CalComms at Labour Conference

CalComms attended the Labour Party conference – speaking with Labour Party MPs, councillors, and housing activists – to learn more about the priority of the party currently running the country.

Andy Burnham used his first conference speech as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party to set out his vision for Britain over the next 10 years – repudiating the Thatcherite (and, let’s face it, Blairite) consensus.

It was a strong speech, which felt like it was writing a new chapter for Labour and perhaps British politics. Public ownership, electoral reform, and a new National Care Service were some of the key points of the speech, but without a personal mandate it is likely that what we really saw was an early draft of a labour manifesto for an election in 2028-29.

One policy which may start to kick in during the short term is the commitment to a new generation of council housing. With an eye on possible criticism from the media and opposition parties, Burnham made the point that the return of council housing would in fact eventually bring down the cost of the housing benefit budget over the decade. With the announcement of the First Homes Scheme (which allegedly has already seen a popular take-up by first time buyers), this promise may yet become a reality.

Delivering new homes

Beyond the speech, CalComms attended multiple fringe events which brought together policy think tanks, property developers, councillors, MP’s and members of the London Assembly. Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook took part in so many of these fringe events that during one talk he joked he could pre-empt the questions heading his way because of the familiar faces in the crowd.

One clear message was that we shouldn’t expect any further NPPF or planning policy changes anytime soon. The Government feels that it has now done enough to reform planning policy and wishes now for the development industry to push on with the new planning framework provided by the updated NPPF. This should be welcomed by the development industry as regulations set in stone, minded in favour of development could provide the consistency that the development industry needs to begin ramping up housebuilding.

Implementation and delivery are the new words of the day. The feeling from listening to the various talks we attended was that councillors and developers are united in wanting to get on with the job of unlocking development. Density was also a key word that kept popping up, which suggests that increasing housing volume to create more affordable homes can be explored in the future.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the various Local Authority leaders which took part in the fringes had their own wish lists.

The new National Scheme of Delegation coming into force at the end of this month continues to face criticism from some local councillors concerned that the policy will make it more difficult for councillors to bring their communities with them.

Councillors also shared concerns that they don’t have enough power to force developers to build out permissions, or to force organisations such as the Environment Agency to allow development.

As always, it was interesting to note the topic that wasn’t often mentioned at Conference. Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) did not come up in any of the talks that we heard. Given it has been halted in the face of legal review, clarity about how Councils could be organised and how decision making on planning decisions will be made is still open to interpretation.

Communicating the need and benefits of development to residents was a key theme throughout these fringes - with several speakers, including developers, emphasising the need to explain the benefits of development to communities. It is not enough to simply hide from communities or relegate consultation to a ‘tick-box’ exercise. Labour politicians want to see proactive engagement with communities. Providing detail, key benefits and an open, honest approach is the way forward to win over residents.

CalComms will be attending the Conservative Party Conference next week, and we will also be monitoring the upcoming budget. If you would like to find out more or meet us at the Conservative Conference then email matthew@calcomms.co.uk.