new government our priorities for the

Our Priorities for theNew Government

Ahead of the General Election, our cross-party network came together todemand that whoever formed the next government must ensure that thevoice of our shire counties was heard.

C l l r D a v i d W i l l i a m sC C N C h a i r m a n

Therefore, to truly unleash the potential of the entire country, government must ensure that counties are at the heart oftheir agenda. In taking this forward, Boris Johnson's government has a ready and willing partner in CCN and itsmembers. We can help solve some of its most pressing domestic issues and capitalise on fresh opportunities. But, asa strong cross-party network, we must also be prepared to stand up for our own priorities and providepractical solutions to overcome the challenges that local government continues to face.

Funding will, of course, be a central part of this dialogue with the government. At a time of financial strain, our councilshave shown how they can transform and innovate to protect front-line services, while improving outcomes forresidents. However, to continue to do so, we need long-term sustainable and fair funding at the 2020 Spending Review.

The manifesto commitment to invest a further £4bn in social care by 2023/2024, alongside an additional £2bn for roads,provides a solid foundation for a more sustainable funding settlement. But it is clear we need to go further, supportinggovernment to deliver their promise of a cross-party consensus to reform of adult social care, while also recognisingthat additional funding and reform in children's services and special educational needs & disabilities (SEND) are equallyimportant.

Alongside this, counties and their members of Parliament - both newly elected and continuing - want to see arenewed commitment to delivering fairer funding for our county and rural areas; a policy the Conservative Manifestoremained silent on. One of the earliest actions of this government must be to confirm our precise funding levels for nextyear, using the settlement as an opportunity to reaffirm a cast iron commitment to this most important of policies.

Nonetheless, dealing with many of the issues facing shire counties, be it an ageing population, growing demand forSEND, unaffordable housing, uneven social mobility and tackling climate change require much more than funding.

This document sets out the need to carefully engage county authorities in legislative reform and take steps to harnessthe strategic role of county authorities across economic growth, housing, public sector reform and environmentalprotection, underpinned by a devolution settlement for all.

With the right tools, the right powers, and the right funding, we can do much, much more; unleashing the potential ofcounties, both economically and socially.

I am therefore delighted to present this document on behalf of the County Councils Network(CCN), which seeks to put that promise into action.

Importantly, we committed to work with the incoming administration, whoever thatmay be, to ensure that our counties have the funding, powers and freedoms needed todeliver their local priorities and the objectives of new Ministers.

Boris Johnson’s majority government has been elected on a domestic pledge to ‘level-up’ the ‘left-behind’parts of the country. Counties are home to some of our most prosperous and successful areas, but wemust not forget that many left behind areas are located within counties; from deprived towns, rural andcoastal communities in the north, south and east, to former manufacturing hotbeds in the midlands, toplaces where young people leave to go to university and never return. The left-behind nature of many ofthese places are partly a product of resource and policy being overly London centric and city focused.

Foreword

IntroductionThe 36 county and county unitary authorities thatmake up CCN are the largest part of the localgovernment family. They represent all four cornersof England, from Cumbria to Cornwall, Durham toKent, North Yorkshire to Suffolk, Derbysire to Essex.

The essential services they provide touch on theeveryday lives of residents and businesses across86% of England’s landmass and 47% of itspopulation.

This why county authorities, and the communitiesour councils represent, must be at the heart of thenew government's domestic agenda.

At a time of financial restraint, counties have showntime and again how they can forge newpartnerships across the public and private sector tocontinue to be leaders of place and the anchorinstitution within our local communities.

As the new government begin to set out theirlegislative programme, this document sets out thepriorities of our member councils and the proposalsthey believe can help them realise the potential oftheir areas; from levelling up left-behind areas,tackling our housing crisis to reforming social care.

It outlines our practical proposals across sustainable and fair funding, reforming adults &children's social care and securing devolution forall to ensure our members have the foundations inplace to achieve their ambitions.

With the right foundations in place, counties can domore for their places by creating communities, growing our economies, and tackling climatechange.

Despite many common perceptions, counties aremore than just social care authorities; they are thekey local agency that can engineer public servicereform at scale and help tackle the climateemergency; deliver the homes our communitiesneed; and support the government in deliveringpost-Brexit growth and prosperity.

We look forward to working together withgovernment to unleash the potential of counties.

Sustainable &fair funding

Providing a multi-year funding settlement tomeet councils spending need, delivering thefair funding review and reforming localgovernment finance so it is more efficient.

Reformingadults &

children'ssocial care

A solution to social care funding andreforming care services across the life cycle;improving integration with health, investingin prevention and reforming specialeducational needs and disabilitieslegislation.

A practical framework for devolved powers,institutional and structural reform togenuinely drive powers down to localcommunities; from Whitehall to County Hall.

Devolutionfor all

Creatingcommunities

A more strategic approach to planning,matched by new infrastructure financing,while enabling counties to continue toprovide culture services, improvecommunity safety and well-being.

Our priorities for thenew government

Growing oureconomies

Tacklingclimatechange

Creating the conditions for thrivingeconomies in our communitiesby harnessing the role of county authoritiesin place-based growth, devolving skillsbudgets and investing in transport andconnectivity.

Supporting councils to reduce their carbonemissions, improving parks, public placesand waste management, and investing ingreen infrastructure and resilience.

At aglance...

01Sustainable & fairerfunding

Over the last ten years, councils have needed torapidly adapt to a climate of significantly reducedresources, growing and ageing demographics, andthe changing needs of our residents. Over 65% ofcounty expenditure is now dedicated to social care.Moreover, the distribution of funding no longermatches the needs of local areas.

Our latest funding forecasts* show that even if countyauthorities receive an inflationary increase in funding,alongside the continuation of all current funding forsocial care, they still face a cumulative fundingshortfall of £13.2bn over the next five years andpressure to raise council tax. This represents anunderlying funding gap of £1.8bn in 2020/21 whichwill increase year on year to £3.6bn in 2024/25.

Our first priority must be ensuring sustainable and fairfunding, providing a solution to the long-term fundingneeds of councils but also reforming council financeso it is fairer and more efficient. This will allow councilsto preserve frontline services, invest in local andnational priorities and continue to innovate servicedelivery to improve outcomes for residents.

Sustainable Multi-Year Funding Settlement

Due to the measures announced in the SpendingRound, the funding shortfall facing counties next yearhas reduced but a gap remains. Even if allcounties implement a 4% rise in council tax, a £1.3bnfunding gap would remain. Faced with thesechallenges, councils need clarity on their resourcesnext year to plan effectively.

One of the new administration's first tasks will befinalising the 2020/21 local government settlement. It isimperative councils have short-term financialsupport through;

Immediate confirmation of the provisional localgovernment settlement. The minimum baseline forallocations should be based on the proposalscontained in the technical consultation to allowcouncils to plan effectively and get budgets in placefor the financial year starting 1st April 2020.

The £2bn pot hole fund should be distributed directlyto councils using the same methodology as2018/19 with no reporting duties placed on councils.

Even if county authorities raise their council tax by acumulative 12% over the next five years they would stillface a funding shortfall of £7.7bn, with further savingsand service reductions required to balance budgets.

A 2020 Spending Review should seek to set outa minimum 4 year funding settlement for councils,reflecting the spending need requirements of differentcouncil types. It should also consider policy andlegislative changes in specific areas to recognise newstatutory duties and ease legislative burdens.

Use a Spending Review in 2020 to deliver a multi-yearsettlement of 4 years. This should seek to providesufficient Core Spending Power up to 2024/25 to meetthe projected spending need requirements set out inthe Independent Review recently conducted byPriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for CCN.

Rates & ReformKey Issues at a

glance........ Fairer Funding

A multi-yearsettlement of 4 years

Freedom overlocal taxation

A new housing & infrastructureincentive & review of business

rates retention

Completion of the fairfunding review &

implementation in 2021

Sustainable FundingSettlement

Council Tax &Fiscal Devolution

*Updated funding forecasts to be published in early 2020 - includes annual 1.7%increase in settlement funding assessment, 3% public health & continuation of

all 2020/21 social care grants to 2024/25

The new burdens doctrine must be properlyapplied when assessing new duties resulting froma change in our relationship with the EU.

Fairer Funding

CCN councils are the lowest funded councils and havelong argued that the current way of distributingresources is out of date and unfair.

The review of relative needs and resources has madeconsiderable progress under the previousadministration, with CCN responding to theconsultation earlier this year setting out our supportfor the direction of travel.

Our member councils remain united on the need forthe government to ensure resources are distributedfairly between councils, which recognises the highercosts of delivering services in rural areas and enables fairer council tax levels across the country. It isimperative that fairer funding for councils is a priorityfor the incoming administration.

Government must restate a commitment toimplement the Review of Relative Needs andResources in 2021/22. A final consultation andindicative allocations under the formula must bepublished in early 2020.

Council Tax & Fiscal Devolution

Decisions over council tax should be taken by locallyelected and accountable politicians. Our long-heldposition is that we do not support thecurrent referendum policy.

The Localism Act should be amended to end thecouncil tax referendum threshold. Councils shouldhave full discretionary powers over council taxdiscounts.

There is a growing debate on a more ambitiousprogramme of fiscal reform, whether it is replacingcouncil tax with a new property tax or additionalincome streams such as a tourist or local income tax.

Any replacement system of taxation designed to fundlocal government must provide the necessaryresources for services that residents need bybalancing the correct level of redistribution, needs-based funding and incentives for local growth.

A full range of fiscal devolution measures shouldbe considered as part of the long-term funding oflocal government in the Spending Review.

Rates & Reform

CCN has long argued for reform to New Homes Bonus(NHB) and, at a time of reduced resources for thesector, has continually questioned whether it doesrepresent the best use of resources. There is littleevidence that NHB incentivises house-building andleads to an unfair distribution of resources; bothbetween tiers and across regions.

NHB should either be reformed or abolished. Ifabolished the funding should be redistributedbased on need, with any reform focused onreviewing the role of incentives so they betterreward upper-tier councils vital role in providinginfrastructure that enables sustainable housingdevelopment.

CCN has continued to support the implementation of75% business rates retention. However, we haveraised concerns over whether there is a correlationbetween business rates income, growth expenditure,and service need. This questions the extent of thegrowth ‘incentive’ it provides councils and whether it isa fair way of funding different types of councils.

Moreover, we have also raised long-term concernsover the sustainability and suitability of the tax infunding local government in the face of pressure frombusiness groups to reduce the tax, given the nature ofhigh-street and online retailing.

The incoming Government has committed to furtherreducing business rates, alongside a 'fundamentalreview' of the tax. In the short-term, local governmentmust be fully compensated for any new reliefs anddiscounts and any fundamental review will need toconsider the future of 75% business rates retention.

As part of their review of business rates, theGovernment must fully engage the sector on thefuture of business rates retention.

If 75% is implemented, Government must ensure ahigher tier share of locally retained rates forcounty councils.

Unpacking the financial challengesfacing counties.....

Savings & efficiencies

01

Fundinggap

02

By the start of 2020, our study with PwC showed that local governmentwould needed to have made £13.2bn of savings and cuts since 2015 tobalance budgets, on top of council tax rises. The research showed that CCNmember councils would needed to have made £7.4bn of savings andservice reductions, some 56% of the national total.

03 Updated funding forecasts show that despite expected increases infunding over the next five years, county authorities still face a cumulativefunding shortfall of £13.2bn. This is 37% lower than our original PwCforecasts. The funding gap is estimated to be £1.8bn in 2020/21 andwill increase year on year to reach £3.6bn in 2024/25.

Raising council tax 4% in 2020/21 would reduce the funding shortfall nextyear to £1.3bn for county authorities. If all CCN member councils implementa 2% rise every year from 2021/22 this would reduce the cumulative gap by2024/25 to £7.7bn, an average annual shortfall of £1.5bn.

Findings from recent research

04

CCN research has shown that if all counties were funded at the nationalaverage they would be receiving an additional £3.2bn per year. Inaddition, due to historic underfunding, PwC's analysis showed that CCNmember councils councils have an estimated £1bn of 'unmet' needs.

05

Servicedemands &

costs

For all local government, councils spending need - the demand andcosts of delivery services - will rise by 35% (£15.7bn) between 2015-2025. CCN member councils will account for 39% of all spending need by2024/25. For county councils 78% of their spending need will relate toadult social care, children’s services, public health, and educationservices (home to school transport & SEND).

Counciltax

Fairerfunding

The Spending Review and the Fair Funding Review will need to considerhow local government as a whole, and different tiers of councils, are ableto respond to the financial challenges they will face going forward. CCNmember councils are most limited in the options they face. PwC, 2019

06Business

rates

County councils have benefited the least from business rates retention. Cashgains above baseline for the period 2017/18 to 2019/20 were the largest in Londonat £914m. District councils retained £555m and county councils retained £412m;just 6.4% of their baseline funding compared to 37% for district councils.

1) -2) PwC (2019) PwC - Independent Review of Local Government Spending Need and Funding (Technical Report)2) -3) CCN's full updated funding forecasts will be published in early 2020

5) - 6) Pixel Financial Management analysis for CCN (unpublished)

02Reforming adults &children's social care

All political parties have accepted the need to set outlong-term plans for the funding of adult social careservices. It is widely accepted that the status quo isno longer an option and this parliament must finallyresolve the urgent questions over how adult socialcare is paid for and delivered.

The situation is most pressing in county areas. Ourcouncils represent 47% of all spending needs for adultsocial care. Some 55% of England’s over-65s live incounty areas, with the number of older peopleexpected to grow at a faster rate than anywhere else.

Sustainable funding is a vital first step toenable counties to deliver the high-quality social carethat residents expect. But money is only part of thesolution and for this investment to be effective it mustbe accompanied by reform to the wider framework inwhich social care for adults and children is delivered.

Adult Social Care Reform

CCN supports the Government's cross-partyapproach to developing a solution to social carefunding. This must engage in an honest debate onproviding sufficient resources to meet existingdemand for care. This is alongside the fundingrequired to extend eligibility for services and reformsto limit the care costs of individuals.

Publish a social care White Paper within sixmonths of taking office. This must begin a nationaldiscussion and cross-party approach to considerthe funding options for adult social care, includingyounger adults.

Ensure local care markets are placed upon asustainable footing in order to provide a range ofhigh-quality care and accommodation options forresidents to choose from, allowing them to live asindependently as possible for as long as possible.

Encourage preventative approaches locally toreduce or mitigate demand for social care, such asreforming the planning system to encourage thedevelopment of more extra care housing for olderpeople.

Health & Social Care Integration

If reforms to care services are to be successful, thensocial care must remain a local service. Councils haveshowcased their track record in financial prudenceduring challenging times – ensuring services areprotected for the most vulnerable and elderly. Theyhave innovated and transformed services inpartnership with health.

Strategic integration locally with health partners hasmade significant progress over recent years. However,the new Government must take steps to fully realise asystem that no longer simply offers individualstraditional care and support services, but instead onethat seeks to provide people with greater choice andcontrol over the services and support that they canaccess.

Create the optimum conditions for social care andNHS partners to integrate services around theindividual to deliver whole-person integrated care.

Health & Social CareIntegration

Key Issues at aglance........

Children's Services

A solution to the longterm funding of adult

social care

Investment inchildren’s services, &

improving prevention

Reforming legislationand providing the right

support to families

Adult Social CareReform

Improvinglocal integration with

health & housing

Education& SEND

Local government must be an equal partner in alllocal discussions with democratic accountabilityand population public health underpinning theintegration agenda.

Adopt a ‘strength’ or ‘asset’ based approach as thebasis of refocusing the integration agendaunderpinning a reformed approach to social work.This approach would promote people’sindependence utilising the help available in theirown communities and social networks first andforemost.

Review STP boundaries so they are co-terminouswith those of county authorities to ensure efficientand effective integration.

Children's Services

As spending on children's social care continues to riseit is vital that counties are able to both meet growingdemand but also provide the services which addressproblems early and help stem costly demand on thesystem further down the line. The new Governmenthas stated its support for the troubled familiesprogramme. Building on this, we must empower localgovernment to lead place-based investment in otherareas in need of early intervention across the entiresocial care system supported by a nationalframework for preventative investment.

Prioritise investment in children's social care atthe Spending Review 2020. A key priority must bechildren's services, recognising that this is now thefastest growing pressure facing local government.

Increase investment in family support servicesdrawing on the growing bank of evidence andscience-based approaches which ensure the ‘beststart for every child’ in their earliest years.

Empower local authorities to address teenagemental health with Tier 1 and Tier 2 preventativeapproaches with a focus on supporting transitionsto healthy adulthood.

Education & SEND

Councils continue to have a major role in ensuring thesufficiency of school places, providing improvementservices, oversight for council maintained schools andhome to school transport (HTST). Government mustnow engage councils in their plans for Ofstedinspections and provide the necessary powers forcouncils to provide sufficient school places.

Empower local authorities to be able to require freeschools and academies to expand the number ofschool places they provide to meet local demand.

Government should strengthen the role of localauthorities in determining and signing off the finallocation of new free schools and academies toensure that new provision is located where it isrequired most.

Government should also review statutory duties inrelation to HTST and provide sufficient resources tomeet growing demand. A new report by the IsosPartnership, commissioned by the Local GovernmentAssociation (LGA) and CCN, reveals the cost tocouncils of providing HTST has increased by £66mover four years between 2014/15 and 2017/18 andprojects it may rise by a further £127 million to reach£1.2 billion a year by 2024.

The Government should consider reviewingstatutory duties in relation to HTST

The Children and Families Act 2014 brought welcomechanges in extending the availability and choice ofservices for children with Special Educational Needsand Disabilities (SEND) and their families.

However, local authorities have taken on additionalresponsibilities for providing SEND services at a time ofincreasing demand but have not yet been providedwith the requisite resources to allow them to meetthese responsibilities. On-going investment on at leastthe scale provided at the recent Spending Round isrequired, but the Government also needs to considermeasures for reform including;

Issue clear guidance for what constitutes “efficientuse of resources” in the Children and Families Act2014, to minimise the amount of SEND cases heardat tribunals.

Support local authorities to invest in creating morespecialist SEND places to reduce spiralling costsand cater for more pupils within the mainstreamschool system by being able to properly supportschools to meet specialist needs.

Provide greater powers for councils to direct SENDplacements in mainstream schools includingwithin academies.

Unpacking reform to adults andchildren's social care

Funding for adult social

care

01

Youngadults

02

03 Spending on services for those with learning disabilities will be £861mhigher for county authorities in 2024/25 compared to a decade before. By2024/25, CCN member councils will account for 45% of all spending needon this service.

Compared to 2015/16 spending need rose 15.6% nationally in 2019/20. It is setto increase to 20.2% next year and 42.5% by 2024/25 to meet the costs ofproviding services. Overall Government funding this financial year (2019/20)is meeting 42% of the costs of providing services, with just 30% of costs metthrough grant funding in CCN member councils.

Findings from our most recent research

04

05

Adult social care

costs

Funding for adult social care in 2019/20 stood at £6.9bn, with countiesshare 34.3% (£2.5bn). This share of funding is significantly below countieslevel of overall spending need for services (47%). Temporary grants nowrepresent 39% of all direct government support for adult social careservices in CCN member councils, compared to 34% nationally.

Childrensocial care

costs

The number of pupils on Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) haverisen by almost 50,000 since legislation was introduced. CCN membercouncils have seen a rise of 46% – almost 10,000 extra each year in thenumber of young people being granted EHCPs.

Home toschool

transport

06Special

educationalneeds

Our research over the past 12 months has consistently highlighted therising costs and demand for adult social care, children's social care andspecial educational needs which necessitates reform and investment in

these services.

Demand for children’s social care will rise faster than any other localgovernment service. Spending need on children’s social care will risenationally by 48%. By 2024/25, CCN member councils will account for 37%(£4.5bn) of all spending need on children’s services, with spending needincreasing £1.4bn since 2015/16.

The average per-pupil cost of delivering mainstream HTST in county areas is£93 per pupil, almost ten times the average in urban and city areas.Thousands of pupils no longer received free HTST as councils tighten eligibility,or introduce charges, due to the severe funding shortfalls. In counties in 201722,352 less pupils were receiving the service compared to 2014.

1) CCN Analysis Adult Social Care Funding & the Spending Review www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/download/2397/2 -4) PwC (2019) PwC - Independent Review of Local Government Spending Need and Funding (Technical Report)

5) CCN (2019) HTST analysis www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/download/1585/ 6) CCN (2019) SEND analysis www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/download/2314/

03Devolutionfor all

The devolution agenda gained ground under recentadministrations. However, too much time was spenton political negotiation, and too much focus retainedon the big cities.

The case for devolution to counties iscompelling. Devolving powers and funding oneconomic growth and public sector reform wouldhave a major impact on economic growth in countyareas.

Harnessing the strategic role of county authoritiesmust be at the heart of the devolution proposition inshire counties, and the new Government should seekto build on the foundations already in place in ourareas.

The county acts as a practical and effective layer ofgovernment, being strategic, yet inherentlyrecognised and celebrated by residents. Countyboundaries are an asset, not a brick wall; with theability to reach into district and parish economies, butalso work constructively across borders at a strategicscale with sub-national and national bodies.

Devolution Whitepaper

The Conservative manifesto committed to givingtowns, cities and communities of all sizes across theUK real power and real investment to drive the growthof the future and unleash their full potential. There wasa stated ambition for full devolution across England,with a Whitepaper to be published in the new year.

CCN has long argued that the Government should setout a clear framework for devolution. This presents anopportunity not only to provide clear guidance tolocal areas in developing proposals, but to reset therelationship on devolution with county authorities ifthere is a genuine and tangible offer fromGovernment.

As several leading think-tanks, includingRepublica and Localis have concluded, recognisingcounties as strategic authority areas offer the mostlogical and practical starting point for devolution.

The Whitepaper should provide as much paritywith Mayoral Combined Authorities on devolutionas possible. This includes powers for a StatutorySpatial Plan; responsibility for the SharedProsperity Fund; delivery of the Education andSkills Funding Agency; and powers over BusFranchising.

Previous devolution discussions werecharacterised by an unhelpful distraction of a free-for-all of proposals and contested geographies. Thedevolution framework provides an opportunity toprevent this, particularly in two-tier areas.

Provide clear guidance to local areas onacceptable devolution geographies, seekingcoterminosity with county boundaries andavoiding inappropriate geographies that couldundermine continuing service delivery.

Accountability Public Service ReformKey Issues at aglance........

Local GovernmentReform

Ambitious andsuitable devolutiondeals for county &

rural areas

A criteriafor institutional and

structural reform

Reforming partnershipsto support public

service reform

A practicalframework for

devolved powers

Devolution Whitepaper

Accountability

County authorities are best placed to be theaccountable bodies for new devolved powers in anynew devolution model. Our member councils standready to be flexible and adaptable in order toreassure Ministers that they have strategic scale andcapacity to deliver any powers devolved to them.

County councils are in many ways the originalcombined authorities – operating at scale and actingas the strategic delivery body for their areas.

We recognise that counties need to do more todemonstrate our willingness to provide greater directaccountability and effective partnershiparrangements with district councils, neighbouringauthorities and LEPs. Many are already doing sowithout the need for the additional layer of acombined authority.

Set out a broad range of Governance options,including non-mayoral combined authoritymodels. This should include options for thestrategic authority within the area to take onaccountable body status supported through theformation of a joint or special committees, with fulldistrict, unitary and LEP representation.

Any mayoral combined authority should betailored to recognise the additional complexity oftwo-tier areas, including voting rights betweenpartners.

The Devolution Whitepaper should set out theoptions for a county council to strengthen directaccountability to unlock further devolved powers through the constitutional adoption of the directlyelected mayor/leader and cabinet model,permissible under current legislation.

Local Government Reform

Over recent years there has been an increasedinterest in structural reform. CCN recognises thatappetite varies across the country for various types oflocal government reform.

CCN supports its member councils who wish topursue unitary status, building on the experiences ofof all our unitary members, includingBuckinghamshire and Dorset.

We have long argued that if Government is to pursuea reform agenda then it must be evidence-basedand should use the devolution framework to set out acriteria to inform local discussions.

The Devolution Whitepaper should set out acriteria for unitary reform. This should includeconfirmation of a minimum population limit‘substantially more’ than 300,000 with no upperpopulation limit; ensure proposals offer betterpublic service delivery across the area; andprovides the thresholds and tests of localconsensus.

Set out a framework to encourage reform to theexisting two-tier structure and greatercollaboration in specific service areas, includingthe options for the functional reform of powersbetween the tiers.

Public Service Reform

Devolution could help drive wider public servicereform in county areas. Oxford Economics for CCNhave estimated that full devolution to counties couldsave up to £36bn over five years, as well as bringingdecisions closer to local people.

A devolution settlement for all should thereforepresent opportunities for reform to existingpartnership arrangements to promote whole-placepublic service reform.

Align public service bodies to form contiguousboundaries to simplify joint working and ensurethese are updated over time in future boundarychanges.

Develop further devolved health arrangements,building on the experience of Surrey Heartlands.

Unpacking the case for devolution tocounties.....

Strategicauthorities

01

02

03 Devolution could help drive wider public service reform in countyareas. Oxford Economics predicts that full devolution to counties couldsave up to £36bn over five years, as well as bringing decisions closer tolocal people.


Savings fromunitary

reform

04

Reformedtwo-tier

Devolving powers and funding on economic growth would have a majorimpact on economic growth in county areas. A study by OxfordEconomics calculated that county devolution could boost England'seconomic growth to 2.7% per year, help create over 1m jobs over the nextdecade; and boost England's GVA by over £26bn over a five year period.

05

Boostingeconomic

growth

Localis & Respublica have both made the case that a 'strategic authority'be the recognised body which leads on devolution in an area. Localisargued 47 strategic authority areas should created in England - broadlymirroring current upper-tier boundaries - and where the formalcollaborative agreement consists of a county and its districts or a soleunitary county, the county would become the strategic authority.

Publicservicereform

In 2017, CCN published the most comprehensive analysis on the potentialsaving and non-financial benefits from different approaches to localgovernment reorganisation. EY's analysis showed that reforming all two-tierareas into single unitary councils would save £2.9bn over a five year period,68% more than splitting each county into separate authorities.

Last year CCN undertook a study with PwC to explore the potential benefitsof non-structural reform. The modelling showed a potential saving of£762m over five years. Improved collaboration was outlined in areas suchas waste management, shared customer and contact centres, with furtheropportunities for regional collaboration and public service reform.

CCN has published a range of reports and studies with leadingorganisations that outline a compelling case for devolutionand the evidence-base to inform institutional and structural

reform.

2 -3) Oxford Economics (2017) Understanding County Economies www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/download/901/5) EY (2016) Independent Analysis of Governance Scenarios and Public Service Reform www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/download/165/

6) PwC analysis for CCN (2019) report unpublished

04Creating Communities

Counties are great places to live and work, and wherebusiness and enterprise thrive. However, county houseprices are higher than the national average andinfrastructure investment has not kept pace withdemand. Many county areas have large infrastructuregaps which jeopardises their ability to createsustainable communities.

However, creating real communities requires morethan bricks and mortar. Despite the trends of twenty-first century living, such as spending more time onlineand commuting longer distances to work, most peopleretain a strong connection to the place in which theylive and form identities based on the communities theylive in. Counties are the principal agency who need toensure their residents feel safe as well as promotingtheir well-being.

Housing & Planning

Housing development cannot happen without theessential infrastructure needed to support it and wewelcome the manifesto commitment to amendplanning rules so that infrastructure comes beforepeople move into new homes. This is especiallyimportant in county council areas, where powers forinfrastructure and planning are split.

CCN has advocated reforms to the planning systemand strengthening of the role of counties in strategicplanning, in order to properly join up housing andinfrastructure. By working closer together, district andcounty councils could establish pragmatic working arrangements, setting the strategic direction forhousing growth of an area.

This would allow partners to pool resources, combininghousing targets, locations for development andplanning for economic and industrial growth, with thenecessary physical and social infrastructure.

Different models exist that can deliver this,including formal joint committees or a “growth deal”signed with the Government or through reintroducingstrategic planning to county areas – a function whichwas removed from county councils some 15 years ago.

Encourage joined-up strategic planning outsidemetro-mayor areas at a county scale in order toimprove the duty-to-cooperate. This could bethrough the formal creation of a growth board, ormore informally through non-statutory spatialplans or reintroduction of statutory strategicplanning.

Amend legislation to ensure that councils are notbound to sell sites on the basis of higher short-termreceipts ahead of long-term social and economicgains.

Infrastructure Financing

Underpinning the housing crisis is the lack of funding forthe necessary infrastructure needed to support newhousing growth. Infrastructure funding is skeweddisproportionately to city regions with countiesnot receiving their fair share of infrastructureinvestment. CCN welcome the introduction of theHousing & Infrastructure Fund, and the manifestocommitment to introduce a new £10 billion SingleHousing Infrastructure Fund.

Infrastructure FinancingKey Issues at aglance........

Community Safety& Public Health

A more strategicapproach to

planning

Tackling knife crime andpromoting preventative

public health approaches

Certainty andfair funding for cultural

services

Housing & Planning

Reform the developercontributions system &

prioritise long terminfrastructure funding

Culture & Tourism

However, we must ensure the fund is available to allareas and we reform developer contributions toprovide a consistent source of funding, rather thansimply project specific.

Move to a more balanced distribution of centralinfrastructure funding between counties and citieswhich better aligns with local priorities. Fundingshould be decentralised as far as possible, withdecisions made by local leaders on the ground.

Set out a framework for housing and growth dealsbuilding on the deal agreed across Oxfordshire.These should allow ambitious authorities to workwith the Ministry to gain access to additionalfunding for infrastructure where certain targets,such as new homes, or the creation of new jobs,are met.

The developer contributions system (CIL and S106) isalso no longer fit for purpose and does not provide thefinances in full to deliver the range of infrastructureidentified as required in local plans.

Reform the developer contributions systemensuring that, in two tier areas, contributions aredistributed fairly to cover the range of physicaland social infrastructure required for newdevelopment.

Extend the Strategic Infrastructure Tariff to countyareas to allow them to fund major infrastructureprojects that would help to support and unlockgrowth opportunities.

Community Safety & Public Health

Serious youth violence, substance misuse and childcriminal exploitation are becoming increasingproblems, often driven by ‘county lines’ where citydrug gangs are increasingly extending theiroperations from cities into counties. These are stillviewed as predominantly ‘urban’ phenomena, but agrowing number of county areas are facing the sameissues with less resource or expertise to draw on.

County authorities should be fully engaged withinnational strategies alongside their metropolitancounterparts, with a stronger frameworkestablished to ensure county authorities are ableto collaborate closely with police, health andschools to protect vulnerable children and preventserious crime.

Counties are also often where metropolitan boroughswill place their most vulnerable young people in anattempt to move them away from an environment ofgangs and crimes, but if not properly managed thisexacerbates the risk of exporting gang violence andserious crime into county areas.

Information-sharing protocols between localauthorities must be strengthened to ensure thatout of area placements of vulnerable children arenotified to and co-ordinated by the authority inwhich the placement is located.

A key element of tackling the root causes of crime isthe preventative role of public health services. Despite these reductionsin funding counties have successfully integratedpublic health services back into local government, asdemonstrated by our independent study with SharedIntelligence Learning the lessons from the transfer ofpublic health.

With the previous Government committed to retainingpublic health services in local government we need tosee investment in population health services and agreater focus on the role of public health incommunity safety.

Ensure public health funding is protected in realterms over the course of the next parliament.

Fully engage counties with national public healthstrategies for reducing drug misuse and youthcrime.

Culture Services

The role of county authorities in providing libraries anda range discretionary cultural services, such asmuseums, arts and galleries, are part of thecommunity fabric of places.

County authorities are committed to funding culturewhich contribute to the local economy, and the well-being of residents. However, with acute pressures insocial services, leaders have had no choice but to re-route funding from other highly-valued yetdiscretionary service areas like arts, libraries andculture.

Providing certainty of funding for facilities such aslibraries and cultural venues will help authorities toguarantee the continued provision of theseservices to residents.

Ensure counties receive a fair share of the £250mcultural capital programme.

Unpacking the opportunities andchallenges in creating communities

Populationgrowth

01

02

03 Over the five-year time period, counties have had an increase in dwellingstock of 3.7%, compared to a growth rate of 3.2% nationally. However, whilethis growth rate is welcome a preoccupation with scale and speed ofhousing developments and not enough focus on supporting infrastructure,both physical and economic (e.g. jobs) has resulted in an average fundinggap of c£3bn to meet their county’s needs with some as high as £8bn.


Publichealth

funding

04

Culturalservices

The average county house price is now 9.8 times average annualearnings; which is higher than the national average of 8.2 and higherthan the cities (outside of London) average of 6.0. This shows that theaffordability challenge that was typically seen as a London problem isnow spreading to the shire counties.

05

Housingaffordability

County areas are projected to see growth in population which in turn willresult in both changing demographics as well as increasing demand forhousing, core services and access to economic opportunities. Across allcounty areas, the total population is projected to increase to 28.2m by 2041and represents a 9.5% increase in population.

Infrastructuregaps

According to an analysis undertaken for CCN by LG Futures, the level ofpublic health grant for counties peaked in 2016/17 at £1.186bn and fell to1.072bn in 2019/20. Under the current formula CCN members’ allocations are£42 per head, compared to a national average of £57. This compares to £71per head for Metropolitan Boroughs, and £102 per head in Inner London.

Council spending on museums, libraries, arts, and culture has beenreduced by almost £400m over the last eight years – from 2010 to 2018.Of that total £390m figure, county areas have seen the highest reductionsin spend, with district, county, and county unitary authorities collectivelyreducing their spend by £169m since 2010.

Our analysis has shown there are a range of opportunities andchallenges faced by county authorities in helping create

communities and ensuring that shire counties remain greatplaces to both live and work......

1) & 3) Grant Thornton analysis for CCN - report to be published in early 20202) CCN (2019) House Prices In County Areas www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/download/2204/

4) LG futures analysis in Shared Intelligence (2019) www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk/download/2126/

05Growing our economies

County areas are the backbone of the UK economy,delivering 39% of GVA and almost half of England’sjobs. However, they suffer from structural weaknessessuch as poor productivity and business growth, lowerthan median wages and significant skills gaps.Despite common perceptions, they are also home tomany of the 'left behind' towns, rural and coastalcommunities in England.

It is this combination of factors that means countiesmust be at the heart of the incoming government'splaced-based growth agenda. They offer a broadreflection on different experiences from those at theheart of driving economic growth through to thosefacing significant socio-economic challenges.

County authorities are uniquely placed, as strategicauthorities, to respond to these opportunities andchallenges. Counties are the key local agency inplaced-based growth, delivering billions each year ingrowth related expenditure and capital investment; totheir influencing and leadership role as convener,facilitator, and vision setter.

Regeneration & Productivity

The new administration's manifesto commits toclosing the productivity gap across the country andlevelling up opportunities across towns and cities. Thisis welcome; like city regions counties also suffer fromthe rise of spatial inequalities.

Some 31 of the 36 county authorities have productivitylevels below the national average, driven by low levelsof business formation rates and structural challengessuch as low median incomes.

It is important to recognise that a narrow focus onhigh-streets and small scale regeneration, whichunderplays the role of county authorities, will not deliverbetter outcomes for many of the left behindareas which reside in county areas. Therefore, theGovernment must ensure that the strategic role andcapacity of county authorities is strengthened inGovernment policy.

Ensure that counties play a key role in theimplementation of the Towns Fund.

Strengthen the role of county councils in deliveringthe high-streets fund.

Strategic Investment & Partnerships

Ensuring a wider, more strategic approach to levellingup economic outcomes in left behind town, coastal andrural communities will require continuing investment ingrowth enabling infrastructure and reforms to growthpartnerships.

Much of the work of county authorities in place-basedgrowth has been delivered despite a number ofbarriers, including financial challenges that havereduced overall revenue and capital expenditure ongrowth-related services.

Alongside this, non-metropolitan areas do not receivetheir fair share of infrastructure investment to supportgrowth, while uncertainty on the future resources suchas EU funding have hampered the ability of countyauthorities to undertake strategic investment.

Strategic Investment& Partnerships


Transport &Connectivity

Harnessing thestrategic role of

counties

Improving physical &digital connectivity

to support growth

Devolving skills toimprove social

mobility

Regeneration & Productivity

Investment to enablegrowth & reforming

partnerships

Skills & Employment

Sustainable and fair funding, including a multi-year funding settlement, reforms to New HomesBonus and business rates retention will allowcounties to increase growth-related expenditure.

The National Infrastructure Commissioninfrastructure assessments should ensure greaterconsideration of the infrastructure requirementsin non-metropolitan areas and consider how thiscould link to wider growth related matters thatwould help to level up the economy across thecountry.

Publish a consultation on the UK Shared ProsperityFund as soon as possible. It must ensure it givescounties fair opportunities to access futurefunding opportunities that will reduce economicdisparity and generate future economic growth.

Recent reforms to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)have reduced the role of local government in theirgovernance. This is despite LEPs reliance on thesignificant resourcing and delivery capacity providedby county authorities since their inception, alongsidetheir role in bringing democratic oversight to theinvestment of public funds. Alongside this, sub-national transport bodies have become anincreasingly important part of the regional growthand transport landscape.

By convening partners county authorities have beenable to leverage resources and ensure a sharedfocus; however, more can be done to support theirstrategic role. Government should consider the futurerole of LEPs and consolidate the role of countiesin Sub-National Transport Bodies.

Revisit reforms to Local Enterprise Partnerships tobetter recognise the role of local government indriving forward place-based growth. This shouldalso include an enhanced role for counties in thepreparation of Local Industrial Strategies.

Empower Sub-National Transport Bodies andconsolidate the role of upper-tier councils, devolveappropriate powers alongside sufficient fundingand freedoms for counties over local transport,including buses.

Transport & Connectivity

Between 2010 and 2018 over 3,000 bus routes havebeen reduced, altered or withdrawn. We welcome themanifesto commitment to invest in the bus network to"improve infrequent or non-existent services in the

countryside, including more on-demandservices". However, the Government intends to onlyallow bids for the £4.2bn Local Public Transport Fundfrom combined authorities and elected mayors. This isdespite county authorities witnessing a 46% reductionin funding for local bus services since 2009/10 compared to 19% in combined authority areas.

Allow bids for the Local Public Transport Fund fromcounty and county unitary authorities to ensurethat they have the powers and funding to improvetransport within counties and across localgovernment boundaries.

Connectivity, however is not just about physicalinfrastructure. CCN research has shown that countyareas suffer from broadband speeds that aresignificantly lower than their urban neighbours.Extending broadband to an area can affectproductivity, the number of businesses, and locallabour market outcomes such as employment, incomeand wages. Better broadband and mobileinfrastructure has the potential to transform the ruraleconomy with greater potential for home working andsmall business growth.

A target for a full-fibre rollout to all households by2025 is welcome, but it must set out a clear road-map to achieve this in partnership with countyauthorities.

Skills & Employment

Counties face significant challenges in ensuring skilledemployment for residents. Counties’ occupationalprofile is skewed towards the skilled trades, reflectingthe high proportion of manufacturing andconstruction jobs. However, employment growth inrecent years has been led by the service sectors, andthis will continue, with professional, scientific andtechnical sector employment becoming increasinglyimportant.

CCN welcomes the commitment to introduce a £3bnnational skills fund, but it remains unclear how this fundwill be invested. It is crucial that local government hasa key role to play. Devolving responsibilities andbudgets for skills to county authorities will ensure thatthey are better placed to respond to the skillschallenges in their areas and better guide and growtheir local economies.

Devolve the same responsibilities and budgets forskills and employment that metro-mayor areasenjoy to county councils and unitary authorities.

Unpacking the role of counties inPlace-Based Growth

Countyeconomies

01

Livingstandards

02

County areas account for the latest share in GVA of 39%, 48% of allbusinesses, and 42% of all employees. However, over the last five years theyhave witnessed slower growth rates. Business growth of 7.9%, for instance,has lagged behind the England average of 11.6% and 15.1% for non-countyareas.

03 Although counties are great places to live and work, inequality is reflectedacross county areas, with 23 areas having mean income levels below theEngland average and only 13 above. Over the past five years it appearsthat the gap in incomes for county areas is actually widening, with a 13%increase in the gap over the past 5 years.

Despite significant other financial pressures, county authorities havecontinued to make a significant contribution to growth related spend. Ofthe £24bn gross revenue and capital expenditure on growth relatedservices in shire counties between 2015 - 2018, 58% of this was by countycouncils and county unitaries.

Emerging findings from Grant Thornton*

Countyinvestment in

growth

04

Enablingcapacity

Counties enable capacity for delivery, providing resources to support thedevelopment and delivery of key projects and programmes, while alsodrawing on the personal and political networks of key members tosupport engagement with central government or to build relationshipsand consensus across different stakeholders.

05

Productivitygap

Some 31 of the 36 county authority areas have workplace productivitylevels below the England average, a clear indication that productivitylags behind much of the rest of the country.

County areas are the backbone of the UK economy, however, they sufferfrom structural weaknesses. It is clear that county authorities must play a

key role in overcoming these challenges to help level up economicoutcomes across the country and support post-Brexit growth...

StrategicVision

06 By convening partners county authorities leverage resources and ensure ashared focus on action. With leadership, boldness and creativity they take thelead in bringing together different stakeholders to create and then deliver thestrategic vision for a place.

* Grant Thornton analysis for CCN - report to be published in early 2020

06Tacklingclimate change

Climate change is widely recognised as the greatestchallenge facing our generation. The recent generalelection saw climate change become one of the keyissues for debate, with every political party takingcare to set out plans to transform the economy andreduce carbon emissions.

County authorities are a vital part of the necessarysolution to the climate emergency, through theirresponsibility for infrastructure, economic growth,stewardship of the rural environment, statutory rolesin waste and recycling and providing green spacesand public places.

But they want to go further and translate theirdeclarations of climate emergencies into practicalaction.

Local Leadership

Councils are showing local leadership in declaringclimate emergencies and have already launched aseries of actions to reduce their own carbonemissions and those of the communities they serve.However, they need to be given the responsibilities toensure that they can follow-through in promotingpolicies that will achieve the local targets that theyhave set.

Government must engage much more with councils,giving them the funding and freedom needed toensure that action will be taken, safeguarding theenvironmental inheritance of future generations. Thisincludes in areas such as energy efficiency upgradesto buildings and assets and air pollution.


Green Infrastructure& Resilience

Supporting councilsto reduce their

carbon emission

Prioritising greeninfrastructure and

resilience

Greater collaboration acrosscounty and district councils

to streamline services

Council leadership

improving parks,public places

Waste & Recycling

The government should create a climate transitionfund for councils, to enable the rapid conversion ofassets including council properties, schools andfleets.

Devolving powers to councils on transport andinfrastructure will help county authorities meettheir ambitions on this agenda.

Support counties in developing public healthstrategies to help reduce air pollution and consultlocal government on new air quality laws.

Procurement rules should be altered so that allcontractors are required to report their carbonemissions and to place a ‘carbon/environmentalcost’ on competing bids.

Parks & Public Places

There has been much focus on the role that England’srural landscape can play in mitigating the climateemergency, whether through the creation of newnational parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty,rewilding to prevent the risk of flooding, or embarkingon an ambitious national tree planting programmethat will assist with carbon capture.

The Conservative manifesto committed to a new£640m Nature Climate Fund and a commitment tonew National Parks and areas of outstandingnatural beauty.

Parks & Public Places

Infrastructure investment needs to be assessedin such a way as to ensure that communities canget the infrastructure that they need to protectthem from adverse weather events, and thatinfrastructure is future-proofed to take intoaccount climate threats.

A fair distribution of new flood defence investment,particularly for rural and remote areas.

Bellwin payments are the main mechanismthrough which councils are reimbursed foradditional expenditure when there is an adverseweather event. Given the increased likelihood ofthese sorts of events, the government should workwith council to review the scheme to ensure that itis working as well as it could.

Waste & Recycling

Improving recycling rates and ensuring our waste andrecycling system is sustainable is a key way councilscan help tackle climate change.

The Conservative manifesto manifesto committed tocontinuing the previous Government's reforms torecycling and reduce plastic waste. In order to deliverthis, and faced wider financial pressures, councilsneed to reform services and establish new ways toraise income.

More effective collaboration between county anddistrict functions would improve services in two-tierareas. The wide range of contractual arrangementsand collection practices have a tendency to frustrateattempts to make the process of waste managementas efficient and effective as possible.

Greater collaboration would include consolidatingcontracts across some or all district areas to run as asingle operation integrated with waste disposal, whilefurther powers to raise income would help sustainand improve the availability of disposableand recycling centres.

Incentivise and encourage greater collaborationand consolidation of waste contracts into singlewaste strategies to improve joint-working andincrease financial efficiencies.

Review discretionary charging powers of upper-tier councils for waste and recycling services,including freedoms over fees and charges.

The land that will be utilised for these programmes willoverwhelmingly be located within county areas, andCCN members stand ready to play a role in thischanging use of land.

Local authorities should be engaged as partof efforts to identify land that can be used forenvironmental purposes, ensuring it is located inareas where residents can access the healthbenefits that these areas can provide.

County authorities are proud of their record of landstewardship through county farms andgovernment should create a new investment fundto ensure their continued long-term viability,providing opportunities for a new generation offarmers.

Green Infrastructure & Resilience

One of the main ways that counties can ensure thattheir economies and communities can bedecarbonised is through investment in appropriategreen infrastructure.

Priority should be given to infrastructure that willassist councils to develop low-carbon economies,such as installation of electric car charging pointsor broadband.

Restoring strategic planning powers to countyauthorities so that they can ensure that newhousing developments are located close topotential employment or public transport,reducing the need to for vehicle emissions.

Investing in sustainable infrastructure is alsoimportant to ensure that communities are properlyprotected when there are adverse weather events,which look set to get more likely as a result of climatechange.

County authorities are on the front-line in respondingto the consequences of the climate emergency, asshown by the growing impact of extreme weatherevents, such as the recent floods in Derbyshire.

The Conservative manifesto committed and extra£4bn for new flood defences and reform needs to bemade to existing schemes to help them in theirresilience role with other blue-light services.

Founded in 1997, the County CouncilsNetwork is the voice of England’s counties. Across-party organisation, CCN developspolicy, commissions research, and presentsevidence-based solutions nationally onbehalf of the largest grouping of localauthorities in England.

In total, the 26 county councils and 10 unitarycouncils that make up the CCN represent 26million residents, account for 41% of England’sGVA, and deliver high-quality services thatmatter the most to local communities

The network is a cross party organisation,expressing the views of member councils tothe government and within the LocalGovernment Association.

General Enquiries:[email protected] 7664 3011

The County Councils Network Office5th Floor, Local Government House,Smith Square,London, SW1P 3HZ

Follow CCN on social media:

@CCNOffice County Councils NetworkCounty Councils Network

www.countycouncilsnetwork.org.uk

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