Labour needs to get local and expose the Conservative record in power

By Theo Blackwell

Labour’s record in power nationally needs to be juxtaposed with the record of Conservatives where they are in power at a local and county level and in London. David Cameron’s Conservatives should answer for the choices Conservative-run authorities have made since the last general election. This will show their true colours in diverting support away from childcare, closing play centres, weakening affordable homes targets, increasing charges for services to the vulnerable or watering down policies aimed at tackling inequality.

Often Labour has relied on the strengths of incumbency to promote its message. Yet what people see and hear at a neighbourhood level is just as important in shaping their views about Labour and the viability of a Conservative alternative. Yes, we have a Labour government – but in many areas across the country where people are represented by a Labour MP their services are no longer delivered by a Labour council.

This is not an argument about central versus local, but one of local choices by Conservative-led councils. Since 1997, more funding has been given to local authorities. They are able to do more, and have a suite of powers to help change communities for the better. Yet as we enter recession, in several notable areas we see Conservative-led authorities, often feted by David Cameron, cutting services and raising charges.

In Camden – a Tory-Lib Dem administration with the Tories very much in the driving seat – since 2006 we have seen:

- Over £30 million in overall cuts to services since change in administration, watering down or ending outright Labour’s emphasis on the borough’s most deprived areas

- ‘Stealth tax’ hikes in fees and charges, such as 50p extra per meal for community meals for elderly, higher play service charges and burial fees

- 267% increase (£9 to £33) for permission-to-park notice for builders or workmen outside your house to bring charges “in line with Westminster “, the most rapacious parking authority around

- Reduction in award-winning street warden service

- Cuts in Welfare Rights, Camden Language Services and equalities support

- Less funding to the voluntary sector, targeting advice services

- Abolition of door-to-door recycling schemes on council estates

- An end to street ‘gully cleansing’ team and 3am street cleaning cut in entertainment hotspots such as Camden Town and Covent Garden.

Councillor Stephen Cowan’s reports from Hammersmith & Fulham tell a similar and even more disturbing tale. There, meals-on-wheels charges have been forced up £547 since 2007 and there have been a host of substantial cuts to valued services such as libraries, social care, public protection and maintenance. The Conservative Leader there, voted ‘Local Hero of the Year’ in 2007/2008 by Conservative activists, is feted by Boris Johnson and David Cameron and is a lead member of a body called the Conservative Council Innovation Unit, suggesting that what Hammersmith has done to public services could be replicated elsewhere.

Websites like Labour Matters provide ample juxtaposition between the choices Labour councils make and those taken by the Tories. This issue is not just one of councils recently taken by the Tories. Opposition posts from Westminster Labour are a great example of an effective opposition questioning a long-standing ‘flagship’ Tory Council.

The challenge to Labour is to highlight these and other examples from across the country, providing a clear diving line between Labour’s priorities for helping local communities, and their narrow vision of government. Simply put, looking at how the Tories or the Lib Dems operate in local government, what choices they make and priorities they have, is an important exercise – not least because it provide us with a ‘behind-the-spin’ example of what they would be like if they ever were in power.

We need to translate the local evidence into a national narrative. This has to be led from the top. Gordon Brown himself needs to join this debate and make clear how important this local evidence is when it comes to judging the Tories.

There also needs to be greater communication between councillors and ex-councillors well versed in these issues, who have witnessed cuts to the voluntary groups they once championed or the services they once supported. Yet, in the very best sense of the word, local councillors are parochial, in the best sense of the word, and so far it has been difficult to develop our experiences into a wider discussion.

Now is the time to take this further and properly build our evidence-base.

Taking it to the blogs
Together with some other local councillors and campaigners in December I established a roundup of local Labour activity. Although at a nascent stage, it aims to highlight local stories by Labour councillors from across the country, or examples of poor policymaking by Conservative or Lib Dems or the SNP in power.

Why? The short answer is that I’ve found that despite the growing of internet political activism, the voice of the local government councillor is not as present as it could be. Relatively few councillors feature in the top 100 of left or right blogs, and yet many of their experiences dealing with constituents or the real-life results of policies made in central government (or their own local councils) are also key to understanding current national debates.

That was just one step from a couple of opposition councillors in a couple of boroughs. If the party took hold of this agenda – and created a debate about local public services and local choices – the image David Cameron’s Conservatives are trying so hard to maintain could be subjected to serious scrutiny and challenge.

Councillor Theo Blackwell is the opposition spokesperson on finance for Camden Labour.