Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner. Image © Rupert Rivett/Shutterstock
Labour’s deputy leader has called for councils to unlock “the pride and purpose” in their communities.
Angela Rayner used her keynote address to the LGA conference in Bournemouth to issue a clarion call to her party’s new councillors to deliver for their communities.
With a double-digit poll lead and predictions from election experts that the Conservatives are highly unlikely to win the next general election, the party’s new frontline troops were looking to for a glimpse of future plans.
But Rayner warned that with public finances under significant pressure, they could not expect a return to the big budgets of the Blair era.
“We face a challenging time ahead. The public finances are in a bad place – we know that. If we are elected, we know we will inherit the consequences of that,” she said.
A key plank of the party’s manifesto will be devolving power out of Westminster. The plans were drawn up with input from former prime minister Gordon Brown.
Rayner said: “Let’s give people all of the nationwide standards they expect – absolutely. But let’s give them the chance to direct their community. A bigger stake in the future of their neighbourhood, their town, their city, their country.”
The other hint in her speech was that the manifesto would go big on infrastructure, an echo of Harold Wilson’s claim to support ‘the white heat of technology’.
Decades later, Rayner said Labour would battle for the builders.
“This country has got to roll its sleeves up and start building things. More wind farms, more laboratories and, yes, more homes,” she said.
Planning laws will have further reforms and national targets would be set.
“The planning rules don’t reflect the reality that the land is designated as greenbelt that isn’t protecting our environmental heritage,” Raynor said.
Housing will be a core issue for the party; a Newham councillor challenged levelling up secretary Michael Gove during the opening session, claiming the current system is stacked in favour of existing home owners.
Until the election, the day job of delivering for communities will be done by councils – and the majority are run by Labour following May’s local elections.
Rayner confirmed that labour’s leader Sir Kier Starmer, who is one of four people writing the manifesto, has already held meetings with his party’s council leaders to hear what they want to change.
The new leader of the LGA, Cllr Shaun Davies, said the rise of demand from voters had to be reflected by councils.
He wanted a new local deal for councils and a new local government act as well as simplified funding.
“Everything we do is ultimately about the people we serve,” he said. “We know everyone better than someone behind a desk in Whitehall.”
