Download - The Coming Year In Parliament
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ResPublica
The Coming Year in Parliament
Thursday 10th May 2012
Reflecting on the announcements in Her Majesty The Queen's State
Opening of Parliament, ResPublica respond to the Government's
legislative plans and highlight the priorities from our own three
core workstreams for the 2012-2013 Parliamentary term. From the
future of finance to social care reforms, forthcoming work will
inform, respond to and lead Parliamentary and public debate in
innovating a civic and social economy.
The Government’s priorities pivot on the need to recover the UK
economy. But what is missing is a clear sense of the nature and
type of economy as fundamental to determining the success of the
Coalition and their policies for decades to come. Through our New
Economies, Innovative Markets workstream, ResPublica will call on
a number of measures to re-ground markets back into our localities
and the human relationships that are so crucial for social good.
Reforming the Energy Market
The energy market is a key priority for Parliament in the coming year. The announcement of
the Energy Bill, and legislation to realise the Green Investment Bank, will push forward
Government ambitions to reform the electricity market across the UK to enable large-scale
investment in low-carbon generation capacity, and through the Green Investment Bank,
improve the competitiveness and efficiency of the industry in England and Wales.
Whilst opening up the energy market to more than the big suppliers to de-concentrate the
market and stimulate economic growth, much more can be done to diversify technologies,
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industries and the array of ‘energy production assets’. As highlighted in ResPublica’s recent
Green Paper, Re-energising Our Communities: Transforming the energy market through
local energy production,1 communities and localities across the UK are often well placed to
deliver community-owned energy solutions, especially where the local asset comes to
benefit those struggling to pay their utility bills.
The Coalition Agreement pledged ‘to support community ownership of renewable energy
schemes’, but there are presently too few opportunities for communities and a diversity of
players to enter into key policies for the coming year surrounding fuel poverty and
particularly electricity market reform. ResPublica’s upcoming research priorities will therefore
extend our argument further, and ask how the Energy Bill could be instrumental in not only
diversifying existing models of supply and production, but also in democratising the grid
systems, and financing mechanisms, to deliver a truly transformative energy market in the
UK.
The Future for Banking
The provision of the Banking Reform Bill will implement structural separation of retail and
investment arms within banks, so that banking services are less likely to need to draw on
support from the public purse.
However, ‘ring-fencing’ is not the ultimate answer to an endemic problem which was
catapulted into the public eye as a result of the bailouts. The scope of the proposed reforms
could be extended and radicalised to look at the nature, ethos and purpose of the financial
sector in the UK, and the ways in which new intermediaries are emerging to address this
deficit.
Already, independent and unsubsidised models of local, peer-to-peer and social finance are
leading the way in democratising financial markets. Alongside these new initiatives, there is
a complementary place for traditional institutions. ResPublica’s forthcoming work will explore
the potential mutuality in finance services and address the requirements for lending and
incorporating shared values into economic transactions, the need to shift the power
over money back into the hands of the people; and in doing so encourage a new wave of
productive investment that will be the sustainable engine of growth for the 21st Century.
Competition Reform
As part of the wide-ranging Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, the announcement
that competition enforcement will be strengthened by merging the Competition Commission
and parts of the Office of Fair Trading is a welcome initiative. Current ResPublica work on
competition reform emphasises that a single authority is necessary for future UK competition
1 Julian, C. and Dobson, J. (2011), Re-energising Our Communities: Transforming the energy market through
local energy production, ResPublica http://respublica.org.uk/documents/cou_ResPublica%20Re-
energising%20Our%20Communities%20FINAL.pdf
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policy to truly engender market diversity and innovation. This said, the provisions of the Bill
are only one step towards these ends.
Competition policy in its current form is too focused on short-term results. The narrow and
short-term focus on efficiency driving the competition regime undermines creativity and the
spirit of innovation latent in the UK business sector. It is imperative that competition policy is
re-oriented towards long-term policy objectives of enhancing not only entrepreneurship and
innovation, but a framework of social responsibility and community accountability too. In this
respect, the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill is also a welcome initiative which will help
ensure fairness and ethical practice in the grocery retail market and allow small retailers to
thrive, an objective forwarded in ResPublica’s report The Right to Retail: Can Localism save
Britain’s small retailers?2
It is equally problematic that the current competition regime fails to support collaboration
between businesses, or provide a route by which collaboration can be tested for its legality.
UK mergers between businesses are almost encouraged by EU anti-trust legislation partly
as a result of the failure to think through productive forms of co-operation - leading to an
increase in market concentration. The levels of market concentration and the uncompetitive
behaviour across industries exhibiting oligopolistic tendencies limit the ability of new
businesses and SMEs to enter the market and prosper. At a time when economic growth is
so fundamental to policy-making, it is important that these negative effects of the current
interpretation of competition law are addressed as a matter of urgency.
Beyond the Bills…
Soaring levels of youth unemployment and lack of prospects mean that a distinctive
agenda for tackling this generational crisis is needed. ResPublica will seek to lead the policy
debate in this area through radical recommendations for the labour market which deliberate
employment patterns and structures, including a proposal for job-sharing to facilitate skills
transfer and cross-generational learning.3
2 Schoenborn, A. (2011) The Right to Retail: Can Localism save Britain’s small retailers? ResPublica,
http://www.respublica.org.uk/item/The-Right-to-Retail-idmi-mesh-wkeb-gcuq-vecw-tvqh 3 For further information, see http://www.respublica.org.uk/item/New-Intergenerational-Covenant-Employment-
opportunities-for-the-young-work-life-balance-for-older-people
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Models and Partnerships for Social Prosperity sets out to explore
how innovative models for service delivery and new partnerships
between communities, businesses and the public sector can
radically change social and economic outcomes.
The reform of the social care system came out as the lead bill
within this area, but attention was drawn toward outstanding
funding issues rather than the possibility to charter truly
transformative public service reform. As part of our research
priorities for the coming year, ResPublica will engage with the
proposed reforms to open the public sector and engender
participation, social value and innovation, with the social care
system as its focus, seeking opportunities to transform service
users from passive recipients to entrepreneurs.
Health and Social Care
The Draft Social Care Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech, will set out to simplify the
array of legislation currently targeted at adult care and support, but how its delivery is to be
paid for remains unresolved. Although there continue to be party and sector divides following
on from the aftermath of the Dilnot Commission, the Coalition Government have continually
remained committed to fit services around users’ needs, putting people in control of their
care and giving them greater choice.
Whilst the upcoming bill will progress on the realisation of this agenda, an extensive review
of the potential opportunities for social care and those whom it concerns is yet to be
substantially explored. The need for greater personalisation of public services and a bottom-
up, integrated approach, has remained a consistent priority for the Coalition Government
since the outset of its administration. So too has the opening up of public services and the
need to broker in the community in localised care, and a support system that can generate
‘social value’ as a core output of delivery, exemplified by the past parliamentary session’s
enactment of Chris White MP’s Public Services (Social Value) Bill.
ResPublica’s work will seek to charter the future of this terrain, by exploring the opportunities
for more entrepreneurial and asset-based uses of personal budgets, including the possibility
for start-up micro-enterprises and service users’ participation in service delivery. Beyond
ongoing discussions surrounding the funding of health and social care, our upcoming
research will assess the possibility for passive recipients to become active owners and
entrepreneurs, and outline the barriers across policy agendas that prevent this vision to take
place.
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Local Autonomy
The increased focus in local accountability and transparency of local public bodies in
England promised in the Draft Local Audit Bill will no doubt increase the levels of local
control that councils have over their own process and affairs.
These changes represent the changing focus towards local autonomy, and are one step
towards the radical reforms which could be realised by the Government’s Localism Agenda.
However, in order to achieve radical and transformative benefits, government should go
even further to create real financial and legislative autonomy for localities, such as
establishing an independent redistribution commission for tax revenues for local councils.
ResPublica’s work will also look forward to new models for commissioning and shaping
public services by channelling resources, and defining local social value. Our forthcoming
conference in Summer 2012 will explore the potential opportunities and challenges yet to be
addressed in demonstrating social impact and diversifying public sector models best suited
for our diverse communities.4 We will also be pursuing active partnerships with local councils
to evidence and realise ways of capitalising on the provisions of the Localism Act.
Beyond the Bills…
Despite the anticipated publication of the Government’s mutual taskforce report, the
Department for Communities and Local Government’s consultation for co-operative councils
and the wider hype surrounding the 2012 International Year of the Co-operatives, there was
no mention in this year’s speech of David Cameron’s consolidated ‘Co-operatives Bill’
and the Government’s wider mutuals agenda. Although much emphasis was given to the
stimulation of the economy for the coming year, we would urge the Government to take into
account the importance of employee participation in driving down costs and driving up
efficiency and quality of services, and in addition the delivery of a healthy return for those
‘invested’ in the enterprise. As further reforms to our public services continue throughout this
year, and the call for a consolidated co-operatives bill becomes more and more prescient,
ResPublica will continue to take the lead by drawing thought leaders and policy makers
together throughout our ‘Co-operatives Series’ and upcoming connected publications.
The omission of the Higher Education Bill is a missed opportunity to introduce some
stability and transparency into the sector. Although there are many reservations about the
introduction of private-for profit model into the sector, it is not as dangerous as the persistent
short termism and the lack of policy vision for higher education. Acting on the recognition
that the economic prosperity of the UK rests on innovation and the high value-add economy,
of which universities are at the heart, ResPublica aims to articulate a new vision for a civic
university: a platform bringing together the interests of universities, businesses and local
communities.
4 For further information, see http://www.respublica.org.uk/item/Putting-Social-Value-at-the-Heart-of-Public-
Services.
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The Queen’s speech had much to announce about our institutions,
from the smallest institution of the family to the House of Lords.
The focus on the family and relationships is an integral policy
move, but further debate and careful consideration needs to take
place before reform in order to ensure that our political systems
and institutions work best for wider society rather than the
government of the present day. Future work under ResPublica’s
British Civic Life workstream will continue to draw on the social
and cultural heritage of civil society, from grassroots groups to
embedded institutions.
Charitable Donations
The implementation of a new system of top-up payments for small cash donations to
charities, incorporated into the Small Donations Bill, is a welcome initiative relating to
ResPublica’s emphasis on the need to extend cultures of philanthropy and giving on a
national scale, and reminiscent of the recommendations in our report Digital Giving:
Modernising Gift Aid; Taking Civil Society into the Digital Age5 to ease administrative
burdens on charities.
ResPublica’s vision for extending the scope of giving will draw on the development of the
Government's strategy to instil a ‘giving culture’ to British society, and ask whether peer-to-
peer and local networks, in addition to growing technologies and online platforms mark the
way forward for potential philanthropists throughout the UK. We also will investigate how
new models of collaboration between individuals, the private and not-for-profit sectors could
boost cultures of giving and take investment for social impact into the mainstream. Our work
in this area will explore how the introduction of new blended vehicles and tax
acknowledgements for a sustainable and profitable social economy could take philanthropy
beyond traditional notions of charity and social good. Complementary to these initiatives, we
will also account for the wealth of non-monetary giving such as time banks and food banks,
in order to develop a holistic approach to philanthropy and locate wider opportunities for a
diverse range of individuals and communities to come together, crowd-source and invest in
their community-driven ambitions and public services.
House of Lords Reform
The House of Lords Reform Bill has been the subject of numerous headlines and served
to exacerbate disagreements between and within all major political parties. Earlier this year,
ResPublica called for an approach to reform that proceeds from the meaning and purpose of
5 Middleton, S. and Singh, A. (2010), Digital Giving: Modernising Gift Aid; Taking Civil Society into the Digital Age, ResPublica
http://www.respublica.org.uk/item/Charities-missing-out-on-%C2%A3750-million-of-Gift-Aid-because-of-antiquated-system-
says-new-ResPublica-Report-vlfo-ncle-ixzy-jwtw-blhj-nmzv-djjy
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the Second Chamber and accounts for the reciprocal, participative and co-operative function
that the House of Lords can play.6 Within our conclusions, we argued that recent attempts at
reform will not wholly transform the political system because they do not outline first and
foremost how the Second Chamber can best reflect civil society.
As Frank Field MP argues within our collection, “A radical Lords reform could be based on
seeking the representation of all the major legitimate interest groups in our society and of
using the idea of the ‘Big Society’ as a means of strengthening how representation works in
our democracy.”
Although such principles were reflected in the ‘Alternative Proposal’, forwarded by a number
of members of the Joint Committee reporting on the draft bill,7 the Coalition Government has
pressed ahead with their ambitions to reform. ResPublica will engage with the bill as it
progresses through Parliament, reasserting the importance of a Lords that is inclusive of the
diversity of our society.
We also intend to explore and outline the role of faith leaders in the House of Lords, and the
wider debate surrounding faith group’s engagement with public policy. Faith leaders play a
central role in representing the views and voices of individuals and groups in their own
constituencies and across the spectrum, and indeed add a value framework beyond that of
partisan politics to promote and contribute to the common good.
Beyond the Bills…
The Coalition Government made an informed decision to exclude a further institution, that of
marriage, in their list of upcoming Parliamentary priorities, but with the Home Office’s
consultation due to close in June, and Barack Obama’s recent announcement in support of
same sex marriage in the US, the topic is set to be a popular discussion point for the months
ahead.
In the additional context of the Government’s Social Justice initiative, which will set to place
families and human relationships at the centre of future policy, ResPublica will be exploring
the definition and purpose of the family, the household and relationships in order to unearth
core principles and stimulate a transformative debate. Human relationships and reciprocity
form the smallest, but also ground the largest of our institutions. Centralising their
importance across the policy terrain will be of heightened importance, particularly during the
time of austerity, in the coming year.
6 Julian, C. (ed.) (2012), Our House: Reflections on Representation and Reform in the House of Lords,
ResPublica http://respublica.org.uk/documents/pfr_ResPublica%20Reflections%20on%20Representation%20and%20Reform%20in%20the%20House%20of%20Lords.pdf 7 See Caroline Julian, Senior Researcher and Project Manager at ResPublica: New Statesman (26th April 2012),
“House of Lords Reform: What difference does it make?”, http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/house-lords-reform-what-difference-will-it-make