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Many of you have asked when the first NPF documents will be coming out. The NPF is currently working on the first year consultation document, which will be sent to CLPs in the Summer. As a result of comments from CLPs, there will be a single document covering all 6 policy areas, and the document will be simpler, asking a range of questions drafted by each Policy Commission.
The first draft of the document is being completed at the moment, and will be discussed and agreed at the next full meeting of the full NPF On June 30 and July 1.
So watch out for the document during the summer. If you are holding forums, please give us details and we will try to get to them. And don’t forget to send us copies of any submissions you make to the NPF.
The Joint Policy Commission, by Simon Burgess
Since becoming Vice-chair of the NPF earlier in the year I've been pushing for the implementation of the improvements to the process we all want to see, such as interactive members web pages for the policy commissions, better responses generally from commissions and more contemporary issue debates/dialogue.Though the recent local elections inevitably caused delays with that work, we can't let elections stop us getting the system working better - after all there are always elections to think about!
With the Cabinet re-shuffle we have seen a long-time member of the NPF become Party Chair, Hazel Blears, with Ian McCartney staying on as Chair of the NPF. The two of them are such strong advocates of member involvement in decision making that I feel my efforts on your behalf will be positively received.
At Hazel's first meeting of the JPC I argued for, amongst other things, proper involvement of the NPF in the 'Let's Talk' initiative. Hazel responded with her strong support for that.
Our July NPF will now be a two, rather than one, day meeting allowing more time for debate on the draft single policy document - a new innovation to reflect members concerns about the previous myriad of documents.
Finally I do hope your CLP is sending a delegate to annual conference – it’s an important way for members’ views to be heard.
The Prosperity and Work Commission, by Deborah Gardiner
This newly formed Commission, which covers the work of the Treasury, DTI and DWP, has been finding its feet after the reshuffle and the changing roles of Ministers and Party Officers. We have made good progress, working on the many submissions received on welfare reform (in particular incapacity benefit), on the Women and Work Commission and the Pensions White Paper. We have had undertaken some joint working with other Commissions too, as issues obviously overlap.
Our joint work with Sustainable Communities included a briefing from Margaret Beckett (then Secretary of State at DEFRA) and Malcolm Wicks (Energy Minister). We raised questions about the Energy Review, especially renewables. As CLPs have raised the issue with me, I mentioned water conservation because of the restrictions being placed in the South East. I was assured by the Minister that work was being undertaken with the ODPM to ensure that planners, developers and water companies work together and put in place tough water and energy efficiency standards when new developments are under consideration.
John Hutton briefed us on the Pensions White Paper, but as the document had not been finalised, discussion was quite broad-brush and mainly centred around the Turner Report. We focused on the need to improve the pension rights of women, the impact of Turner proposals on existing occupational pension schemes and public sector pensions.
Debate on the Women and Work Commission findings was somewhat curtailed as the Minister, Meg Munn, had to stay in the House of Commons and vote. However, the Commission will return to this very important issue at a later date.
One of the key areas the Commission will be looking at in the near future is the Government’s Success at Work paper. Please make sure you look at the document (www.dti.gov.uk/employment/employment-legislation/success-at-work/index.html) and keep sending your submissions.
Sustainable Communities by Beth Breeze
Given the importance of housing policy issue to every Labour party member, and the vast majority of voters, affordable housing has been top of the agenda for the Creating Sustainable Communities policy commission.
Earlier in 2006, we met with Yvette Cooper, the Housing Minister, to review the government’s actions so far and to discuss the future role and funding of social housing. Armed with input from many members, including a paper submitted to me by Maidstone CLP, we discussed a number of points including:
- The government’s response to the Barker review, particularly the need for more affordable housing.
- How local authorities can start building homes again.
- Community ownership models.
- The potential of securitisation to provide a way of delivering extra investment into social housing.
We agreed that the needs of council tenants and the quality of services they receive must be central to any discussion on how to move forward on social housing. We decided to create a sub-group in order to concentrate specifically on this essential question. This affordable housing sub-group, chaired by Michael Cashman MEP, and including the Housing Minister as a member, will look at the issues highlighted in the work programme, take evidence and explore options. Public meetings outside London are also being planned. The sub-group will report back to the full commission, who will consider a full response and future newsletters will contain updates on this central policy question.
If you wish to submit any views or information to the NPF’s work on affordable housing, or regarding any other policy areas covered by the Sustainable Communities Commission, then please don’t hesitate to email me.
Getting young people involved:
the importance of strong links with University Labour Clubs and Youth Forums, by Liv Bailey
Too often the picture at branch meetings is the same – lots of dedicated activists who are all, in the nicest possible way, of a more mature age (and although there is a strong youth-rep contingent at NPF, the picture is very much still the same!)! While it is not absolutely necessary to take up skateboarding to attract a younger element, the average young person, no matter how enthusiastic, will not automatically feel comfortable making their voice heard in this environment.
I realise that is it the perpetual plight of each CLP, keen to get more young people involved, to think of new ways to attract new membership. While many schemes have been very successful indeed the only way to really find a new, strong, base of young members, is to be proactive and determined in taking your CLP, our shared values of collectivism, out to young people throughout your community.
The NPF and my involvement with both Young Labour and Labour Students have shown me that this really is simpler than it sounds. So much positive progress can be noted. There are record numbers of younger Labour Councillors and youth membership is still relatively strong, but we need to be in every University and FE College, every Youth Forum, every school debate, emphasising why young people should believe in the Labour Party.
Firstly, look to your local university or college. Most universities have their own Labour Club. Labour Clubs are affiliated to the National Organisation of Labour Students (www.labourstudents.org), an organisation affiliated to the Labour Party that makes its own policy – it had anti-top up fees, anti-war policy – and which is generally excellent for providing foot soldiers for crucial local elections.
Secondly, look to local youth forums. In discussions at NPF on citizenship education and youth community involvement, it has been stressed over and over again the valuable contribution that Youth Forums can play. As former chair of my local youth forum I realise how keen most forums will be to get in external speakers. Youth Forums always have a great passion for single-issue politics and a real desire to improve their community. Proactive dialogue is the only way we can persuade these young people that our values of equality and social justice are the only way that their goals can be achieved.
NPF meetings so far have given me both cause to be both positive and negative about our approach to engaging young people. Having to fight to have derogatory comments about young people removed from party policy often leaves me feeling somewhat exasperated. But there are some really positive moves, in the Home Office, and through citizenship education to encourage engagement in both local and national politics.
And don’t even get me started on the huge benefits that votes at sixteen would have on youth participation…
If you would like me to come to your CLP and help with anything then do get in touch (olivia.bailey@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk).
The work of the Health Commission, by Martin Phillips
After the media frenzy over NHS funding and dentistry, the Health Policy Commission decided that we needed to examine these two areas early on, to discover the facts behind the headlines. Our meetings are always well attended by the ministers, so we have been able to examine the funding mechanism in detail with the ministerial team. We also took evidence directly from the head of an NHS hospital trust, who identified a number of cultural changes he has implemented in his trust that have improved control and made staff feel responsible for their own areas. He also highlighted some of the ways in which NHS managers have been disguising problems in the past.
Our conclusions are fairly clear – that the media reports on job cuts are grossly exaggerated, but that there are some trusts with a lack of management control. The financial control in the NHS does need to be tightened. The Commission will also be meeting a PCT head to gather more information on their position, as the amalgamation of PCTs will clearly have to be implemented efficiently.
The Commission has also been able to review the Health White Paper and there was broad agreement that the White Paper has identified the areas of health policy that need work – namely, strengthening community medicine and health improvement; building better mental health services; tackling health inequalities between regions; and most especially the issues raised by the boundaries between health care and social care in the elderly.
The interface between the NHS and the social care system is one that we all agree needs a lot more work, as it is clear that great problems still exist over bureaucracy and funding. We are going to examine ways in which we can use local councillors and party members to scrutinise the services across the country.
The Commission has just completed its section of the NPF year 1 document. We have identified a number of questions that we really want to hear from you about. We hope that CLPs can identify not just problems, but ways in which your own local NHS has solved problems and improved its service. We can then look to pass this knowledge to the wider NHS