevent underhanded dealing, councils and campuses should also enable open competition between apps, as <a href="https://mosman.nsw.gov.au/news/council-news/parking-apps">Mosman Council has done</a> in Sydney.</p>
<h2>Parking is primal and paradoxical</h2>
<p>Beyond data privacy and revenue implications, there is a more fundamental matter. Parking apps have a vested interest in an abundance of parking, it’s their core business.</p>
<p>But one of the most significant economic and environmental revolutions underway in cities is a radical reassessment of what we’ve sacrificed in pursuit of parking.</p>
<p>If we want long-term thinking about how to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australian-cities-need-post-covid-vision-not-free-parking-150380">rescue</a> and <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262539784/owning-the-street/">reimagine</a> cities, we need to think beyond the apps.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/freeing-up-the-huge-areas-set-aside-for-parking-can-transform-our-cities-85331">Freeing up the huge areas set aside for parking can transform our cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the past two decades, urban planning scholars have revealed a number of stunning <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-High-Cost-of-Free-Parking-Updated-Edition/Shoup/p/book/9781932364965">truths about drivers and cities</a>. Landmark <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/architecture/people/elizabeth-taylor">Australian</a> <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/architecture/about/our-people/academic-staff/rebecca-clements.html">research</a> and <a href="https://davidmepham.wordpress.com/about/">books</a> show that parking is primal and paradoxical.</p>
<p>Every driver <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/15/cant-find-a-parking-spot-meet-the-planner-who-wants-to-make-it-much-harder">feels they deserve “rockstar” parking</a>, ideally right at their destination, secure and free – and they’re aggrieved if they can’t have it. Behind the wheel, we assume a universal impatience, intolerance and entitlement. It simmers above the unspoken anxiety of <em>not being able to park</em>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A street with small trees in bloom and cars down both sides" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571827/original/file-20240129-25-8o47a5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A quiet street tightly lined with parked cars, like this one in Footscray, Melbourne, is a common sight in many Australian suburbs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/suburban-street-many-cars-parked-line-751413997">doublelee/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since the 1950s, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-elephant-in-the-planning-scheme-how-cities-still-work-around-the-dominance-of-parking-space-87098">cities have been defined</a> by their valiant efforts to cater to these base instincts.</p>
<p>We have paved them with carparks, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/natalie-osborne-649187211/sets/forms-of-assembly-car-park-tour-of-inner-bne">relinquishing wetlands, parklands and foreshores</a>. We have foregone housing and public amenities, all to ensure optimal storage of high-emissions private property.</p>
<p>Superficially, better managing the supply of parking presents a perfect union with parking apps. Real-time management is just the kind of technocratic petri dish where apps love to breed.</p>
<p>Yet scratch the surface and you’ll find the apps are locking in the status quo. They further subordinate people and places to the primacy of parking.</p>
<p>The great paradox is that while parking is both objectively abundant and an exorbitant tax on everyone, no driver is satisfied. So we build more parking, and download more apps, and our cities become less liveable.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/of-all-the-problems-our-cities-need-to-fix-lack-of-car-parking-isnt-one-of-them-116179">Of all the problems our cities need to fix, lack of car parking isn't one of them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221016/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Powles' research centre, the UWA Tech & Policy Lab, receives support from nationally competitive research grants. She was not involved in her employer's engagement of EasyPark as the University's parking provider.</span></em></p>Paying for your parking via an app promises ease and efficiency. But we are entering a bargain with unclear terms around data privacy and public revenue.Julia Powles, Associate Professor of Law and Technology; Director, UWA Tech & Policy Lab, Law School, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2165312023-11-17T03:12:35Z2023-11-17T03:12:35ZUrban planning has long ignored women’s experiences. Here are 5 ways we can make our cities safer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557955/original/file-20231107-267416-33aa34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C6%2C4473%2C3004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-view-young-brunette-woman-going-759316678">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women consistently raise <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/425309">concerns about their safety</a> when moving through their cities and communities.</p>
<p>Women <a href="https://www.standup-international.com/au/en/facts">often experience harassment</a> in the street, which can lead them to avoid areas and adjust their lifestyles to feel safe. </p>
<p>Based on our research, here are five ways we can make cities safer for women.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-lighting-alone-does-not-create-safer-cities-look-at-what-research-with-young-women-tells-us-113359">More lighting alone does not create safer cities. Look at what research with young women tells us</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>1. Don’t just invest in lighting and surveillance</h2>
<p>Underlying the desire for lighting and surveillance is women’s concern about the inappropriate (real or anticipated) <a href="https://theconversation.com/catcalls-homophobia-and-racism-we-studied-why-people-and-especially-men-engage-in-street-harassment-183717">behaviour of men</a> and young people in public places. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-lighting-alone-does-not-create-safer-cities-look-at-what-research-with-young-women-tells-us-113359">emerging studies</a> reveal that strategies solely concerned with improved lighting or surveillance are not the only pathways to reducing worry or fear for women. </p>
<p>In fact, the public investment in CCTV with regard to women’s safety may do <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-cctv-footage-help-or-hinder-the-reduction-of-violence-against-women-67137">more harm than good</a>.</p>
<p>The women we surveyed recognised that young people have a right to use public places, but they also said antisocial behaviour from young men, particularly in groups, created significant apprehension, fear and avoidance of places, especially at night.</p>
<p>One participant told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think it’s mainly that drug-affected type of people. And they hang around in a bunch. And people who are affected by alcohol […] they’ll be boisterous.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two streetlights light up a dark, misty night" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Increased street lighting is not the be all and end all for making women feel safer in cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/street-lights-misty-evening-glowing-dark-2014774082">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While CCTV can reduce property crime, it does not appear effective in addressing women’s safety or for preventing violence and assault.</p>
<p>It may also <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-create-safer-cities-for-everyone-we-need-to-avoid-security-that-threatens-93421">further exclude some members of the communtiy</a> – particularly women from diverse backgrounds.</p>
<p>Instead, <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/research/project/safe-spaces-understanding-and-enhancing-safety-and-inclusion-for-diverse-women">studies suggest</a> that improving safety for women requires a shift in overall strategy, moving away from short-term hardware fixes such as installing CCTV and more lighting. </p>
<h2>2. Consider the role of technology</h2>
<p>Women are keen to see digital interventions across both day and night-time. </p>
<p>They see <a href="https://theconversation.com/transport-apps-are-being-hailed-as-a-sustainable-alternative-to-driving-but-theyre-not-female-friendly-181972">real-time information for public transport</a> as vital for their confidence in public spaces. </p>
<p>When combined with well-designed <a href="https://wayfoundvictoria.vic.gov.au/what-is-wayfinding/">wayfinding</a> – such as lighting, footpaths, landscaping and signage – women said they would feel safer. </p>
<p>Increasingly, lighting and digital interactivity are being <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-05-28/we-need-more-public-space-for-teen-girls?utm_content=citylab&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic">combined in public placemaking</a> to enhance women’s safety.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-should-create-cities-for-slowing-down-75689">We should create cities for slowing down</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Design spaces with women, for women</h2>
<p>Women have been denied a say in their own communities for too long.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/research/project/safe-spaces-understanding-and-enhancing-safety-and-inclusion-for-diverse-women">co-design workshop</a> is an approach that aims to engage stakeholders with the people that will benefit from the design outcomes. In this case, it’s women.</p>
<p>Most often a co-design workshop will include high-level decision-makers, planners, designers and various user groups. </p>
<p>If done from the outset, co-design ensures the lived experiences of community members and with the issues faced by communities are factored in. </p>
<p>It’s also an inclusive, collaborative and creative method. </p>
<p>One of our survey participants said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My favourite experience in the workshop was just being able to meet all the different women who I probably wouldn’t have met without the workshop. I think just having a space like – creating a space like that is one of the first steps so that women can gather and meet.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman stands in front of a passing train" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women value live tracking of public transport to make them feel safer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-girl-passenger-longboard-standing-on-2027228648">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Use ‘walking interviews’</h2>
<p>A walking interview, as opposed to a regular sit-down interview or focus group, can help communities understand what makes women feel safe.</p>
<p>This helps us develop an understanding not only of the physical nature of public places evoking concern, but also of the ways in which different women, and indeed different user groups, engage with each other in a physical place.</p>
<p>The development of <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-should-create-cities-for-slowing-down-75689">place-based strategies</a> – collaborative design to help build a sense of place – can encourage inclusion and safety for women from different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, life stages and abilities.</p>
<p>By accompanying women on foot and discussing specific locations, we get a holistic understanding about how women move through these public places, or avoid them, and why.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-1-3-billion-for-womens-safety-in-the-budget-and-its-nowhere-near-enough-180256">There's $1.3 billion for women's safety in the budget and it's nowhere near enough</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Survey the right people, with the right questions</h2>
<p>Understanding the way women perceive their communities is key to creating safer spaces.</p>
<p>Community safety surveys are particularly useful for understanding the prevalence of attitudes, sentiments and feelings at one point in time. They can then be repeated each year to track changes over time. </p>
<p>If designed well, community safety surveys can be an effective tool to understand perceptions and experiences of safety and inclusion for women from all backgrounds. </p>
<p>But the survey must be diverse and inclusive.</p>
<p>Our research, the <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/research/project/safe-spaces-understanding-and-enhancing-safety-and-inclusion-for-diverse-women">Safe Spaces Project</a>, set out to do just that. We surveyed more than 200 women from a variety of backgrounds.</p>
<p>By figuring out the best ways to engage with women in the research process, we can then empower councils and other community organisations to do the same. </p>
<p>We’ve done that in the form of <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/425310">toolkits</a>. </p>
<p>In the past couple of weeks we have had more than 400 registrations at the launch and more than 1000 downloads of the toolkits from across urban, regional and rural councils in Australia, North America, the United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand. </p>
<p><a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/425309">This research</a> has identified effective ways to engage with a diverse range of women. </p>
<p>To make our cities safer, we just have to listen to them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216531/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research project was funded by the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victorian Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Wickes has received funding from the Australian Research Council, The Department of Justice and Community Safety and Wyndham City Council. </span></em></p>Women are most likely to feel unsafe in their cities or towns, but planning authorities have rarely listened to them. Here’s what we can do to change that.Nicole Kalms, Director, XYX Lab, and Associate Professor, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Monash UniversityCharishma Ratnam, Research Fellow, Deakin UniversityGill Matthewson, Lecturer, Department of Design, Monash UniversityMurray Lee, Professor of Criminology, University of SydneyRebecca Wickes, Professor of Criminology, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2031922023-04-06T01:50:20Z2023-04-06T01:50:20ZMany local councils still officially pray to God. Here’s why this may be unlawful and should be abandoned<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519479/original/file-20230405-28-1ge3gk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hands-folded-praying-over-bible-casual-1998895007">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s a good chance your local council starts each official council meeting with a religious prayer – and it’s almost always a Christian prayer.</p>
<p>Around one-third of Australian local governments have a prayer, with the figure rising to more than half of councils in New South Wales and Victoria.</p>
<p>These are just some of the findings reported in my recent article in the <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JASR/article/view/21309">Journal for the Academic Study of Religion</a>.</p>
<p>The issue of council prayers is highly contentious. Here’s why it is probably unlawful, and why I think councils should stop. </p>
<h2>How many councils have official prayers?</h2>
<p>It’s difficult to find up-to-date figures about the number of local councils with official prayers, as things are changing all the time.</p>
<p>But figures from mid-2019 show council prayers are <a href="https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JASR/article/view/21309">most common in the more populous states</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="KjYvr" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/KjYvr/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>There are variations in how councils go about praying. The most common method is for the mayor to lead the council in prayer (88 councils do this, out of the 522 councils looked at). The next most common is for a guest preacher to lead the council in prayer (55 councils), followed by a councillor other than the mayor leading the prayer (28 councils), followed by a council official leading the prayer (19 councils).</p>
<p>For 91% of Australian councils, the prayer is always a Christian one. Usually this is because the council has a prescribed prayer that’s used every time.</p>
<p>Even when guest preachers are invited, diversity isn’t the goal. Many councils invite only Christian guests. One council even had a policy of inviting preachers from non-Christian faith groups on condition they recite a Christian prayer.</p>
<p>The best way to find out whether and how your council prays is to check the video recording of a recent council meeting. These can be found in the meetings section of your council’s website.</p>
<h2>A contentious practice</h2>
<p>Adelaide City Council is <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjo74Gk2Iz-AhVsTWwGHScWDUoQxfQBKAB6BAgJEAE&url=https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/south-australia/adelaide-city-council-to-vote-on-dumping-meeting-prayers/news-story/b36cc077ace860c347b49acb893e47a5&usg=AOvVaw0qx2ycbs-HZVQXOJOVym1b">currently</a> considering whether to stop its practice of praying as part of its official meetings.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.acl.org.au/cm_sa_adelaide_council_prayer">Australian Christian Lobby</a> is running a campaign trying to persuade Adelaide councillors to keep the prayer. It argues that “prayer reminds people that our democracy was founded on Christian truth” and that it is “standing up for religious freedom”.</p>
<p>In January, a group of 21 councillors from various Victorian councils wrote an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-03/victorian-councillors-call-state-scrap-christian-prayers/101927704">open letter</a> to the state government and human rights commission asking that guidance be issued to councils about the appropriateness of council prayers.</p>
<p>They <a href="https://twitter.com/stephenjolly99/status/1621253893194924032/photo/1">wrote</a> that some councillors “object to being compelled […] to participate in a religious ritual as part of their role”, that others think it is unfair and inconsistent with multiculturalism to favour one religion over others, and that others think governmental bodies should be “neutral in matters of religion”.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia">Census figures</a> show that most Australians today are not Christian. About 44% of Australians report being Christian, while 39% report being not religious at all.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1552395263515340800"}"></div></p>
<h2>Is it even legal?</h2>
<p>England’s High Court ruled in 2012 that official prayers in English local councils <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/Judgments/nat-sec-society-bideford-town-council.pdf">were unlawful</a>. The High Court pointed out that governmental bodies like councils can only do things the law says they can do.</p>
<p>The High Court found there was no law allowing English councils to have prayers, which meant that councils having prayers was unlawful. The British Parliament later passed a law to expressly allow councils to have prayers.</p>
<p>Last year, I published an article in the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1037969X21996364">Alternative Law Journal</a> arguing that the logic of the English High Court decision applies in Australia too. There’s no law in any Australian jurisdiction allowing local councils to include religious prayers as part of the official business of council meetings. Indeed, Australian local government legislation emphasises the importance of equality and councils respecting the diversity of their populations.</p>
<p>Australian councils know there are legal risks in continuing to include religious prayers as part of their official meetings.</p>
<p>In Queensland, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjwnPetr4r-AhX22DgGHWU9BrgQFnoECBMQAQ&url=https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/fraser-coast/fraser-coast-council-set-to-debate-prayer-change-at-meeting/news-story/2b0f1e44b868812056a593524eadf361&usg=AOvVaw2_ZVo42XDhy1qjBilvGB1P">Fraser Coast Regional Council</a>’s chief executive told that council in January 2023 he had received legal advice that their Christian prayer practice may be discriminatory under Queensland’s religious discrimination laws. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-christian-nation-no-longer-why-australias-religious-right-loses-policy-battles-even-when-it-wins-elections-165169">A ‘Christian nation’ no longer: why Australia’s religious right loses policy battles even when it wins elections</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The corporate governance manager of <a href="https://www.banyule.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/about-us/meetings/2022/agendas/council-meeting-agenda-18-july-2022.pdf">Banyule City Council</a> in Victoria reported to that council in July 2022 that its prayer</p>
<blockquote>
<p>raise[s] human rights implications as a person, particularly councillors or staff, who identify as being of no religion or holding secular beliefs or other non-Christian beliefs, may feel coerced by having to recite a Christian prayer as part of the council meeting formalities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And just last month, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/gone-almighty-council-halts-christian-prayer-after-legal-warning-20230308-p5cqeg.html">Boroondara Council</a> in suburban Melbourne halted its practice of praying during council meetings in response to a legal letter from Maurice Blackburn lawyers representing a non-religious councillor.</p>
<p>Maurice Blackburn’s Jennifer Kanis told The Age newspaper that having religious prayers as part of official council meetings was “beyond the powers given to council” as well as being in contravention of Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.</p>
<p>A council may well find itself in court over this issue. But instead of dealing with court cases, our elected representatives should simply choose to open their official council meetings with something more inclusive and representative of the whole community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke Beck is a board member of the Rationalist Society of Australia Inc.</span></em></p>Our elected representatives should simply choose to open their official council meetings with something more inclusive and representative of the whole community.Luke Beck, Professor of Constitutional Law, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855392022-07-04T16:08:14Z2022-07-04T16:08:14ZWhat happens when your local council goes bankrupt<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472305/original/file-20220704-26-kj7qq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The ruin of Detroit, Michigan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-famous-abandoned-packard-plant-1177277557">Jacob Boomsma | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Local government fulfils an essential role in society. It provides fundamental services – from social care and transport to education, water and waste collection. And when it no longer can, when a council goes bankrupt, it is the most vulnerable citizens who bear the brunt of that failure. </p>
<p>In the UK, this has been deftly illustrated by the situation facing the town of Slough, in Berkshire. In 2021, the council issued a section 114 notice, effectively declaring itself <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2021/07/finance-director-praised-over-section-114-notice">bankrupt</a>. The <a href="https://democracy.slough.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=43486">recovery and renewal plan</a> subsequently drawn up laid out how services would be downsized and staffing numbers cut. So far, five care services have been closed and local transport has been reduced, with <a href="https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/slough-set-huge-service-cuts-21558454">more measures</a> likely to be <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/07/treasury-tells-councils-prioritise-core-services-amid-inflation?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=">introduced</a>. The council has also been <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/05/slough-urged-sell-most-its-properties?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=">pressured to sell</a> most of its real estate holdings. These cuts will continue to have a significant impact on the lives of local residents for years to come.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The entrance to a city's railway station." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When a city is facing bankruptcy, as Slough has since 2021, it is the most vulnerable residents who suffer the consequences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/slough-uk-september-2018-translation-railway-1220701696">Miroslav Cik | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research shows that when a local authority has strict accounting and reporting rules in place, it is less likely to experience financial problems. The national government, in turn, is less likely to have to use taxpayers’ money to rescue it.</p>
<h2>Strict fiscal accounting measures are helpful</h2>
<p>Since 2018, several other local authorities across England, from <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/05/county-issues-section-114-notice">Northumberland county council</a> to <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2020/11/croydon-council-issues-section-114-notice">Croydon</a>, <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2021/12/nottingham-issues-section-114-notice-following-hra-error">Nottingham</a> and <a href="https://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/news/council-news/Pages/northamptonshire-county-council-issues-second-section-114-notice.aspx">Northamptonshire</a>, have followed Slough in running out of cash. The Public Accounts parliamentary committee in the House of Commons has cautioned that <a href="https://www.localgov.co.uk/More-councils-will-be-forced-to-issue-Section-114-notices-MPs-warn/51737">more councils</a> will be forced to issue Section 114 notices, thereby restricting all non-essential spending because of a lack of funds. </p>
<p>Experts have long <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/916217/Redmond_Review.pdf">warned</a> that councils would be <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/3240/COVID-decade-Lessons-issues-sub-national-government-finances-Institute-Fiscal-_TkKE1v8.pdf">facing financial difficulties</a>. But rampant inflation and rising costs related to social care, transport and utility have meant this has <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/2022/06/watch-space-another-section-114-notice-warns-council-finance-director">happened</a> much earlier than anticipated. </p>
<p>To study how local governments across the world deal with financial difficulties, since 2018, we have gathered evidence from cases and legal systems from 20 jurisdictions, including the UK and the US, at times conducting qualitative interviews with managers and politicians. We recently presented a working paper from this <a href="https://royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/law-and-criminology/research/our-projects-and-research-impact/when-liquidation-is-not-an-option-lpes-in-distress/">research project</a> at the <a href="https://royalholloway.ac.uk/media/20718/insol%20international%20academics%20colloquium%20-%20programme.pdf.pdf">INSOL London Academic Colloquium Programme</a>. </p>
<p>We have found that local councils in those countrieswhich have strict accounting rules – including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the Russian Federation – are less likely to experience financial difficulties. In Japan, <a href="http://www.clair.or.jp/j/forum/honyaku/hikaku/pdf/up-to-date_en7.pdf">strict fiscal accounting measures</a> were introduced in 2007 with the Local Financial Soundness Act. This led to a reduction – from 40 to 0 – in the number of cities facing early restructuring procedures to save costs and avoid bankruptcy. Only one city (down from three per year in 2007), <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/aug/15/yubari-japan-city-learns-die-lost-population-detroit">Yubari</a>, is <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/77970/1/PDF_77970.pdf">still working</a> to become solvent. After filing for bankruptcy in 2007 due to the collapse of the local coal industry, Yubari council is following a complex multi-rehabilitation process, which has involved increasing taxation and reducing staffing and services. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A shuttered restaurant by a lake in a park." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yubari’s decline is attributed to the closure of the local coal mine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/24354425@N03/28143076903">Stuart Rankin | flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Implementing rules is where problems arise</h2>
<p>Having a legal mechanism in place to ensure that money is well spent is another key safeguard. In Belgium, among other countries, the government has developed an online tool for tracking local councils’ financial health. If they deviate from their financial targets, the government can force them to revise their budget allocations, among other coercive measures. </p>
<p>However, this is not enough. In South Africa, despite constitutional mandates on municipal budgeting and financial accountability, the way these rules are implemented <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2077-49072020000100014">has resulted</a> in extraordinarily high number of local authorities in distress. In 2020 alone, about one in five South African municipalities was under administration. </p>
<p>Research shows that in Canada, despite strict accounting and lending rules, during the 1930s several municipalities, including the cities of Windsor, York and Burnaby, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1754-7121.2009.00087.x">defaulted on payments</a>. Today, Canadian local authorities are still intrinsically vulnerable to unforeseen events – a sudden spike in commodity prices, natural disasters, conflicts in neighbouring countries, significant drops in the population and influxes of refugees and migrants – which can cause the most financially sound municipality to go bankrupt.</p>
<p>Detroit, in the US, offers an instructive case study. In the 1930s, the Michigan city was a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/detroits-golden-age-in-photos-2013-7?r=US&IR=T#the-parks-scenic-canal-offered-romantic-boat-rides-and-bands-played-on-the-bridge-4">major centre for commercial trade</a> due to its location in the Great Lakes region. It became the automotive capital of the world and one of the largest and most prosperous cities in North America. However, the gradual collapse of the automotive industry since the 1970s combined with <a href="https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2021/08/12/census-detroit-population-decline-u-s-census-bureau/5567639001/">population decline</a> heightened social and racial issues. Chronic corruption and mismanagement meant that the city which had been famously known as the “<a href="https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/arsenal-democracy">Arsenal of Democracy</a>” for its contribution to the Allies in the second world war <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/151520478.pdf">went bankrupt</a>. </p>
<p>The US is the only country in our study to have a comprehensive set of insolvency rules applicable only to local entities in distress. <a href="https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol10/iss1/4/">This ensures</a> that when cities like Detroit run out of cash, there is a sufficiently tried-and-tested approach to negotiate a way out. In these procedures, creditors must adhere to whatever plan the local government proposes. In this instance, in the so-called “<a href="https://cppp.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IHI_Digital_2017.pdf">Grand Bargain</a>” negotiated during Detroit’s <a href="https://dc.law.utah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=ulr">Chapter 9</a> bankruptcy, some philanthropic organisations were <a href="https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/R-HH-0416a.pdf">allowed</a> to protect pensioners’ claims.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A green tram car in a residential area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Croydon council declared bankruptcy in November 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/londonuk-5272013-a212-road-tram-tramline-1432761302">Charles Bowman | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-30877-7_11">European</a> countries – from <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MAJ-05-2016-1371/full/html">Italy</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221715005561">France</a> to Belgium – opt for special administrative rules. They believe that public law mechanisms, rather than <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/hulr50&div=38&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals">insolvency laws</a>, are better suited to protecting vulnerable citizens. The need to ensure the continuity of essential services justifies departing from more traditional insolvency rules on distribution of assets. This forces creditors to waive a more significant portion of their claims or to accept much longer repayment terms than if these traditional rules applied.</p>
<p>The UK adopts a much less structured approach. Rather than intervening early to minimise disruptions to essential services, our research shows that British councils indirectly support mergers between local councils, and their laws only intervene by replacing local councillors when no money is left in the council. </p>
<p>At that point, the only option left on the table is a government’s bailout with taxpayers’ money, as has happened in <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/03/government-gives-minded-approval-unprecedented-bailout">Slough</a> and in <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/03/government-approves-croydon-capitalisation-direction">Croydon</a>. This over-reliance on government assistance is due to a lack of rules that encourage councils to act at the first signs of crisis, as well as to inadequate financial supervision. As the Japanese and American cases demonstrate, last-minute bailouts of this kind are inefficient and ineffective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded by INSOL International, and Dr. Eugenio Vaccari is part of the INSOL International Academic Steering Committee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded by INSOL International. Laura Coordes is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded by INSOL International.
Yseult Marique is a board member of the British Association of Comparative Law. </span></em></p>When a local authority runs out of cash, it is its most vulnerable citizens who suffer the most from the cuts to services and staffing that follow.Eugenio Vaccari, Lecturer, Royal Holloway University of LondonLaura Coordes, Professor of Law, Arizona State UniversityYseult Marique, Senior lecturer, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1782932022-03-08T05:59:58Z2022-03-08T05:59:58ZUnder-resourced and undermined: as floods hit south-west Sydney, our research shows councils aren’t prepared<p>Thousands of people in south-western Sydney have been ordered to evacuate as extreme rain pummels the region and floodwaters rise rapidly. The downpour <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdhnLOHYHgU&ab_channel=ABCNews%28Australia%29">is expected to continue</a> for days. </p>
<p>This region, particularly <a href="https://theconversation.com/western-sydney-will-swelter-through-46-days-per-year-over-35-c-by-2090-unless-emissions-drop-significantly-177056">Western Sydney</a>, is no stranger to climate-related disasters. Rain is falling on catchments already sodden from severe floods in March last year. Western Sydney is also vulnerable to extreme heat, and is <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2273355-sydneys-inland-suburbs-are-10c-warmer-than-the-coast-in-heat-waves/#:%7E:text=The%20team%20found%20that%20during,built%2Dup%20than%20western%20Sydney.">8-10°C hotter</a> than east Sydney during heatwaves. </p>
<p>Local councils are the level of government closest to communities and help determine how well regions withstand disasters like floods. But are councils prepared for the more frequent and intense disasters that climate change brings? </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:60845">our new research</a> on eight Western Sydney councils, the answer is no. We find it’s not easy to deliver action on the ground as these councils try to balance competing priorities in urban development, with limited resources and stretched budgets. </p>
<h2>Balancing responsibilities</h2>
<p>When disasters such as floods strike, state and territory governments can declare a state of emergency and create evacuation orders. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/adaptation-communication_0.pdf">local councils</a> are in a central position to increase community resilience and communicate directly with locals. This includes flood mapping, restricting certain developments near high-risk areas, and making evacuation routes known to residents.</p>
<p>Clearly distinguishing these responsibilities is crucial for Western Sydney, which is one of Australia’s <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/rcegws/rcegws/About/about_greater_western_sydney">fastest growing regions</a>and feels the destructive impacts <a href="https://theconversation.com/western-sydney-will-swelter-through-46-days-per-year-over-35-c-by-2090-unless-emissions-drop-significantly-177056">of climate change</a> intensely. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/western-sydney-will-swelter-through-46-days-per-year-over-35-c-by-2090-unless-emissions-drop-significantly-177056">Western Sydney will swelter through 46 days per year over 35°C by 2090, unless emissions drop significantly</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Western Sydney councils are currently dealing with back-to-back disasters in a continual crisis management cycle. At the same time, <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:55936">they’re tasked with</a> pushing forward the NSW government’s housing and infrastructure <a href="https://www.greater.sydney/metropolis-of-three-cities/liveability/housing-city/greater-housing-supply">development targets</a>, which includes building almost 185,000 houses between 2016 and 2036. </p>
<p>Coupled with a lack of staff and funding, do they really have the capacity to cope with all this?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450567/original/file-20220308-85970-1ui6qaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Western Sydney is one of Australia’s fastest growing regions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p><a href="https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:60845">We analysed</a> 150 local government policies and planning documents, as well as local health district strategies. We also conducted 22 stakeholder interviews across the eight Western Sydney councils. </p>
<p>The good news is each council recognises the importance of addressing climate risk, and demonstrates a strong commitment to implementing sustainability, climate and resilience strategies. While action to mitigate climate change impacts on health and well-being is happening, the strategies are at very early stages.</p>
<p>According to our interviews, there’s a strong desire to do more, and all councils agree emergency preparedness and recovery work must take priority. While a NSW <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/resilience-nsw#:%7E:text=Helping%20communities%20rebuild%20and%20recover,efforts%20from%20prevention%20to%20recovery">resilience program</a> aims to address this, it doesn’t necessarily align with the unique risks each local community faces.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-east-coast-rain-seems-endless-where-on-earth-is-all-the-water-coming-from-178316">The east coast rain seems endless. Where on Earth is all the water coming from?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Acting quickly to move from planning to implementing strategies – such as redesigning buildings to match climate predictions – just isn’t in their capacity. And indeed, councils could not achieve this in time to mitigate the next climate crisis event. </p>
<p>Despite councils receiving money from the NSW government’s <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/disaster-recovery/disaster-relief-and-support">disaster assistance</a> funding, they can struggle to pay for recovery from events like flooding. It can take weeks, months, or even years to get local communities back on their feet. </p>
<p>As the councils explained to us, this means already limited funds get pulled away from other work, such as long-term sustainability goals, or simply important day-to-day provisions. </p>
<p>Hawkesbury, Fairfield and Penrith city councils are especially challenged. They experienced the worst flooding in 50 years last March and now face even greater flood alert warnings at Hawkesbury-Nepean River.</p>
<h2>State government undermines local decisions</h2>
<p>Despite these difficulties, councils consistently told us that the biggest barrier to delivering sustainable, resilient, climate-ready development across Western Sydney was NSW state planning directives.</p>
<p>In the planning system, state policies override local plans and policies. This means local councils often struggle to implement their own strategies. </p>
<p>The result is that pressure from the state government to build more housing developments can undermine local councils’ policies to, for instance, preserve agricultural land and open spaces – measures that protect against flooding. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sad-reality-is-many-dont-survive-how-floods-affect-wildlife-and-how-you-can-help-them-178310">'The sad reality is many don't survive': how floods affect wildlife, and how you can help them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indeed, this year’s floods have once again shown <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/02/a-year-on-from-devastating-floods-richmond-residents-are-again-facing-disaster">how problematic</a> pro-growth agendas and “development for development’s sake” can be. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/mass-starvation-extinctions-disasters-the-new-ipcc-reports-grim-predictions-and-why-adaptation-efforts-are-falling-behind-176693">recent report</a> from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes it clear flooding will increase in scale and frequency, and over-development (part of a problem termed “maladaptation”) will exacerbate the damage it inflicts.</p>
<p>So what needs to change? Our research presents a clear roadmap for local and state government agencies to better prepare. </p>
<p>This includes greater leadership and consistency from the state government, more collaboration between councils and in different levels of government, more capacity-building and more targeted funding. </p>
<p>What’s planned and built today must guarantee the safety, health and well-being of existing and new communities. Giving councils proper resources will help more of us survive in an uncertain future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicky Morrison undertook the study for Western Sydney Health Alliance, with funding from NSW Government and Local Government NSW 'Increasing resilience to climate change' grants. She is on the Executive Committee of Healthy Urban Collaboratory, part of Sydney Partnership for Health Education, Research and Enterprise, and the Strategic Advisory Committee of James Martin Institute for Public Policy. Nicky gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Erica McIntyre and Nathan Reynolds, WSU research assistants, on this research project.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Harris receives funding from NHMRC, ARC, and NSW Government. His position is jointly funded by UNSW and South Western Sydney Local Health District. He is the president of the NSW Branch of the Public Health Association of Australia.</span></em></p>Councils are trying to balance competing priorities in urban development, with limited resources and stretched budgets.Nicky Morrison, Professor of Planning, Western Sydney UniversityPatrick Harris, Senior Research Fellow, Deputy Director, CHETRE, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1130232019-03-19T18:50:37Z2019-03-19T18:50:37ZAutonomous transport will shape our cities’ future – best get on the right path early<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263562/original/file-20190313-86696-a73ced.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5890%2C3968&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cities have a choice of autonomous vehicle futures: cars or mass transit vehicles. Which one we adopt is likely to determine how people-friendly our cities are.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/light-trails-perth-sunset-1214125723">SueBeDoo888/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A unique opportunity exists for infrastructure investment in Australia as transport as we know it faces disruption from autonomous vehicles.</p>
<p>Disruption is not a dirty word. Traditional transport models are being transformed for the better by savvy young upstarts: the taxi industry by Uber, for instance, and even bus services by on-demand provider Bridj in parts of Sydney.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disruption-ahead-personal-mobility-is-breaking-down-old-transport-divides-70338">Disruption ahead: personal mobility is breaking down old transport divides</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>How do we manage this rapidly evolving technology, and what is the role of local government? </p>
<p>Autonomous vehicles will soon be a familiar sight in bush and city landscapes. In New South Wales the transport minister, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-wont-need-train-and-bus-drivers-transport-ministers-prediction-20170816-gxxhsp.html">Andrew Constance</a>, predicted in 2017 that public transport might not be needed in future, certainly with no drivers, because autonomous cars will handle everything.</p>
<p>I don’t think this will happen. The car is a good servant, but a bad master in shaping our city, even autonomous ones.</p>
<h2>What will a city of autonomous cars look like?</h2>
<p>A fully car-based approach to autonomous vehicles would involve cars driving around suburbs day and night, searching for people to pick up on demand. These vehicles would move into corridors, main roads and freeways, travelling at high speeds with just a metre or so between them.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-winners-and-losers-in-the-race-for-driverless-cars-63874">The winners and losers in the race for driverless cars</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Increased road capacity, safety and the very real prospect of solar-powered cars are undeniable benefits.</p>
<p>But what kind of city would we have? We would see more urban sprawl, possibly worse congestion and a departure from walkable cities.</p>
<p>We would lose an opportunity to reclaim pleasing city grids and urban centres. These spaces, which our city planners intended for pedestrians, have often been devoured by cars but are now returning to their rightful place as meeting spaces.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/smart-cities-does-this-mean-more-transport-disruptions-63638">Smart cities: does this mean more transport disruptions?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The case for trackless trams</h2>
<p>Autonomous transit vehicles with a collective benefit to society offer us a chance to continue to reclaim these spaces by providing rapid shared mobility where it doesn’t exist today. This is why I like <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trackless-trams-are-ready-to-replace-light-rail-103690">the trackless tram</a>: it has the high quality of autonomous transport like light rail, but at a tenth of the cost.</p>
<p>Trackless trams give us the capacity to not only catch up on years of under-investment in transport infrastructure, but also fund ambitious urban regeneration projects that will shape our future cities. This is what is driving <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqz9GXJuakU&amp=&t=4s">trackless tram studies</a> in Townsville, Sydney’s inner west, Wyndham in Melbourne and <a href="https://sbenrc.com.au/research-programs/1-62/">Perth</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trackless-trams-are-ready-to-replace-light-rail-103690">Why trackless trams are ready to replace light rail</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s also possible to use trackless trams to create new opportunities on the edges of our cities, like the <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-for-your-area/Priority-Growth-Areas-and-Precincts/Western-Sydney-Aerotropolis">Western Sydney Aerotropolis</a>. There, Liverpool City Council wants to maximise the benefits of the new airport through transport connectivity back to the city’s CBD. Dr Tim Williams, Australasia cities leader at ARUP, declared Liverpool to be the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/liverpool-the-surprise-star-of-australia-s-future-city-planning-20190224-p50zve.html">surprise star of Australia’s future city planning</a> for this reason. </p>
<p>Liverpool’s CBD is less than 18km away from the new airport site now under construction, but it might as well be a world away given the narrow roads and rural lands that currently separate the two.</p>
<p>NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley has <a href="https://www.michaeldaley.com.au/labor_announces_new_rapid_transport_link_to_connect_liverpool_and_western_sydney_airport">committed A$10 million</a> towards preliminary work on a rapid transit link between the airport and Liverpool should he become premier after the March 23 election.</p>
<p>And Liverpool Council is investing significant resources to find out what these upgrades should be. This is an opportunity to embrace autonomous vehicles like trackless trams to create a strong link between the new airport and aerotropolis.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/western-sydney-aerotropolis-wont-build-itself-a-lot-is-riding-on-what-governments-do-97462">Western Sydney Aerotropolis won't build itself – a lot is riding on what governments do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The role of city councils</h2>
<p>Historically, councils have often been the passive recipients of state and federal investments. But councils like Liverpool are recognising their role in championing infrastructure investment that will support high-quality future growth.</p>
<p>Councils are also identifying that they can control many of the mechanisms, particularly planning controls, that could be useful to minimise value leakage and <a href="https://theconversation.com/paying-for-infrastructure-means-using-land-value-capture-but-does-it-also-mean-more-tax-58731">maximise value capture for the common good</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/paying-for-infrastructure-means-using-land-value-capture-but-does-it-also-mean-more-tax-58731">Paying for infrastructure means using 'land value capture', but does it also mean more tax?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Developers are telling us that if we can give them up-front certainty on quality and timing of infrastructure and associated land development opportunities, then they can be willing partners in co-funding new transport connections like a trackless tram.</p>
<p>The challenge is to create partnerships with all levels of government, developers and the community, to focus the opportunities from current levels of infrastructure investment and enable bold rather than risk-averse approaches to the future.</p>
<p>New technology brings new challenges, but also new opportunities. For the sake of future generations, we need to get in before the window closes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/utopia-or-nightmare-the-answer-lies-in-how-we-embrace-self-driving-electric-and-shared-vehicles-90920">Utopia or nightmare? The answer lies in how we embrace self-driving, electric and shared vehicles</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113023/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Newman works for Curtin University on a project which involves several local governments, including the City of Liverpool, examining how trackless trams can enable urban regeneration. </span></em></p>Autonomous mass transit vehicles like ‘trackless trams’ are a better bet than autonomous cars to give us people-friendly cities that capture the value created by infrastructure for the common good.Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1098712019-01-15T19:11:37Z2019-01-15T19:11:37ZForcing Australia Day citizenship ceremonies on councils won’t make the issue go away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253810/original/file-20190115-180500-27yfb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C303%2C4559%2C2759&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Australia Day debate will likely become more pronounced each year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the latest instalment of the <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/culture-wars-australian-and-american-politics-21st-century">culture wars</a> surrounding Australia Day, Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/13/scott-morrison-forces-councils-to-hold-citizenship-ceremonies-on-australia-day">said he plans</a> to force councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26. The announcement was spurred on by a few local councils’ decisions to move citizenship events to a different day out of respect for Indigenous people. </p>
<p>Morrison <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottMorrisonMP/status/1084251147353743360?s=19&fbclid=IwAR3NYwHe7MmAJo4jFvVAu4_BlxIPHTBEXe6BymK-vuRkoTfepOgEiLi_yEA">claimed he was</a> protecting the day from those trying to “play politics”. And opposition leader Bill Shorten, as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/craigthomler/status/1084388785369083906">others on social media</a>, <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/01/13/australia-day-bill-shorten/">accused the prime minister</a> of playing politics himself.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1084251147353743360"}"></div></p>
<p>Since 2018, as part of a larger ongoing project exploring culture wars and local politics, we have interviewed eleven councils across the country who have taken the most prominent actions relating to January 26. These councils are generally Greens and Labor dominant. </p>
<p>Some, like <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-18/darebin-council-to-vote-on-australia-day-changes/8821928">Yarra and Darebin</a>, ignited a veritable media storm over plans to “dump” Australia Day citizenship ceremonies. Others, such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-14/australia-day-flinders-island-festivities/9326976">Flinders Island</a>, have flown largely under the radar. </p>
<p>All of them, however, take seriously the inclusion of Australia’s Indigenous heritage and multicultural diversity in our national day. Our interviews show Morrison’s portrayal of councils “playing politics” is out of step – councils are reflecting the wishes of their community members.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-separate-holiday-for-indigenous-australians-misses-the-point-103835">Why a separate holiday for Indigenous Australians misses the point</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>It’s not just citizenship</h2>
<p>The cancellation of citizenship ceremonies on January 26 has been a sticking point for the federal government. In 2017, all 537 councils in Australia received a strongly worded letter from assistant immigration minister, Alex Hawke, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/australia-day-local-councils-warned-not-to-politicise-citizenship-ceremonies/news-story/d1c83ed27e4d8dfcafc4ca28aa790f59">warning them</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Local councils are now on notice that if they politicise Australian citizenship, the Government will see it as a breach of the [Australian Citizenship Ceremonies] Code and take appropriate action.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But with a couple of notable exceptions, namely Yarra and Darebin councils <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-22/darebin-council-stripped-of-power-to-hold-citizenship-ceremony/8830126">who had their rights to hold citizenship ceremonies stripped</a>, the other councils we spoke to have refrained from touching the citizenship matter. </p>
<p>Some councils have simply sought to hold alternative events either on or close to January 26 that would be more inclusive of Indigenous communities. Mayor of Byron Shire Council in regional NSW, Simon Richardson, long felt January 26 celebrations divided the local community:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Arakwal Indigenous mob will come to our events, do the Welcome to Country, but it offends them celebrating on a day that really marks a complete change to their 10,000-year-old culture, I wanted an event where we’re all together.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Wary of the federal government’s warning, other councils did not want to shift citizenship ceremonies from January 26. But they did want to use them as an opportunity to educate Australia’s newest citizens about the country’s history. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"897707159915507712"}"></div></p>
<p>Another regional council in NSW, Lismore, has taken efforts to ensure ceremonies held on Australia Day are as inclusive of the local Aboriginal community as possible. And they never refer to the events as a “celebration”. </p>
<h2>Diversity of local responses</h2>
<p>Local councils sit at the coalface of the communities they serve and must respond to different needs and concerns. As David O’Loughlin, president of the Australian Local Government Association <a href="https://twitter.com/7NewsSydney/status/1084210288847609856?s=19&fbclid=IwAR24DhHesQ_WVrSC4L6CEJfY88NoeBeRCHDBCk0ToaG3z5zOxn54XWVcODQ">said</a>: “if they’re reflecting their community’s interest, that’s their job.”</p>
<p>Two of the most prominent councils to cancel Australia Day celebrations and ceremonies, Yarra and Darebin in inner Melbourne, were responding to ongoing discussions with local Wurundjeri people who found the date painful and uncomfortable. Former Yarra Mayor, Amanda Stone, told us council knew from these discussions the Wurundjeri felt “this wasn’t a day for [them]” and wanted people to have “an understanding of what the date meant to them”. </p>
<p>Other councils thought it important to lead on decisions relating to January 26. Byron Shire’s plan to shift Australia Day celebrations was motivated by the sentiment non-Indigenous Australians should be the ones driving change. For Mayor Richardson, this was important to ensure that the local Indigenous community did not “cop the backlash when it’s white fellas who have been responsible for the wrongdoing.”</p>
<p>On consultation with the Arakwal people, Richardson said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Their basic response was ‘leave us out of it, it’s a council issue’. Though they supported the change to our 26 January event, they wanted to make it clear that the idea was council’s, not theirs. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lismore City Council conducted extensive consultations on changing the date of Australia Day with local communities, the results of which were handed over to the federal government. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1084962464201146373"}"></div></p>
<p>And although they still run celebrations and citizenship ceremonies on January 26, Hobart City Council in Tasmania has <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/news/politics/hobart-to-officially-support-change-of-australia-day-date/news-story/b97905dc2699e666238f7e29945ae8d9">formally supported</a> the Change the Date campaign in recognition of local Aboriginal views.</p>
<h2>The issue is not going away</h2>
<p>Despite the different ways in which local councils have handled January 26, there is one thing on which they all agree – the issue is not going to go away. </p>
<p>Former Yarra Mayor Stone, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s not going to go away for Indigenous people and it’s not going to go away for younger Australians, many of whom haven’t grown up with the racism and attitudes towards Aboriginal people as people my age grew up with.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some councils, like the Inner West in Sydney, have already seen multiple notices of motion raised. The <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/sydney-council-votes-to-keep-australia-day">first</a>, submitted by Greens councillor Tom Kiat, “asking Council to recognise Invasion Day and to reallocate the funds currently designated for their Australia Day event to an Indigenous-led one” was knocked back. </p>
<p>But a few months later, a <a href="https://innerwest.infocouncil.biz/Open/2018/11/C_13112018_AGN_2656_AT_SUP_58243_58242_58245.PDF">mayoral minute</a> was passed asking council officers to conduct a “consultation with the local Aboriginal community and the wider community about how the nature of Council’s January 26 events should further evolve to recognise the history of Indigenous Australia.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-day-survives-despite-revealing-a-nations-rifts-and-wounds-89768">Why Australia Day survives, despite revealing a nation's rifts and wounds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Despite speaking to only a small fraction of local councils across the country so far, there is good reason to believe the Australia Day debate will become more pronounced each year. </p>
<p>Some, like <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/martin-haese-it-is-not-the-authority-of-councils-to-decide-the-date-of-our-national-holiday/news-story/9502888c32066de0d1c1018847dda735">Adelaide City Council</a>, have told us in no uncertain terms that the date of our national holiday is a federal matter and beyond their remit. But as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjm89Lv3e7fAhUOU30KHQVYDGEQFjAAegQIBxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fvictoria%2Fcity-of-port-phillip-mayor-supports-australia-day-but-wants-acknowledgment-of-massacres-against-aborigines%2Fnews-story%2F17e22fe06147038021e67340f820ff95&usg=AOvVaw1JOF3-q9YgcVaIxvUoeMWw">more councils</a> debate the matter, it’s clear Australians are starting to think about what it would mean to include Indigenous peoples as equal partners in our national day.</p>
<p>Enforcing citizenship ceremonies on the day is not going to change this, nor is <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6586285/Outrage-PM-bans-board-shorts-thongs-worn-Australia-Day-citizenship-ceremonies.html">banning boardies and thongs</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109871/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scott Morrison believes local councils are “playing politics” with Australia Day. But they’re simply reflecting the views of their community, and these views will only get stronger over time.Rachel Busbridge, Lecturer in Sociology, Australian Catholic UniversityMark Chou, Associate Professor of Politics, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/839102017-09-13T11:18:30Z2017-09-13T11:18:30ZA council has been intercepting emails to elected officials – here’s why that matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185713/original/file-20170912-3778-8k82xj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oneterry/23282576411/in/photolist-BtphPe-sdgEgj-4xqEn8-c8Xerd-s9TPh7-5XZo5S-c8Xf3U-c8Xfms-c8X8Ph-c8XcaN-c8XaBQ-c8XdpG-c8XcvN-c8X4hs-c8X2zd-c8XeJN-c8X9xW-c8X6ss-c8X7w5-c8XbT1-c8X9aA-c8Xbeb-bX4io1-s9bRqe-4zncq1-bxjQ5p-omTNfP-ok9jru-sJMkc5-byeqGj-sodfxu-hmgUxv-q3V5Je-5dj7eg-hjWqN8-5bSYyi-XV68YE-c8XahY-c8X5fS-c8X3QC-c8XaYj-6UijaH-c8X34J-c8X22w-c8X86d-n7xHFU-dzJpmr-pLwyCa-sxQLa4-goBwAa">Terry Kearney</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Emails from local people to elected councillors have been intercepted by officials at <a href="http://liverpool.gov.uk/">Liverpool City Council</a>. It’s not clear whether this involves a large or small group of people, but a recent example, and the council’s response to it, has shown that this is a practice that has been going on for some time.</p>
<p>The issue came to light when a particular email was stopped and gained an addendum before being passed on. The story appeared in the Liverpool Echo and has led <a href="http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/lib-dem-group-immediately-stops-13589960#ICID=sharebar_twitter">one group of councillors</a> to refuse to use the official council email system. In fact, reaction by some has been <a href="https://richardkemp.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/liverpool-a-city-that-would-make-north-korea-proud/">pretty fierce</a>.</p>
<p>While this might look like a “little local problem”, it actually raises a host of issues about the relationship between politicians and citizens – and between corporate state bodies and elected people.</p>
<p>Local councils in the UK vary in what they do. But they all exist to run services for people in their area. They are also democratic organisations, with individuals elected as decision makers and representatives. This means the council has a legal existence as an organisation, but also that there are councillors who are the political side of things and who have votes at meetings. In all but the smallest council, the paid staff (often referred to as officers) will considerably outnumber the political “elected members”.</p>
<p>It’s not clear how many emails have been intercepted and over what period of time. I fully expect individuals and organisations to now make use of <a href="https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/">Freedom of Information laws</a> and <a href="https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/principle-6-rights/subject-access-request/">subject access requests</a> to find out more. Anecdotally, I have heard that people are already contacting local councillors in Liverpool to ask whether their email communications have been intercepted.</p>
<p>In the particular case that brought the issue to light, an email intended for a councillor was diverted to the chief executive’s office, read and then added to with a suggestion of how the councillor might like to reply. It was then forwarded on to the councillor.</p>
<p>Most of us imagine we have a good idea of <a href="https://britishheritage.com/westminster-confession-the-working-life-of-an-mp-2/">what members of parliament do</a> but public understanding of the <a href="http://www.lgiu.org.uk/local-government-facts-and-figures/#how-does-a-council-work">role of a councillor</a> is much vaguer. Yet there are <a href="http://www.lgiu.org.uk/local-government-facts-and-figures/#how-many-councillors-are-there">many more councillors</a> than there are MPs. So this group makes up the majority of those elected to political roles. And given that councils are responsible for issues like planning, roads, schools and waste collection, the decisions they make have a very direct effect on people. </p>
<p>The Liverpool incident raises two very important questions. Should citizens expect to be able to communicate with an elected politician without interference? And should councils, as corporate bodies, be able to control the information of the people elected to effectively be in charge?</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"906082888730509312"}"></div></p>
<p>Liverpool City Council’s defence in this case was that it was trying to protect email recipients since a local citizen had been behaving “unreasonably” in her communications with councillors and officers at the council. Her actions were described as a “scatter gun” approach and the council system was then set up to divert all emails from her address to a central point. The council also said that it applied this approach in a “small number of cases”.</p>
<p>This argument might work for an organisation wanting to protect its staff. The problem here is that councillors are not staff. They are not employed by Liverpool City Council. They are accountable to the electorate and it is reasonable to assume that if I send an email to Councillor X, Councillor X is the person who gets it.</p>
<p>Councillors do receive money but it comes in the form of <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/members-allowances-survey-8f4.pdf">allowances</a>, not pay. And there are none of the things we expect from an employment contract such as performance reviews, progression pay and so on. So a relationship between a resident and an elected member is a direct one. It is not mediated by an employer.</p>
<p>It is clear to me that when a citizen makes contact, there is an expectation of confidentiality and privacy. The issue of confidentiality is vital here. Some citizens pass on sensitive personal information when requesting help. Others may be asking for assistance in pursuing a complaint about part of the council. </p>
<p>Some issues are difficult neighbour disputes. Others may be lobbying for a particular decision which runs against the policies of the ruling group. In my time on Liverpool City Council, I experienced all of these situations. And in all cases it would be difficult to have trust in the casework and representative system if it was felt that communications were likely to be read by other people.</p>
<p>Of course, it is possible that some incoming emails could be threatening, I have had some myself. But elected representatives can still take their own decisions about how and who to block. And many threatening communications are surely issues for the police anyway. </p>
<p>The issue of control is an interesting one. Clearly councils have to have rules about how they operate. But it’s also clear that there have to be some standards.</p>
<p>Constitutionally, elected members come together to <a href="http://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/documents/s70464/Part%25202%2520Article%25202%2520-%2520Members%2520of%2520the%2520Council.pdf">make decisions</a> which staff then carry out. Even where there are elected mayors with executive powers, councillors make a range of other decisions. And although many decisions are delegated, the responsibility for oversight rests with the elected individuals, not the staff.</p>
<p>When I was a councillor, I used to roll my eyes at those few elected members who refused to use the central email system because they didn’t want staff to interfere. I now know they were right to be wary.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paula Keaveney is a former Councillor, and leader of the opposition, on Liverpool City Council. She is a member of the Liberal Democrats.</span></em></p>Liverpool City Council has been monitoring communications from citizens – who probably thought they were reaching out in confidence.Paula Keaveney, Senior Lecturer in Public Relations and Politics, Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/794522017-06-14T19:25:39Z2017-06-14T19:25:39ZGrenfell Tower fire tragedy reveals ugly flaws of regeneration agenda<p>I grew up in social housing. It provided a stable and secure (albeit overcrowded and cold) home for my family, for life. As <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-london-40239008">fire tore through Grenfell Tower</a>, just 500 metres from where I was staying in London, I witnessed the complete and terrible destruction of 120 homes just like the one I grew up in. In the morning, I passed the police cordon and saw dozens of fire fighters standing in complete, abject shock. </p>
<p>Yet as the ashes settle, it is clear that the threat of ruin extends well beyond Grenfell Tower. Indeed, the policies which I argue have contributed to this disaster have been rolled out across social housing projects both in the UK, and across Europe. Earlier this year, not far from Grenfell, local residents in Westminster <a href="https://labourwestminster.wordpress.com/2017/02/25/give-residents-a-vote-on-estate-regeneration-says-westminster-labour/">voted against</a> any form of refit to their notoriously poorly-maintained Brunel Estate. And many residents across London fear the prospect of “urban regeneration”, seeing it as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/18/-sp-truth-about-gentrification-how-woodberry-down-became-woodberry-park">a type of social cleansing</a>, shorthand for a modern form of slum clearance.</p>
<p>Residents worry that any improvements will set them on a slippery slope to gentrification and eventual displacement. Over the years, I have watched with dismay as successive governments – both Labour and Conservative – have depleted the available housing stock through schemes such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/thatcher-helped-people-to-buy-their-own-homes-but-the-poorest-paid-the-price-50133">right-to-buy</a>, while also running down the standard of the remaining housing stock with <a href="http://kingstonfed.org/latest-news/council-tenants-will-pay-big-price-for-small-rent-cut/">constant budget cuts</a>. Faced with this gradual depletion and dilapidation, many family homes languish in a state of disrepair, while tenants’ fears that they could lose their homes go unassuaged. </p>
<p>This is not just a British problem. During <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468796815587007">my academic research</a> in France I have seen deplorable incidences of housing stock that are not fit for human habitation, and where repairs are routinely neglected. Where regeneration does take place, I fear it is often done with <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6dCeHNsHXvwC&pg=PA132&lpg=PA132&dq=regeneration+accountability+problems&source=bl&ots=Fp5KeZ4LhU&sig=xPqf4xg3LeFe7PVF6R09jJ_gqxY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC8uLH3r3UAhVDLMAKHeI5BnYQ6AEINTAC#v=onepage&q=regeneration%20accountability%20problems&f=false">little consultation and even less accountability</a>. </p>
<h2>A warning</h2>
<p>As Londoners get to grips with the tragic losses at Grenfell Tower, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/14/disaster-waiting-to-happen-fire-expert-slams-uk-tower-blocks">reports</a> have emerged about a recent refit that the tower underwent. Only last year, the site was given a £8.7m refit, during which a new central heating system was installed, more homes fitted in the lower levels and new cladding added to the outside of the building, <a href="http://www.rydon.co.uk/what-we-do/refurbishment/case-studies/refurbishment-case-studies/grenfell-tower">among other things</a>. </p>
<p>Yet a local <a href="https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/">residents action group claims</a> that throughout the process, their concerns about fire safety risks – relating to <a href="https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/grenfell-tower-still-a-fire-risk/">cluttered exits</a>, lack of <a href="https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/fire-safety-scandal-at-lancaster-west/">emergency access</a> and <a href="https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/">faulty wiring</a> – were ignored by both the building owners, Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), and the local authority, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"874903622777176065"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/grenfell-tower-disaster-how-did-the-fire-spread-so-quickly-79445">It has also emerged</a> that the new cladding was made of aluminium – a heat conducting material which did nothing to halt the spread of the flames. This type of cladding is commonly used across Europe, and indeed the world, to cover the outside of buildings to improve insulation – and also appearances. Indeed, a <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/property/the-torch-blaze-reignites-concerns-over-cladding-used-for-dubai-towers">spate of fires</a> in Dubai, where the cladding is very common, forced authorities to <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/uae/new-fire-code-requires-builders-to-reduce-cladding-flammability-in-uae-buildings">change building regulations</a>. </p>
<p>During my research in Roubaix, in the north of France, another residential block – the Mermoz Tower – was also refitted with aluminium cladding, as part of a redevelopment to add a shopping mall to the base of the estate. The residents I spoke to there for <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468796815587007">my research</a> were concerned about the quality of the refit, and felt that their worries went unacknowledged. Some time later, a fire broke out and <a href="http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/hauts-de-france/2013/05/14/roubaix-un-apres-l-incendie-de-la-tour-mermoz-251227.html">spread up the outside</a> of the building, just as we saw in London. <a href="http://www.nfpa.org/%7E/media/files/news-and-research/resources/research-foundation/research-foundation-reports/building-and-life-safety/rffirehazardsofexteriorwallassembliescontainingcombustiblecomponents.pdf?la=en">A report</a> by the Fire Protection Research Foundation later indicated that combustible cladding can play a role in the spread of fire, listing the Roubaix fire as a case in point.</p>
<p>KCTMO said <a href="http://www.kctmo.org.uk/news/336/further-statement-on-the-fire-at-grenfell-tower">in a statement</a> “it is too early to speculate what caused the fire and contributed to its spread. We will co-operate fully with all the relevant authorities in order to ascertain the cause of this tragedy.” A spokesperson for the council said: “We have heard a number of theories about the cause of the fire at Grenfell Tower. All of these will be thoroughly investigated as part of the formal investigation which has already begun.” The construction company behind the recent refit of Grenfell <a href="http://www.kentlive.news/the-company-which-refurbished-grenfell-tower-is-in-east-sussex-and-it-has-said-this-about-inferno/story-30390853-detail/story.html">has also said</a> it would “fully support” an investigation, and that the work met all required building control, fire regulation and health and safety standards.</p>
<h2>Redressing the balance</h2>
<p>The regeneration agenda has not only contributed to the destruction of social housing – it has also made it much more difficult to hold those responsible to account.</p>
<p>Since urban regeneration became a policy priority in the 1990s, such schemes have become <a href="http://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/pdf-files/cv/pete-tyler/clg-paper-regeneration-problems-1.pdf">increasingly complex</a>. New Labour touted “<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/458626.stm">the third way</a>” as a means of drawing private companies and funding into urban regeneration schemes. The goal was to harness the efficiency of the private market while undertaking repairs and building schemes. The result was a labyrinthine system, wherein private building contractors are given complex and far-reaching responsibilities for social housing sites. </p>
<p>Grenfell Tower is a case in point. Owned by the local council, <a href="http://www.kctmo.org.uk/main/8/about-us">it is managed</a> by KCTMO, which is a separate tenant management organisation and which sub-contracts repairs out to further private operators. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173864/original/file-20170614-718-13jqzyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173864/original/file-20170614-718-13jqzyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173864/original/file-20170614-718-13jqzyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173864/original/file-20170614-718-13jqzyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173864/original/file-20170614-718-13jqzyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173864/original/file-20170614-718-13jqzyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173864/original/file-20170614-718-13jqzyh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All affected: Grenfell (left) and other towers in West London.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicohogg/2532586718/sizes/l">Nicobobinus/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the inquiry into this disaster unfolds, it is likely that the decision-making mechanisms and accountability structures in this complex arrangement will be examined carefully. Yet as social housing tenants who complain about repairs will know only too well, it is likely that the investigators will find it difficult to determine exactly what has happened – and which party in this confusing arrangement is at fault. </p>
<p>The tragedy which occurred at Grenfell Tower exposes the problems with the successive reforms to social housing in the UK. All too often, I see profit and regeneration being placed above the safety and satisfaction of residents. In the wake of this catastrophe, political and community leaders must work to rebalance the scales of power toward the residents themselves, and away from the interests of private developers. </p>
<p>My grandmother grew up in the terrible slums that the Grenfell tower replaced. When asked about rehousing options, she chose uncertainty and a new start in a pre-fabricated house in the suburbs. As I was on the phone to my extended family – who still live in the house – we were very pleased she did.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79452/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Downing does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As fire tore through Grenfell Tower, I witnessed the complete and terrible destruction of 120 homes just like the one I grew up in.Joseph Downing, Marie Curie Fellow, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/768592017-04-28T07:02:27Z2017-04-28T07:02:27ZGovernment’s oil and gas tax response will leave regional communities at a loss<p>Falling revenues from petroleum mining, that spurred a <a href="http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/124-2016/">review of the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT)</a>, have hit regional communities hard and these same communities aren’t likely to get any relief from the government response.</p>
<p>Local communities that support the resource sector have called for funding now to build new infrastructure. But there is no good news for local communities in the review report because its recommendations will only apply to future projects subject to the PRRT. It won’t herald any changes in the up and coming federal budget.</p>
<p>The government’s recommendations from the review for existing projects can best be described as administrative. The report was silent on the introduction of Commonwealth royalties for those gas projects that are currently only subject to the PRRT. </p>
<p><a href="https://search.informit.org/documentSummary;dn=662628279898984;res=IELBUS">My research on the industry and community submissions</a> to the review shows the petroleum industry has closed ranks and called for no change to resource taxation. By contrast an alliance of regional shire councils want PRRT revenue placed in a future fund. </p>
<p>In addition to this, a group of trade unions, social justice groups and individuals have pressed for a reintroduction of Commonwealth royalties for offshore gas projects, currently only subject to the PRRT.</p>
<p>Petroleum industry lobbying has tempered the impact of submissions from the regional councils and the rest. It’s held the same sway as it did in 2010, where the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/the-man-who-killed-rudds-mining-tax/news-story/851da8b4dc89dc8f1d34b236eba50737">formidable force of industry lobbying</a> was effective against the introduction of the Rudd/Gillard government’s minerals resource rent tax. </p>
<h2>What regional councils are calling for</h2>
<p>A group of 27 regional councils from all over Australia lodged submissions. These councils were unified in asking for PRRT revenue to be placed in a future fund for regional use. </p>
<p>The council submissions provided details on their problems with financing infrastructure in the wake of mining projects and the need for PRRT revenue for the scheme. For example, <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.au/%7E/media/Treasury/Consultations%20and%20Reviews/Reviews%20and%20Inquiries/2016/Review%20of%20Petroleum%20Resource%20Rent%20Tax/Submissions/PDF/Mareeba%20Shire%20Council.ashx">Mareeba Shire Council’s submission</a> lists critical infrastructure needs as canvassing: roads, water, waste management, health and education. </p>
<p>The regional councils’ need for early funds is at odds with <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/prrtaa1987452/">how the PRRT works</a>. It’s a progressive tax, meaning it adjusts to project profits. </p>
<p>In the case of gas projects, high capital costs result in PRRT collections being delayed by decades. This is not compatible with the needs of a typical regional community. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.treasury.gov.au/%7E/media/Treasury/Consultations%20and%20Reviews/Reviews%20and%20Inquiries/2016/Review%20of%20Petroleum%20Resource%20Rent%20Tax/Submissions/PDF/Shell.ashx">Indeed Shell Australia wrote</a> in its submission:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It will take many years for Shell to break even on the cost of capital invested in its new Australian projects and start to make profits. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Western Australia has long had a <a href="http://www.drd.wa.gov.au/rfr/Pages/default.aspx">Royalties for Regions</a> scheme designed to reinvest funds back into the communities that support the resource sector. Both schemes need the PRRT, as current state royalties are inadequate. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.au/%7E/media/Treasury/Consultations%20and%20Reviews/Reviews%20and%20Inquiries/2016/Review%20of%20Petroleum%20Resource%20Rent%20Tax/Submissions/PDF/Isaac%20Regional%20Council.ashx">Isaac Regional Council (in Moranbah, Queensland) submission</a> called for similar scheme as WA’s, outlining its need to have services and infrastructure in place to support the coal seam gas extraction industry. </p>
<p>Isaac’s submission makes sombre reading, covering issues such as legacy impacts of poorly planned industry development. One example of this was a local landfill which was reduced from an estimated 30 year lifespan to just three years due to poor planning. </p>
<p>Issac Regional Council’s submission, like ones from the Western Australian shires of <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.au/ConsultationsandReviews/Reviews/2016/Review-of-the-Petroleum-Resource-Rent-Tax/Consultation/Submissions">Lake Grace, Merredin, Murchison and Wyalkatchem</a>, all call for PRRT revenues to be directed to a scheme to provide for much-needed community services and infrastructure. </p>
<p>Although setting up such a scheme is outside <a href="https://www.treasury.gov.au/%7E/media/Treasury/Consultations%20and%20Reviews/Reviews%20and%20Inquiries/2016/Review%20of%20Petroleum%20Resource%20Rent%20Tax/Key%20Documents/PDF/PRRT_dn.ashx">the review’s of terms of reference</a>, the current design of petroleum taxes will not provide adequate funds for regional communities. So this issue needs to be urgently addressed. </p>
<p>The Treasurer <a href="http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/038-2017/">Scott Morrison’s</a> response to the review states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The report finds the decline in PRRT revenue does not, in itself, indicate the Australian community is being short changed in receiving an equitable return from the development of its resources.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You would think the community, as the owners of mineral resources, would be the best judge of that assessment. </p>
<p>In its response the government indicated it will consider the report outside the current budget, to allow comments to be received on the recommendations. They will get plenty from regional Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76859/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane Kraal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Local communities are likely to be dissatisfied with the report from the PRRT review because its recommendations only apply to future projects and won’t herald any changes in the budget.Diane Kraal, Senior Lecturer, Business Law and Taxation Dept, Monash Business School, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/539912016-02-17T17:12:16Z2016-02-17T17:12:16ZFive maps that prove it’s time to reform council tax in England<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111831/original/image-20160217-20129-wn5e5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vicki_burton/8564626703/sizes/o/">vic_burton/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As local authorities set out their budgets for the year, council tax is set to rise in many regions across England. Councils in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-35556317">Lancashire</a>, <a href="http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/revealed-council-tax-bill-rise-10899620">Coventry</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-35588685">Cornwall</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-35538873">Surrey</a>, among <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/west/2016-02-17/council-tax-increases-what-you-need-to-know/">others</a>, have agreed to hikes of up to 4%. But while council tax will be crucial to help local authorities absorb cuts from central government, there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/council-tax-reform-is-long-overdue-so-how-do-we-do-it-45534">serious doubts</a> as to whether the levy is fit for purpose. </p>
<p>First introduced in 1993, council tax is imposed on properties to help pay for local services, council wages and administration. In general, how much council tax people pay depends on which “band” their property falls into. These bands are allocated by property value, ranging from A (the lowest value) to H (the highest value). But here’s the catch: in England, council tax bands are still based on property values from 1991. </p>
<p>I decided to map out the differences between 1991 council tax valuations and today’s house prices, to see whether the tax is as <a href="http://www.ifs.org.uk/comms/comm123.pdf">regressive</a> and arbitrary as <a href="http://npi.org.uk/publications/council-tax/council-tax-reform-age-localism-why-councils-should-take-lea/">some suggest</a>. </p>
<h2>The big housing boom</h2>
<p>Let’s begin with some numbers. If your house was worth £50,000 in 1991, it would now be worth about double that, if it had risen in line with inflation. If this had occurred uniformly across the country, it wouldn’t be a problem – but we all know that this didn’t happen. Instead, house prices rocketed, particularly in London and the south-east. For example, in 2014 the average price in Burnley was £85,000 (up 166% since 1995), while in Kensington and Chelsea it was £1.2m (up 558%). </p>
<p>The fact that some prices have risen more than others is a major issue, because it means the amount we pay in council tax is increasingly detached from the relative value of our properties. In other words, those whose properties have risen disproportionately in value are paying less than their fair share of council tax. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110437/original/image-20160205-18308-hsokpz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">House Price Growth, 1995 to 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ONS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Looking at average house price growth in the top and bottom 25 local authorities in England since 1995, we can see that prices have gone up across the board – but there is now a much bigger gap between the richest and poorest areas.</p>
<p>With a little help from colleagues at the <a href="https://data.cdrc.ac.uk/">Consumer Data Research Centre</a>, I mapped out the differences between house prices and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-stock-of-properties-2015">council tax bands</a>. Below, I have shown the biggest council tax band for each area in the borough, alongside a small inset map showing average house prices. Both maps are coloured according to the 1991 council tax banding. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110485/original/image-20160205-18308-e45xwh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Council tax bands vs house prices, 2015 (Islington).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Valuation Office Agency, HM Land Registry</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Starting with the London borough of Islington, we can immediately see that the variation in council tax bands sits in stark contrast to today’s average house prices. In 1995, the first year data are available for, the average house price in Islington was £105,000. By 2014 it had reached £533,000. Most properties in Islington belong in the top band of council tax – but, according to the data, there are no areas where more houses fall under band H than any other category. </p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is also the case across much of London. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111833/original/image-20160217-19275-13lvu8o.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">House prices by council tax band in London (1995-2015).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">HM Land Registry</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In more rural locations, such as West Oxfordshire, the contrast between council tax bands and current house prices is not as stark. But the variation is now very much out of line with the original 1991 valuations: some areas have gained value more quickly than others. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110457/original/image-20160205-18277-jc0ne9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Council tax bands vs house prices, 2015 (West Oxfordshire)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Valuation Office Agency, HM Land Registry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To take two contrasting examples from elsewhere in England, we can look at Cornwall and Liverpool. In the former, the purchase of second homes has driven up house prices, so much so that the council <a href="https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/council-tax/council-tax-discounts-and-premium/">removed the 10% discount</a> for these properties in 2013, following a change in government regulations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110470/original/image-20160205-18284-18z8lzu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Council tax bands vs house prices, 2015 (Cornwall).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Valuation Office Agency, HM Land Registry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile in Liverpool, where around 60% of properties are in the lowest value band A, the current variation in house prices is also out of line with the 1991 bands. House prices have risen much faster in some areas than others, particularly in well-connected, inner-suburban areas such as Mossley Hill and Aigburth. The effect – as noted <a href="http://npi.org.uk/files/3714/4904/8704/CT_reform_-_a_discussion_paper-_update_Nov_15_TBB.pdf">by the New Policy Institute</a> – is that “as time goes by, council tax becomes ever more arbitrary”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/110472/original/image-20160205-18274-5wc1ts.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Council tax bands vs house prices, 2015 (Liverpool).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Valuation Office Agency, HM Land Registry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When you look at these maps, the absurdity of continuing to use bands set in 1991 is pretty obvious. Naturally, it raises the vexed question of what should be done. Well, we could re-value properties and introduce new bands, like <a href="http://gov.wales/topics/localgovernment/finandfunding/counciltax/banding/?lang=en">Wales did in 2005</a>. Or, <a href="http://localtaxcommission.scot/download-our-final-report/">as in Scotland</a>, we could pursue more radical change. There, <a href="https://theconversation.com/council-tax-reform-is-long-overdue-so-how-do-we-do-it-45534">ideas for reform include</a> property revaluation, a land value tax, and even a local income tax.</p>
<p>Personally, I would favour some form of land value tax, as proposed by leading economists such as <a href="http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/about-the-obr/who-we-are/kate-barker/">Dame Kate Barker</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/joesarling?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Joe Sarling</a>. But of course this brings its own set of challenges: for instance, unfairly taxing the Islington resident who had the good fortune to buy a house there in 1991, but who lives alone and never seeks to benefit from the value of the land or property. </p>
<p>At the very least, a widening of the bands at the top and bottom to reflect the growing gulf between the richest and poorest areas (and the residents’ ability to pay) would be a start. With detailed data on <a href="http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ppd">house prices</a>, and the technology to crunch complex datasets, this should not be an insurmountable problem. The bigger issue is that, politically speaking, such reform is “<a href="https://next.ft.com/content/7da2852c-e3af-11e4-9a82-00144feab7de">dramatic and unpopular stuff</a>”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53991/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alasdair Rae does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Not only is council tax on the rise, it’s completely out of touch with reality.Alasdair Rae, Professor in Urban Studies and Planning, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/516222015-12-07T12:28:04Z2015-12-07T12:28:04ZHow cuts to local councils will affect you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104133/original/image-20151202-22461-ejccdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cuts to councils continue where they left off from the last parliament.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/occupymcr/8503018157/in/photolist-dXoc4k-dXtSdd-dXtSvU-dXtScs-dXoc3n-dXobH2-dXocrT-dXoc1v-dXtRHj-dXobQx-dXtS5m-dXtRAu-dXtSsh-dXocaR-dXtRSm-dXtSbs-dXobKD-dXobv4-dXobVk-dXocuH-dXoc9k-dXtSAN-dXobEP-dXtSiq-dXocpK-dXtSoG-dXockM-dXoczi-dXtSAC-dXtRwu-dXtRA5-9hEz4Y-9hBsVv-9hBnwt-9hEsEo-9hEqTN-rgfre9-zsfCUs-6R681F-6R5nKK-6R5xvk-9hBrkF-9hEuQU-9hEwq7-9hEvZE-9hBsBe-9hBjZx-9hBqyK-9hBmsn-9hEyKo">OccupyMCR/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If shrinking and reshaping the state is one of George Osborne’s <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21657393-george-osbornes-political-vision-brave-boldand-many-counts-wrong-new-conservatism">big ideas</a> then local authorities are right in the firing line. The chancellor’s recent spending review and autumn statement has local councils <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/25/local-government-councils-funding-gap-critical-budget-cuts-social-care-spending-review">bearing the brunt</a> of billions of further budget cuts.</p>
<p>As a former local authority chief executive, the announcements left me with the uncomfortable, but depressingly familiar impression of “smoke and mirrors”. While the cuts to local authorities were largely buried in the excitement of an apparent u-turn on tax credits, essential public services face serious cutbacks over the next four years with some of the biggest now backloaded <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479749/52229_Blue_Book_PU1865_Web_Accessible.pdf">into the fourth year</a>, often as unidentified efficiency savings.</p>
<p>Local authorities are the traditional safety net for regional issues that can find no other advocate. When local communities or individuals have a problem – such as insurance issues after flood damage or the loss of a local post office or pub – and can find no designated agency willing to help, they invariably default to their local councillor and council. </p>
<p>But with resources already reduced by more than a third <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Impact-of-funding-reductions-on-local-authorities.pdf">over the course of the last parliament</a>, local authorities are rapidly losing their ability to react to changing circumstance or to meet the public’s needs. This is what that looks like in practice.</p>
<h2>Education</h2>
<p>Until recently, spending on schools and education was the biggest part of a local council’s responsibilities and budget. Previously councils were responsible for nurseries, schools and colleges, education infrastructure and support services such as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/children-with-special-educational-needs/overview">special educational needs</a>. </p>
<p>Committed to abolishing the role of local authorities in the schools system, however, the latest spending review will see the rise of more academies, as sixth-form colleges can now become academies. This flies in the face of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jan/24/academy-school-system-heading-rocks">numerous criticisms</a> of academies’ admissions policies, wasting resources by creating excess school places, variable standards and privatisation to entrepreneurs with no experience of or expertise in education.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104130/original/image-20151202-22439-16lamky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104130/original/image-20151202-22439-16lamky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104130/original/image-20151202-22439-16lamky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104130/original/image-20151202-22439-16lamky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104130/original/image-20151202-22439-16lamky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104130/original/image-20151202-22439-16lamky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104130/original/image-20151202-22439-16lamky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cuts are a threat to unprofitable local services like libraries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/megantrace/6247294485/in/photolist-8PqZBE-5Hr9hY-5xuJuw-97M3xA-9fR4Aj-9bGwuR-9fMXev-9fMWnp-9fMX4x-9fMXLr-9fMYPK-9fMWRa-9fMYG2-9fMWBM-9fR3Sh-9fMY3F-9fR4QL-9jqybv-97M3R1-97M4Gm-97M2Zd-97M4bj-5Hr8zN-aw41ZT-8XN2k2-8XQfkf-abqwrT-bVmaTU-dQqG2S-iZdW55-brk8wJ-q5KfiF-fmZrwZ-kaqrJX-qftQ7W-99TsbP-dWWYs7-dWRjiM-dWWYnN-dbJ5kL-6zae4X-e8446q-e8443E-4Q8ytY-4Q4knB">Megan Trace/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Social services and welfare</h2>
<p>The biggest expenditure by local councils is now on a combination of social services, public health and welfare benefits. Despite the u-turn on tax credits, welfare spending overall <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34915218">will be cut by £12 billion by 2020</a>, with specific cuts from a cap on housing benefit confirmed in the autumn statement. </p>
<p>Adult social care is one of the areas that will be most affected by these cuts. Councils have been given the option of increasing the portion of council tax <a href="http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2015/11/spending-review-council-tax-hikes-shore-social-care-funding">dedicated to social care by 2%</a> to meet this need. But this revenue will not be enough to rescue adult social care and in particular care homes who are faced with ever increasing demand and unit costs driven by minimum wage increases. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/health-and-social-care-integration">Health and Social Care integration</a> looking more and more essential by 2020, it is likely that social services and public health will have been subsumed by what remains of the already strained NHS.</p>
<h2>Planning and transport</h2>
<p>Planning is already becoming a token fig leaf at the local level, and investment in transport is becoming centralised. The Department of Transport was one of four departments that agreed cuts in their budgets over four years before the Autumn Statement, with spending <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/department-for-transports-settlement-at-the-spending-review-2015">set to fall by 37%</a>. While capital spending is set to rise, local planning, delivery and maintenance of transport services and transport infrastructure is likely to suffer. Potholes, congestion and longer journey times are almost assured.</p>
<h2>Recreation and culture</h2>
<p>Councils also take care of sport, recreation and cultural facilities. At a personal level, local authorities register our births, marriages and deaths, they organise our elections and they provide funeral services. These are the sort of unprotected services which are under the greatest threat. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104128/original/image-20151202-22467-44yc9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104128/original/image-20151202-22467-44yc9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104128/original/image-20151202-22467-44yc9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104128/original/image-20151202-22467-44yc9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104128/original/image-20151202-22467-44yc9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104128/original/image-20151202-22467-44yc9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104128/original/image-20151202-22467-44yc9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Local parks could be at risk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/48716693@N06/8668319022/in/photolist-dGw5Kn-dGBuVy-dGBvHb-dGw6RH-dGBw3J-dGwbHg-dGw94P-dGByoG-dGw8p2-dGw8Ct-dGBxUm-dGwcez-dGw8bv-dGw7YR-dGBz79-dGByFN-dGw9Jr-dGBzRL-dGBxDo-dGBAm7-dGBxam-dtty64-dttygp-dtty2V-dhuNk2-dhu6wD-dhusfV-dhvdxL-dhv6Si-dhubon-dhu2qA-dhuAhJ-dhutWe-dhuxCX-dhuDwR-dht4B5-dhtu1e-dhtzLY-dhtCd4-dhtkvX-dhtoMk-dhtdoX-qWpGan-dUnKMd-dhvfRF-dhtxmD-dhthk1-cGthNN-ecZpff-ArxkY">ncbeeny</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Local authorities will be reduced to being “commissioners” of services to be provided by others who will only do so for profit. Any service that cannot be run at a profit, will not exist. Nobody runs swimming pools, public parks, or museums at a profit – they require a public subsidy if they are to survive.</p>
<h2>Cloak and dagger</h2>
<p>Osborne and his acolytes have devolved responsibility while keeping a tight hold of the purse strings. By using the rhetoric of devolution and localism, Osborne is distancing himself from future direct responsibility for the damage to come. Relying on the private sector to pick up the slack will result in the most vulnerable sections of society, who don’t have the money to help themselves, suffering. </p>
<p>This approach to local government is a surrender to the market and the post code lottery. It will result in the entrenchment and extension of inequality between people and places. </p>
<p>Osborne’s obsession with the small state has a strong resonance with the administrations of <a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3684102.html">Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge</a>. Two of the worst presidents in American history, they too believed in cutting back the state. Indolent and ignorant, but politically hugely popular in their time, their policies in the 1920s laid the foundations for the great crash and the depression of the thirties. While Osborne may have inherited the great recession, his policies will elongate its impact.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Murphy receives funding from research councils. He is advisor to Centre for Public Scrutiny. </span></em></p>Britain’s shrinking state means local services are increasingly being put into private hands.Peter Murphy, Principal Lecturer in Public Service Management, Programme Director, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/423472015-06-02T20:02:42Z2015-06-02T20:02:42ZCommunities love local councils but not private service delivery<p>Local government may not be recognised in the Australian Constitution but we fail to recognise its importance in our federation at our peril. </p>
<p>According to Australia’s first comprehensive <a href="http://www.acelg.org.au/news/why-local-government-matters-presentation">study</a> of community attitudes to local government, the majority of Australians value local government more highly than they do either the federal government or the states and territories.</p>
<p>During the second half of 2014, we surveyed a statistically representative sample of more than 2000 people to find out why local government matters. This major piece of social research, which has never been done before, demonstrates how and why communities value local councils.</p>
<h2>Positive attitudes</h2>
<p>Local governments employ nearly 200,000 people (about the same number of people who work in the federal public service) in diverse roles across the country. In 60 regional local government areas in Australia, councils are the single biggest employer. </p>
<p>And don’t be in any doubt that people know about their local governments; our study found 85% of people correctly named their council or shire and 50% could name their mayor or shire president.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/councils-warned-not-to-gouge-residents-with-rate-rises-well-over-inflation/story-fni0fit3-1227314172692">Media</a> coverage of local councils often focuses on perceived <a href="http://news.domain.com.au/domain/real-estate-news/councils-named-and-shamed-over-da-approvals-20120217-1te5x.html">grievances</a> residents have with their local representatives, and our supposed dislike of paying <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-15/litchfield-council-under-fire-for-27gouging27-new-residents/4821386">rates</a>. But we found that around 75% of Australians surveyed think local government is best able to make decisions about their local area. This compares to 26% for state government and an embarrassing 2% for the federal government.</p>
<p>The view of local government as being confined to roads, rates and rubbish is long gone, in both practice and in terms of what communities expect. Australians want local government to be responsible for a diversity of activities in their local community, with planning for the future being among the most important. </p>
<p>The emotional connection between people and the place where they live is one of the strongest messages policy makers can take from the study. </p>
<p>Agreement to statements we tested include: the landscape makes me feel good (77%); living here makes me feel good about myself (76%); and I feel connected locally to friends and neighbours (75%). Open space and the natural environment, and community “connectedness” are spheres of local government responsibility and are the key factors in making people choose and love where they live. </p>
<p>Residents don’t just want the rubbish collected and a local pool – they want a sense of community. They expect councils to deliver events and services that help build one.</p>
<p>Local governments matter because of their primary role as the “place-shaper” and their importance in meeting the needs that most drive people’s attachment to and satisfaction with the area in which they live. </p>
<h2>Public versus private service delivery</h2>
<p>The concept of service delivery by the public service is important to Australians. We overwhelmingly (93%) want governments to play a role, rather than the private sector, in providing services to the community. </p>
<p>To underscore this, Australians want more than just basic services from government. Over half (61%) disagree that governments should focus on providing only basic services compared with 18% that agree.</p>
<p>Contrary to a dominant message in public debate that private service providers are more efficient than government ones, we found that 45% of respondents disagree that the private sector delivers the best-value services. Only 26% agree that the private sector delivers the best value.</p>
<p>There is enormous support for government to deliver services for a healthier and fairer society, and for the proposition that decisions about services should not be made just on value for money.</p>
<p>And how should we pay for these services?</p>
<p>The majority of people agree that taxes and rates should pay for more than just basic services. Of those surveyed, 50% say they are prepared to pay more taxes to receive a broader range of services and about a quarter of respondents (23%) strongly disagree.</p>
<h2>Valuing local knowledge</h2>
<p>Australians overwhelmingly (93%) want to be involved with government in making decisions about what services are delivered in their local area. We think good decisions are best made by involving communities, experts and government together in the process.</p>
<p>Our survey found that people using services are considered to have the best knowledge of what services are needed and how they should be delivered, followed by service providers and then people who work in government.</p>
<p>Local government is not just an arm of state government that delivers services on the state’s behalf. People care deeply about local representation – they value having a say over who governs them at the local level. Having the capacity to decide on the people who make the decisions that affect them locally is strongly valued.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The full report of Why Local Government Matters will be launched in June 2015. See the <a href="www.acelg.org.au">ACELG website</a> for the Profile of the Local Government Workforce <a href="http://www.acelg.org.au/system/files/publication-documents/ACELG_Workforce_Survey_Executive_Summary.pdf">report</a> and a <a href="http://www.acelg.org.au/news/why-local-government-matters-presentation">presentation</a> of Why Local Government Matters findings.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42347/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was funded through the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG), which is a partnership between Local Government Managers National, the Institute of Public Works Engineers Australia, ANZOG, University of Canberra and UTS:CLG.
</span></em></p>A new study of more than 2000 Australians has found we care deeply about local councils, and overwhelmingly want governments – not private contractors – to deliver local services.Roberta Ryan, Director, Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/344402014-11-20T06:06:20Z2014-11-20T06:06:20ZTower Hamlets residents must be wondering why they bothered to vote<p>With a forced smile and through gritted teeth, Tower Hamlets’ elected mayor, Lutfur Rahman, has announced himself <a href="http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/politics/eric_pickles_ready_to_send_squad_in_to_take_over_tower_hamlets_council_1_3851301">willing to accept</a> – and even “welcome” – the intervention package set out for his borough by Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government.</p>
<p>The mayor had kept the minister waiting until almost literally the 23rd hour of the 14th day of a two-week deadline set for his response to the package. He had made two fruitless and costly appeals for judicial review, but in the end was left with little choice. He has no intention of resigning, but must now watch as three appointed commissioners take over until March 2017 some of his most valued and important responsibilities, following what Pickles described to the Commons as a “fundamental breakdown of governance”.</p>
<p>Pickles vowed to send in the troops after reading the critical findings of a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/370277/140311_-_final_inspection_report.pdf">“Best Value”</a> Inspection report he had commissioned from PricewaterhouseCoopers. His chief concerns were the payment of grants; transfer of property to third parties; process and practices for entering into contracts; and spending and decisions on publicity. PwC found the council to be particularly failing in its duties regarding the first two areas.</p>
<p>The minister could afford to offer the mayor a conciliatory fortnight to respond. He knew, after all, that the fate of Tower Hamlets had effectively been sealed in the summer. Rahman applied to the High Court for a judicial review in an attempt to stop Pickles from investigating allegations of fraud and mismanagement in the borough. The court dismissed the application as <a href="http://www.lgcplus.com/Journals/2014/09/05/w/j/t/Tower-Hamlets-Judicial-Review-Judgement.pdf">“hopeless”</a> in the first line of its judgement, and last week’s second application received almost equally cursory treatment.</p>
<p>By one of life’s pleasing coincidences, that first judgement coincided almost precisely with PwC being fined <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11042362/PwC-fined-25m-for-hiding-banks-sanctions-violations.html">$25 million</a> (roughly Tower Hamlets’ annual transport budget) for watering down a report on dodgy dealings at a Japanese bank. The consultancy has also been fined for lax practices in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jan/06/financial-sector-jpmorgan">protecting client assets</a> and failing to comply with <a href="http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2011/2011-82.htm">“some of the most elementary auditing standards and procedures”</a>.</p>
<p>When the PwC report was published, Rahman and his council immediately responded by saying it contained <a href="http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/tower_hamlets_rejects_government_audit_report_saying_no_evidence_of_fraud_1_3832599">“no evidence of criminality or fraud”</a>.</p>
<p>This was an at least questionable claim, for the report does refer to “evidence of possible fraudulent payments” to third-sector organisations and the matter is now in the hands of the police.</p>
<p>The denial also leaves Rahman a hostage to fortune. He might be able to challenge the suggestion that fraudulent activity was happening in council business but many – and in fact probably most – of the fraud accusations levelled at him relate to elections, and particularly his own 2014 mayoral re-election. </p>
<p>Rahman won by a margin of just 4% against Labour candidate John Biggs, and investigations of both the conduct and result of that election are still very much ongoing. There has been detailed scrutiny of ballot papers and an election fraud trial is to take place in the High Court, probably in January.</p>
<p>Rahman knows as well as anyone that fraud is not what Best Value is primarily about. This policy was introduced by New Labour in 1999 and for councils it means putting in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the performance their functions.</p>
<p>To demonstrate failure to comply, therefore, it isn’t necessary to demonstrate that money has been spent fraudulently, merely that satisfactory arrangements haven’t been in place. It’s doubtless a relief that PwC didn’t find glaring instances of financial fraud, but that wasn’t its primary task and there was plenty of nasty stuff it did uncover.</p>
<p>It sounded bad, then, when Rahman’s initial reaction seemed to be to downplay the failings that were uncovered by the report as easily remediable <a href="http://www.wharf.co.uk/2014/11/mayor-lutfur-rahman-calls-pwc.html">“regrettable flaws”</a>. Best Value is a statutory duty, and these matters are serious.</p>
<p>The really unfortunate thing about this case is the message it sends about local democracy. A Conservative minister, for whom most Tower Hamlets residents would never dream of voting, commissions a report from a bunch of highly paid professionals, which finds that locally elected politicians have had the temerity to question and even override the advice of more highly paid, unelected officials, probably living outside the borough. And finally, a third set of highly paid unelected officials is sent in to take over. At least some of those voters must surely be wondering why they bothered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34440/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Game does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With a forced smile and through gritted teeth, Tower Hamlets’ elected mayor, Lutfur Rahman, has announced himself willing to accept – and even “welcome” – the intervention package set out for his borough…Chris Game, Honorary Senior Lecturer, Institute of Local Government Studies, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/243032014-03-14T06:13:15Z2014-03-14T06:13:15ZWe need to talk about wheelie bins? Rubbish!<p>Public sector procurement isn’t sexy, but it is important. Government purchases approximately £120 billion worth of goods and services from third parties every year. That’s more than £4,000 per UK income taxpayer.</p>
<p>The range of goods and services procured by the public sector pervade every aspect of our lives: the rubbish that was collected from outside my door, to the pothole that ruined my car’s suspension, or the school meal my son will eat at lunchtime. And when procurement goes wrong we all hear about it, such as the scrapped <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3340921/True-cost-of-delayed-NHS-system-is-12.4bn.html">£12.4 billion NHS Connecting for Health programme</a>, or the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/sep/11/g4s-failed-olympic-security-lord-coe">failure of G4S</a> to supply security services to the London 2012 Olympic Games. </p>
<p>If, like me, your local council provides a multitude of brightly coloured bins to help you separate your recycling, garden and general waste then they’re simply wasting money. Local authorities could save £5 per wheelie bin if they bought plain black or grey bins with coloured lids instead. While this doesn’t sound much, Birmingham City Council just bought 400,000 of them at a saving of £2m simply by changing the colour. And as local authorities buy more than £58 billion worth of goods and services every year – roughly a quarter of their budget – there is room for substantial savings.</p>
<p>To date, action from central government has been weak and largely limited to directives and campaigns such as the Department of Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/39264/50_ways_2.pdf">50 Ways to Save</a>.</p>
<p>It claims local government could save £1.2m from cancelling “away days in posh hotels and glitzy award ceremonies.” Yet while it is shocking that Leeds City Council recovered £500,000 from suppliers that it had paid twice, and that The London Borough of Ealing gained an additional £1.5m from identifying fraudulent applications for the single person council tax discount, this is “small beans”. Some of the DCLG’s suggestions are frankly silly, such as the suggestion that councils open up coffee shops in libraries or end the subsidisation of staff canteens. These will generate tens of thousands of pounds at best. Such initiatives are big on rhetoric but short on action and support to achieve these savings. </p>
<p>The House of Commons’ Communities and Local Government Select Committee has released a <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmcomloc/712/712.pdf">report</a> on its inquiry into local government procurement. The report and the attached evidence paints a sorry tale of underachievement yet highlights some best practice which, if scaled up, could generate savings of 15-30% per annum – or up to £24 billion. For example, the <a href="http://www.espo.org/">Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation</a> – the UK’s largest public sector purchasing organisation – purchases approximately £1 billion worth of goods per annum. It has saved local authorities alone £19.9m on £434.8m worth of expenditure in the past 2.5 years. </p>
<p>The report articulates the need for procurement to be more than about delivering cost savings for councils. Local authorities must also achieve other local and community objectives through procurement, reduce the burdens on businesses and partners, and reduce fraud. </p>
<h2>Localism vs efficiency</h2>
<p>Small and large businesses alike were vocal in their complaints about the needless bureaucracy involved in public sector procurement processes. The report claims that councils “over-zealously” apply EU legislation making tendering overly complex and burdensome, and that a harmonised tendering process across councils could reduce the cost to tendering organisations by £1-2m per annum. For instance, there is no common pre-qualification questionnaire for tenderers across the public sector: a simple example of inefficiency. </p>
<p>The report argues that the need for local authorities to maximise social value under the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2014/feb/04/public-services-social-value-act-nick-hurd">Public Services (Social Value) Act</a>, as well as to deliver community objectives such as to support the local economy, increase employment, and support small enterprise may conflict with cutting costs through more centralised or coordinated procurement. Group tendering at a regional or national level removes councils’ ability to use their market power to support the local economy. </p>
<p>There is a tension therefore, between the recent trend towards localism, devolved responsibility and decision-making, with the desire to centralise procurement to deliver savings. Should local authorities be free to deliver on local priorities such as support small, local enterprise at the expense of free, competition and increased efficiency? Are we aware of the implication of doing so? These savings could be used to build more schools, or better ones, or even to simply reduce our tax bill to be spent on a little holiday. </p>
<p>Ultimately, local authorities need more support from central government. The select committee asked Baroness Stowell, the permanent undersecretary at DCLG, why they are only spending £6m through the transformation fund when they think it could achieve £1 billion in savings. This is a very good, but as yet, unanswered question. </p>
<p>Local authorities need movement away from the type of “quick wins” identified in the DCLG’s 50 Ways to Save and a focus on “big wins”. More importantly they need some leadership from the centre. Yet the report calls on the Local Government Association and councils themselves to implement its recommendations. It cautions against the centralisation of procurement but encourages local authorities to voluntarily collaborate.</p>
<p>So we need to talk about procurement, even if it isn’t riveting conversation, because it has big implications. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24303/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Cookson currently receives funding from The Leverhulme Trust, The National Institute for Health Research, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, The Department for Health, The Bar Council, and The Baring Foundation.
In addition, he has previously received funding from The Economic & Social Research Council, Centre for Workforce Intelligence, The Law Society of England & Wales, The Metropolitan Police Federation, Spire Healthcare Limited.
He is affiliated with The London Borough of Southwark as a Local Education Authority governor for Highshore School.</span></em></p>Public sector procurement isn’t sexy, but it is important. Government purchases approximately £120 billion worth of goods and services from third parties every year. That’s more than £4,000 per UK income…Graham Cookson, Professor of Economic & Public Policy, University of SurreyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/171272013-08-16T14:20:18Z2013-08-16T14:20:18ZHow ready for climate change is your town or city?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29437/original/pwg2z5p7-1376664556.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wrexham, like this driver, is ill-prepared for floods and other climate change-related problems.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Price/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than half the world’s population now lives in cities or urban areas, which means our vulnerability to the impacts of climate change is tied up with cities’ ability to cope. Responsible for more than 70% of carbon emissions, it is increasingly understood that cities must lead in tackling these problems and adapt to changes in weather patterns. This has led to a proliferation of urban plans for climate change.</p>
<p>To gain some perspective on how well planned and implemented such plans are, we devised an <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/planning-by-postcode1">Urban Climate Change Preparedness Score</a>, which can be applied to other cities and countries, for comparative analysis. It charts progress against assessment, planning, action, and monitoring, for both adapting to climate change and mitigating its effects. This Preparedness Score allows a comparison of climate change strategies across urban areas, and makes a comparison against other cities here and abroad possible.</p>
<p>Typically, gauging a city’s planning and preparedness is based on questionnaires or interviews of city officials. Instead we compiled and assessed only agreed and published planning documents drawn up and released by town and city councils in order to gain an insight into how prepared the cities were. We analysed climate change strategies from 30 urban areas (representing around 28% of the UK population) and the results are published in the journal <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-013-0846-9">Climatic Change</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/29432/original/wcy88thn-1376661865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of climate change preparedness shows many towns and cities have a long way to go.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Oliver Heidrich/Climatic Change</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Typically, climate mitigation activities across all cities were more advanced than climate adaptation plans. Emissions reduction targets ranged from 10–80% (with differing baselines, timeframes and scopes, for defining and meeting these targets), and a similar wide range was observed for adaptation plans. A combination of incentives and regulation, such as signing up to the <a href="http://www.covenantofmayors.eu/index_en.html">Covenant of Mayors</a>, the <a href="http://nottinghamdeclaration.org.uk/">Nottingham Declaration</a>, or the <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/01/15121842">Scottish</a> and <a href="http://www.wlga.gov.uk/climate-change">Welsh</a> equivalents, seemed to stimulate more comprehensive strategies in many cities.</p>
<p>The measures planned or put in place ranged from the general - improving energy efficiency and energy savings - to the specific - electric cars for transport (eg, Newcastle), or heating generated from renewables like wind, biowaste or tidal power. Where possible cities built on existing infrastructure. For example, <a href="http://www.cswdc.co.uk/">Coventry</a> and <a href="http://www.veoliaenvironmentalservices.co.uk/sheffield/">Sheffield</a> plan to build upon and improve existing waste-to-energy plant. However in London, proposals focus on decentralised infrastructures, such as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/increasing-the-use-of-low-carbon-technologies/supporting-pages/heat-networks">district heating</a>. Despite being recommended in planning guidance, only 15 cities proposed district heating in their climate change strategies.</p>
<p>Flood protection was the highest priority of measures to adapt to the affects of climate change, studied by 79% of cities, and urban planning and development was also seen as important. Councils are keen to identify areas were benefits overlap - green space in urban areas and shaded areas to lower heat levels (eg, in Lincoln), or encouraging better health through exercise (in Nottingham).</p>
<p>Overall, the highest scoring cities are Leicester, London and Manchester. They provide separate plans for adaptation and mitigation, integrate these plans with their core strategy, and provide regular reports and carbon footprints.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Derry in Northern Ireland and Wrexham in Wales only recently embarked on climate change planning and scored lowest. Although the councils consider climate change preparedness to be a performance criteria worth measuring, it has not yet implemented any planning or monitoring process to do so.</p>
<p>Generally, it seems that those cities which are required (for example Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow under Scottish Parliament legislation) or volunteer (such as through the Covenant of Mayors) to report on climate change are more advanced in their planning and implementation of strategies and score better. Conversely, among the weakest scores were Derry and Belfast in Northern Island, which has no statutory commitment equivalent to the Nottingham Declaration or Scottish or Welsh Climate Change Declarations.</p>
<p>As the causes and impacts of climate change do not fall neatly into the administrative boundaries of councils, it is clear that most policies will be more successful if implemented over broader areas and across boundaries. But local authorities are pivotal to achieving global climate targets, and this research reveals the missing, inconsistent and poorly planned policies that must be urgently addressed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oliver Heidrich received funding from EU COST and EPSRC to conduct this research. Oliver is a Senior Researcher at the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University and is a Senior Research Fellow of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.</span></em></p>More than half the world’s population now lives in cities or urban areas, which means our vulnerability to the impacts of climate change is tied up with cities’ ability to cope. Responsible for more than…Oliver Heidrich, Senior Researcher in Urban Resource Modelling, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145372013-05-22T13:36:04Z2013-05-22T13:36:04ZCapping elderly care costs won’t matter if no-one can qualify<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/24223/original/n8k3xhfm-1369159099.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C158%2C3526%2C2343&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The real problem in care for the elderly is not so much about protection from costs as eligibility for council help.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">PA/John Stillwell</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite a big overhaul in the way care for the elderly will be funded, there are still fears that it isn’t enough and we’re <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/10072092/Elderly-care-still-heading-for-disaster-and-tragedy-warns-Joan-Bakewell.html">surely “heading towards disaster”</a>.</p>
<p>The government is keen to emphasise the importance of its <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2013-2014/0001/lbill_2013-20140001_en_1.htm">Care and Support Bill</a>, especially after a somewhat policy-light Queen’s Speech. The highlight of this bill is a £72,000 cap on care costs from 2016 and is part of the government’s response to how we fund long-term care for the elderly without them having to sell all of their assets.</p>
<p>Many see this measure as a half-hearted response that will disproportionately benefit the better-off. Andrew Dilnot, who was commissioned <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130221130239/http://dilnotcommission.dh.gov.uk/">to report on the issue</a>, recommended a cap of £35,000.</p>
<p>Now the King’s Fund, a health thinktank, <a href="http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/paying-social-care">points out in its new report</a> that the real problem in adult social care is not so much about protecting people from the high costs of care but their eligibility for local authority help. The criteria is set so high that it will be difficult for many people to qualify.</p>
<p>Around <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/10068789/Care-cap-becoming-irrelevant-as-crisis-mode-system-excludes-all-but-a-few-report-finds.html">231,000 fewer elderly people in England</a> received help with their care from local authorities than four years ago, despite an increasing number of people reaching old age. And it’s not because people are getting richer.</p>
<p>The ratcheting up of council eligibility criteria for accessing support has been going on for some years and the problem was fully exposed in <a href="http://www.melaniehenwood.com/perch/resources/cscifacslosttothesystem.pdf">Lost to the System</a>, a report I co-wrote for the now defunct Commission for Social Care Inspection, back in 2007. The situation is now far worse, with vastly reduced funding in the face of rapidly rising demand. </p>
<p>As the King’s Fund report notes this has a knock-on effect across the whole system, and in particular there is now less focus on preventive care, <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/05May/Pages/numbers-unpaid-carers-young-carers-increase.aspx">more demands on family carers</a> and increased demand for expensive NHS care.</p>
<h2>The way forward is divided</h2>
<p>Few dispute this diagnosis. Where opinions differ is on how best to respond. <a href="http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/press/press-releases/new-government-reforms-wont-solve-social-care-funding-challenge">For the King’s Fund</a> it’s “a single strategic budget for the NHS and social care”. This would help to better shape care on a person’s individual needs. It would also put <a href="http://healthandcare.dh.gov.uk/hwb-guide/">the new Health and Wellbeing Boards</a>, where leaders from health and social care now have to come together, in the driving seat.</p>
<p>The idea of one pot of money is intuitively attractive. It would also pave the way for the Department of Health’s proposal for up to ten “<a href="http://www.hsj.co.uk/news/policy/lamb-invites-bids-from-integration-pioneers/5058589.article">integration pioneers</a>” to run large-scale experiments on integration of health and social care across England.</p>
<p>However, as is often the case with the debate about integrating health and social care, it is not so much the vision that is the problem but the detail. </p>
<p>The first dilemma is the fact that adult social care is means-tested while NHS care isn’t. The past 30 years have seen more and more former NHS activities surreptitiously shunted over to local councils - and Andy Burnham, the shadow Labour health minister has <a href="http://www.hsj.co.uk/news/policy/burnham-plans-60bn-nhs-cash-handover-to-councils/5053900.article">proposed more council control</a>. </p>
<p>But establishing a single budget around individual needs doesn’t solve the old problem – what is paid for and what is free?</p>
<h2>Who pays and who has control?</h2>
<p>The neatest answer is to put adult social care on the same footing as NHS care – free at the point of use and funded via general taxation.</p>
<p>Pushing the Health and Wellbeing Boards into a key role is another difficulty. These boards are barely out of the starting blocks and there is no evidence to suggest they are able to take on the major job of planning and commissioning care yet.</p>
<p>The only alternative is to vest control in either the NHS or local government. </p>
<p>The Labour Party seems to favour doing this, as Burnham’s idea shows. But the government has only just established clinical commissioning groups in the NHS to put GPs in the driving seat when it comes to buying in services. Do we really want another “redisorganisation”?</p>
<p>Whether the NHS or local government takes a lead, there are question marks over who has the best skill and capacity to commission health and social care services. Does anyone imagine that one budget in the hands of a single or joint organisation or agency will solve everything?</p>
<p>The Health and Social Care Act is taking us in a different direction with competition and outsourcing to private companies. It’s not a distraction being faced by people in Scotland or Wales who aren’t covered by this legislation.</p>
<p>What is certain is that this is a system-wide issue that requires everyone – commissioners, social care providers and the public - to sit around the table and plan this strategically. </p>
<p>Ultimately the real issue is about priorities. Do we, as a society, want to find the resources to invest in securing better care and support for people who are sick and frail? If so then resources can be found. But until this happens we will continue to have a fire-fight over people with the highest need while allowing others to fester behind closed doors. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/14537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Hudson has received funding from the Department of Health, the former Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Department for Work and Pensions</span></em></p>Despite a big overhaul in the way care for the elderly will be funded, there are still fears that it isn’t enough and we’re surely “heading towards disaster”. The government is keen to emphasise the importance…Bob Hudson, Professor of Applied Social Science, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.