[Political content removed] The British people sent us here to govern for them, above all to bring about change, and we have to get on with that job. They don’t care about who’s up or who’s down in the Westminster village. They care about their own villages, hometowns, high streets and communities. The way we feel when we look out from our own doorstep determines how we see our country. When the streets are clean, an...
[Political content removed] The British people sent us here to govern for them, above all to bring about change, and we have to get on with that job. They don’t care about who’s up or who’s down in the Westminster village. They care about their own villages, hometowns, high streets and communities. The way we feel when we look out from our own doorstep determines how we see our country. When the streets are clean, and high streets busy – times are good. But when shops are empty and crime is rife – those are the moments we ask what’s going wrong. People are proud of their area but they feel let down by governments who have allowed their high streets to become boarded up, their roads full of pot holes and their streets full of dumped rubbish that doesn’t get cleared away. [Political content removed] All of it focused on giving a real voice to working people Now we must remember those important origins and match the ambition that people have for their hometown, with a positive and optimistic path towards a better future. The government has already made a start with our Pride in Place Programme. Across nearly 300 of our poorest communities, we are rebuilding trust by handing power and funding to communities that have been ignored for too long. In total, £6bn is being given to Neighbourhood Boards, made up of local people, to spend on whatever the local community believes for itself that it needs to succeed. Local people know better than any politician what needs to change in the area that they know best. So we’re backing that idea with up to £20m in hard cash for each of those communities. We can go further and apply that principle of power and control to every community in the country. Every neighbourhood needs ‘change you can feel’. And over the coming weeks I will outline a radical new approach to community power, and how we will help people take back control over the decisions that affect their family, their community and their hometown. Today is about the next steps on that journey. Too many councils are struggling to fund all the demands made of them. Councils want to spend council tax on the things the public want– like keeping streets clean and filling in pot holes. But instead, too much taxpayers’ money is being syphoned off by foreign private equity companies and multinationals who have no concern for the local community. The Competition and Markets Authority found that companies operating children’s homes, providing children’s accommodation, were making average profit rates of 23% and average profits per child per year of £45,000. And it’s pushing councils to the brink financially. It’s exploitation and we will root it out. Our wider reforms will drive down profiteering by fixing the broken placements market, and putting children first. As my colleague Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, is already leading the way by expanding fostering, supporting families earlier, promoting the use of family networks, and ensuring residential care is only used when necessary. This is better for children, and it’s better for taxpayers. But the market is failing vulnerable children and this cannot continue. Bridget and I will not flinch from capping the profits of private providers placing vulnerable children in care. Business is an essential partner in the provision of good public services. And any good businesses deserves to turn a decent and fair profit. But profiteering is not good for business or for taxpayers and most of all, it’s not good for the vulnerable children who deserve our support. The state of the local high street is one of the ways people measure whether their country is going backwards or forwards. They feel a profound sense of loss when a place that used to be full of life and joy is instead boarded up, closed down, and covered in graffiti. Where once there were civic centres, full of shops, pubs and restaurants where people could go to meet. Now too often, there are vape shops, bookies, and barbers shops that don’t appear to have any customers. In one area of Manchester, there are 51 vape shops across just two streets. Councillors and communities want to take action but they simply don’t have the power they need. We’ve given councils new powers to limit the number of bookies in their areas. And now we’re giving councils more powers to restrict the kind of shops that bring down the area down, and new powers to take over empty shops, and use the spaces to run services or activities or help businesses to start up or grow. Everyone can see organised crime has been moving onto our high streets, and yet councils have not had the power to deal with it. Until now. Our new High Street Organised Crime Unit in the Home Office will take out the gangs, and we’ll give the police new powers to close down those that do nothing about anti-social behaviour if they’re attracting it. We recognise that Councils need funding to build the high streets of the future – which is why we are committing £300m for high street innovation. Now, what the world looks like from your front door says something about who you are and whether you feel respected. [Political content removed] Fly tipping went up to record levels. Bin collections became less frequent. Street lights dimmed. Anti-social behaviour went unchallenged. We will make sure every part of the country gets the same basic foundation, the same basic respect – clean and safe streets, decent roads, places to meet, and public services that local people can depend on. It can’t just be the leafy well-heeled neighbourhoods that look like places you’d want to call home. Everyone deserves to live in a decent area they can feel proud of, and that feels respected. So, we will introduce a new Neighbourhood Guarantee to set out clear expectations of local, regional and national government, to bring real change that can be seen and felt in every community in this country. The Guarantee will include clear expectations for keeping your street clean, removing fly tipping and dumped rubbish, filling in pot holes, tackling overhanging trees and bushes and keeping the streetlights on at night. It will include your right to a named police officer so you can report anti-social behaviour and expect action to put a stop to it. And it will make clear how you can find a local GP, dentist, family hub, library or youth services in your neighbourhood. We will launch a new digital tool which will show progress towards the guarantee, in every single neighbourhood. The Government’s already reformed council funding through the Fair Funding Review, aligning funding with deprivation. We expect councils to use their funding to upgrade how neighbourhoods look so people can feel proud of them again. We will be clear where responsibility lies, and we will hold to account those who fail to do their job that is expected of them. And yes, that means Whitehall too. Everyone will be guaranteed a basic level of services, that shows respect for them and respect for their community. England’s mayors are showing how devolution makes our regions stronger and better. Benefiting people right across the country. Increasing productivity, creating jobs, and putting more money in people’s pockets. We will go further now in getting power out of Westminster and into every part of our country. We have given Mayors a new Right to Request and are now signing off which powers will be transferred in the first wave. As the Transport Secretary confirmed yesterday, we will give Mayors more powers to build public transport, like tram or bus networks. We will also go further on the devolution of public services. We have already backed plans for Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire to appoint a Deputy Mayor for Health so they have more oversight and control over local health services. Next we will work in partnership with the Mayor of Liverpool City Region to drive up attainment and standards in local schools. But this is only the start. We will explore further devolution as we work towards the Autumn Budget this year because we know it means better local services for our communities. Public services have been organised for the convenience of the departments that fund them, rather than the people who use them, for far too long. Across five Mayoral authorities we will now test how pooling budgets, joining up governance, and redesigning services around people’s lives can deliver better outcomes. The devolution revolution is under way. We are getting power out of Whitehall and into the hands of local people and their representatives in a way never before seen in this country. Shifting power can’t just be about politicians. I want to put real power into the hands of people and the communities they are part of. If you are not happy with how a service is being run, then you should be listened to. If you have an idea that can improve things, then you should be heard. If you want to step up and help reshape things to work better, then you should be included. I’m putting those principles into practice with a series of Community Power Pilots. I will invite councils, community groups, residents and people who use specific services to come forward with their own ideas to run those services better, and that can include the community taking over the service. It can include whatever people want to put forward, such as youth services, community safety, social housing or parks and green spaces. In my own constituency in Streatham, residents took over a run-down park and today it’s full of life, community projects and benefiting from new investment. A group of residents in Brixton set up a community energy pilot and today it’s the biggest clean-energy cooperative in the country. There’s so much further we can go if we open the door to the creativity and innovation that is right there in our communities. One of the areas where this Government’s reforms have been boldest is housing. The Renters’ Rights Act has given tenants more security and control over their homes. And our commonhold and leasehold reforms will rip up the medieval leasehold system and give people ‘full freehold ownership of their own homes’, capping then eliminating ground rent once and for all, and tackling obscure and unfair service charges. Next we must turn to social housing. We’re here in Coin Street this morning. One of the best housing cooperatives in the country and there’s a lot to learn from Ian and his team right here. Back when I was a councillor I worked with residents on the Blenheim Gardens Estate to set up a resident management organisation at their request. Instead of the frustration of failing to get a hearing from far-away officials in the town hall, they elected a board and made their housing managers report directly to it. Services improved dramatically, and so did life for people living on the estate. I want other social housing tenants whose landlords don’t listen to have that same opportunity. We are committed to the principle of Right to Manage, so that more social housing residents can take control of the management of their own homes, just like the people living in Blenheim Gardens did. We will reform the existing Right to Manage to make it as easy and effective as possible for tenants to take control of their own homes, and their own estate, by making housing managers directly accountable to the people who live there. People like me, who own their own home get to choose who does any repairs that are needed, how they’re done, and make sure their home is properly maintained. That same dignity right must be extended to social housing tenants. Broken promises from Brexit to Levelling Up have shattered trust in politics. People will only believe change is possible when it’s ‘change you can feel.’ Trust can only be restored to politics, if politicians first show people that we trust them enough to share our power with them. People must be supported to take back control. Our hometown is the place we belong to. Where we build a home, raise a family, forge relationships, make life full and meaningful. Right at the heart of our hometown, the high street must be brought back to life. Every neighbourhood should be safe and clean – places to feel proud of. And if you want local public services to improve, you shouldn’t have to plead with politicians – you deserve the power to make change happen on your own terms. Above all, this is about respect. Respect for your hometown and your high street. Respect for the road and the neighbourhood that you live in. Respect for your view about the public services that you rely on. It’s about forging a new politics. A politics that respects you enough to back the pride you feel in your community. That is what this government is committed to. That is what together we will build.
Speech Brief