Steve Bullock: Labour rule changes will ensure we don’t let Tories off the hook for cuts to local public services

Lost in the fog of Labour conference speeches and debates was an important decision that is set to reshape Labour in local government.

The reform package that our party agreed this week pave the way to bring in more women councillors and council leaders in to our town halls, support our new metro mayors as they bring real change to our major cities and puts us on a stronger political footing to take-on the Tories’ austerity agenda.

Metro mayors will have the opportunity to turn England’s major cities in to beacons of social justice and economic powerhouses and demonstrate the real change Labour in power can make. Building homes, reviving economies, tackling unemployment, protecting the environment, and supporting refugees.

To be the success that we need metro mayors must be connected with the communities they serve and be part of the fabric of our party. Our new rules package will ensure that as a party Labour is ready to support and work closely with our mayoral candidates and, should they be elected, our mayors. They will ensue accountability and transparency are part of how our mayors work from the very start.

Every Labour council in Britain is anti -austerity. Labour councillors oppose every cut the Government has made to our communities; every children’s centre forced to close by the cuts, every job lost, every minute of care that has been denied to the most vulnerable in society. But, while we campaign against the cuts the Government continues to make, our Labour councils go on being innovative about how we deliver public service, look for ways of bringing in more revenue and prioritise to protect the most vulnerable.

It is the duty of all of us in the Labour movement to make sure that the public know that the cuts are as a result of the Tory failed austerity agenda. This is why the rule change committing Labour councils to setting legal budgets is so important. It means we don’t let the Tories off the hook for their reckless decision to introduce austerity and the damage that is has caused to our communities and we don’t risk damaging the services that our residents rely on.

It is clear we need to do more to increase diversity in local government, including increasing the number of Labour’s female councillors and women in leadership roles within local government. This involves identifying the barriers that prevent more women (and candidates from other under-represented groups) from standing for election and fulfilling their leadership potential, and then working to remove these barriers.

Equally, we need to do much more to encourage more BAME, working class, LGBT and disabled people to stand for elected office. At conference the Labour Party decided to put in place practical and radical rule changes to help us to do that. These changes include:

• Expanding the use of all women shortlists in local government selections.
• Increasing the training and targeting currently done for underrepresented groups in local government.
• Council and group executives to reflect the gender makeup of their Groups and the wider community.
• Working to phase out all male member council wards.

Our conference also agreed to make selections fairer and more transparent. For example, we are discussing introducing a  ruling that would ensure selection panel members would not interview or assess any local government nominee to whom they are related.

Changing with the times is essentially for any successful party and this package of reforms help us to do that.

Tom Watson and Alice Perry, our local government representative on the NEC, have done a great job in putting this package together and taking it through our conference and our councillors are 100 per cent behind them as they now go about getting these rules established.

With everything else going on at conference it is important to not lose sight of Labour’s purpose; to improve peoples’ life chances and to fight for a better world. These rule changes will help Labour’s 7,000 councillors as they set about fulfilling our mission.

Sir Steve Bullock is mayor of Lewisham