Sir Jeremy Beecham, Labour group leader, LGA We are entering the critical period for influencing the political parties' next election manifestos. Labour must restate its values and reflect them in national and local policies, engaging with people on local issues and national concerns, from care of the elderly to climate change, from knife crime to the cost of living. We stand for social justice, a strong economy in which rewards are fairly shared, and responsive and personalised public services. And Labour local government must take the lead. Immediately, we will respond to the new White Paper on empowerment, which demonstrates a genuine commitment to strong local communities. We enthusiastically support its aim to promote greater democratic engagement, support the third sector, and give neighbourhoods greater powers to identify and address their own needs. However, our opposition continues to any proposals which seek to impose many more directly elected mayors, or which creates conflicting mandates through directly elected leaders for the police and other services. Our representative democracy gives power to the largest elected party, not an individual personality. Open debate and collective decision-making are vital to good government, as are strong political and public scrutiny. Councillors must strive for greater visibility, accountability and higher election turnouts, but mayors are not the answer. We should, instead, pursue greater devolution of powers to councils and communities to act on issues that matter most to people. All parties must do more to ensure their councillors better reflect their local communities. We continue to support local and multi-area agreements, ensuring they are robust enough to secure the best outcomes for local people, and ambitious enough to demonstrate councils' strong leadership of their communities. We must work with departments and agencies to show that all issues affecting local people are within the remit of councils and their partners. On economic development, we must get real commitment from the Government on the sub-national review, and secure a business rate supplement to boost growth and innovation. On worklessness, housing, youth offending and climate change, councils – and especially Labour councils – should be leading the charge. At a time of economic uncertainty, councils have a particular responsibility to ensure that help which is already available actually gets through to people entitled to it. For some time I have been discussing with the Treasury how councils can promote the take-up of working tax credits. These are the least-claimed entitlements, and starting with our own workforce as a good employer, and then rolling out effective advice and assistance to the wider community, we have a great opportunity to demonstrate local leadership and make a tangible difference to people's lives. In this, as in so many other areas, we have an important year ahead, and we must redouble our efforts to achieve a fairer, more prosperous Britain.
