Cllr Davies address to the LGA Annual Conference on 4 July 2023.
**CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY**
Good afternoon everyone.
I am truly honoured, humbled and excited to become Chair of the LGA; your LGA.
As custodian of this national cross-party role, I will work tirelessly to champion local authorities of all shapes, sizes and colours represented by the LGA.
It is my mission to represent our amazing, our hardworking, our absolutely vital sector – and the ‘Can do’ attitude of all who work in it – to His Majesty’s Government, and to His Majesty’s Official Opposition.
And to work with the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and all other parties and independents.
As I receive the LGA baton, I pay tribute to all those who have played such a significant role in Team LGA in recent years.
But chiefly to the outgoing Chairman, Cllr James Jamieson, who led the LGA over four of the most turbulent and tragic years in our nation’s history. I know you will join me in thanking him for all he has done.
And to Cllr Izzi Seccombe who steps down as Conservative Group Leader, and who has contributed so wisely to the LGA’s decision-making and influencing.
It is with great sadness that we reflect on the passing at the weekend of Lord Kerslake, a passionate advocate for local government during his time as our President and beyond. Bob was a friend and adviser to many of us here today, and our thoughts are with his family and friends as we remember him.
The next three fantastic days are a chance to look to the future, and a special welcome to all of you at LGA conference for the first time.
I echo Mark’s thanks to my friend Cllr Vikki Slade and the team at BCP, and to all our sponsors, especially our main sponsor CCLA, for helping us bring this event to you.
A unique feature of the LGA - and one of its great strengths - is that we are politically led and cross party.
We are truly the voice of local government.
And I am delighted to be working closely with our four Group Leaders and Vice Chairs over the coming year:
My friends:
- Cllr Kevin Bentley
- Cllr Nesil Caliskan
- Cllr Joe Harris and
- Cllr Marianne Overton
We will work together with the leaders of sector groups, special interest groups and Chairs of the LGA Boards, united in our passion and belief that every local area should be a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Creating the conditions – and sparking the innovation and ambition for us to get the very best deal for councils and our communities – will be my central mission as Chair of the LGA.
This work starts immediately.
I want the LGA to be the best member organisation it can be, and for us to challenge ourselves every day to be even better.
I will shine a light on the hundreds of ways councils - and all of us as leaders of place - improve our residents’ lives.
I will make the case for reform which will allow public services to be delivered faster, better and more efficiently at a local level.
And I will ensure that as your membership body, we are working constructively – and robustly – with today’s government as well as ensuring we are general election ready and prepared to engage with the next administration.
In return, I ask today for your support for the LGA and for our sector.
We sometimes describe ourselves as a local government family. And just like a family, when one member is struggling others step in to help, and we look to our strongest family members to lead the way.
That’s my rallying call today for our local government family. For each and every one of us to strive for the best and to be prepared to step up to help.
The LGA is a vital part of the support system. We are here for you.
We will work with you to promote your successes. We will share your ideas and good practice with others. We will help you be the very best and provide the very best to your residents.
The LGA is here with the tools, training and expertise to support you and your teams – so please use it.
Today is a significant day for me. To be able to advocate not just for the residents of Telford and Wrekin, or indeed my party, but on behalf of the whole of local government means the world to me. Because local government is personal to me, as it is for many of you.
My council provided my parents with their first home that I was brought up in.
My council gave me a park to play in as a child.
My council was there at the happiest of times as I registered the birth of my son.
My council was there at the hardest of times when it provided social care to my nan in the final years of her life.
And my council gave me hope for the future as it granted permission for new homes to be built – including what would be my first home.
I was elected to Telford and Wrekin Council at just 24, and at 30 I became the youngest council leader in England. And yes, despite how old I look, that was just seven years ago!
Since then, my team and I have been on a journey to be named council of the year, transforming its services for the people of Telford and Wrekin. It is local government – not national government – which is responsible for more than 800 services which make a difference to people’s lives day in, day out.
The A to Z of local government runs from adult social care to zebra crossings. And I will look for any and every opportunity to advance our cause across the entire alphabet of our services and responsibilities.
But today, I want to focus on the challenges we face – and the solutions we have – through the lens of three Ps.
Not parking permits, pest control or potholes. But what more we can do for our people, places and planet.
Everything we do is ultimately about the people we serve.
As leaders of place we know our areas inside out – better than someone at a desk in Whitehall ever could. And it is the people in this room – local leaders and conveners - who will play a crucial role in protecting our planet.
There are big challenges ahead for us all.
Take the challenge of housing.
We are grateful to our minister and the Government for the recent announcement on right to buy receipts. But we need to go further.
England is gripped by a housing crisis. There are currently more than 1.2 million households on social housing waiting lists and more than 100,000 people living in temporary accommodation.
Addressing the chronic housing shortage must be a national priority.
That’s why this week the LGA has set out a six-point plan to kickstart a council housebuilding renaissance. Give local government the powers and funding to deliver thousands of social homes a year. Let us resume our historic role as a major builder of affordable homes.
And take the challenge of health.
Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of our NHS and we should applaud it and those who work in it.
But councils know that the focus on healthcare and structures, such as the NHS, is often at the expense of public health and prevention.
Where devolution of health and social care has taken place, there are significant benefits for our residents. We must set out a clear vision for how the NHS and local government can align investment around place to support improved health outcomes, and improved economic growth.
And take the challenge of looked after children.
I’ve always thought it is the responsibility of the strongest to look after the most vulnerable in society. And to my mind, there is no more important role than our role as corporate parents.
I don’t just mean protecting or looking after children. I mean helping people who have had the most challenging start in life to get on their feet, and stay on them.
If councils are corporate parents, during my time as your Chair I will be encouraging the LGA to think of its role as corporate auntie or uncle. Always thinking about what’s best for those in the care system, sharing ideas, advocating, and urging us to go above and beyond important steps, such as signing up to the Care Leavers’ Covenant.
And take the challenge of asylum and resettlement.
The image of British beaches is now regularly linked to the arrival of small boats and illegal immigration. And behind every immigration statistic and every news report about small boats is a human being.
Councils have a proud history of stepping up and supporting asylum seekers and refugees to settle here and rebuild their lives. But combined pressures from government schemes are growing on councils. We are at crisis point.
We want to work with the Government to get this right. Not just in a way that is right for the people arriving in the UK but also tackles the unsustainable pressures on our local services and on our communities.
And take the challenge of climate change.
In the UK we have experienced heat waves, fire, drought and flash floods. Climate change is right here, right now. Can we truthfully tell our children that all of us in government – both national and local – are doing everything we can to protect our planet? I can’t.
In local government we recognise the urgency and scale. The LGA declared a climate emergency in 2019 and over 300 councils have declared climate emergencies too.
In the LGA and in our councils we have ideas. And we have solutions.
Our “faster, better, more efficient” mantra is never more true than when it comes to net zero.
Local climate action could help us hit net zero by 2050 while saving taxpayers around £140 billion when compared to national approaches.
We need to pick up the pace, to consider the climate implications across everything we do, and harness both the big advances in technology as well as locally driven interventions and ingenuity.
Later this month I will ask the LGA Board to approve an even greater focus on net zero with changes to our boards which ensure local government is leading the response on behalf of our people, places and the planet.
Those are some of the areas of focus for me, and I hope you will work with me to deliver on them.
But of course, I can’t conclude without acknowledging that this could be the last LGA conference before a general election.
Only the Prime Minister and his closest confidants will have an idea of when it might be.
What we do know is that there must be a general election by January 2025.
Whether it’s 18 months – or 18 weeks – this period is a moment of opportunity for local government.
Every organisation across the land is consulting its members and drafting a list of things they want from the next government. Or rather how much they want from the next government.
At the LGA, we want to make all the parties an offer we hope they can’t refuse.
Of course, give us more and we can do more. More for our people, our places, our planet.
But we can offer ideas, solutions, tried and tested schemes from across local government.
Simplify our funding, cut out wasteful and unnecessary bidding for resources, and give us long-term certainty and stability.
With this we can get on with working to improve people’s lives in our villages, towns and cities.
We have a compelling story – and evidence – about how public services can be delivered faster, better and more efficiently.
And I am happy to share the secret with ministers and ministers-in-waiting as they draft their manifesto pledges. Make. It. Local.
Our Work Local approach gives more people skills that help them find a job for less than the cost of national schemes. So let’s make it local.
The Covid pandemic gave government all the clues they needed. When people were in need, they turned to councils. And when you need something delivering on the ground, give councils the resources and we will get it done. So let’s make it local.
Over the summer, throughout party conference season, and right up to the next general election we will be making the case to Make it local.
I say to this government – and to whoever holds the keys to Number 10 next – take us up on our offer. Work with us to build a brand new central-local partnership in which local government can work to its full potential for our people, our places and our planet.
After the General Election, my ambition is that the LGA will hand over a plan for the first King’s Speech setting out a new local deal.
I want to see a Local Government Act from local government for local communities. And I want to work with a Westminster government which values a trusted, respectful and equal relationship with local government.
So, I am calling on this government, the next government, and every successive government to Make It Local. Together we can, and do, Make It Local.
Thank you.