Sharing and building power: Levelling up
This event , which took place on 19 October 2022, is part of a series held by our sharing and building power cell. We discussed the topic: ‘What does it mean for the state to share power in Levelling Up? What are the limits and the potential and how can we shift the culture to give more power to local people and the organisations that support them.’
Our opening speakers were Nicola Steuer from New Local, who told us about why and how the most innovative councils who are part of their network are engaging with communities in order to share power; and Tony McKenzie from Engage, which provides a platform for people’s views to be heard by politicians, including through a recent Reconnection Tour and Summit. Tony spoke about the nature of power and how to give people more control over what matters to them. Caroline Slocock, the co-convenor of a Better Way, also reflected on the challenges and opportunities for central government of sharing power, drawing on her own experience of government at No 10 and the Treasury.
Key points made by speakers and participants in the breakout groups and plenary discussion include:
the challenge for central government is that it has to demonstrate to the electorate to whom it is accountable that public money is spent wisely and efficiently, and that has led to tight, centralised controls and targets. Caroline said that she had become convinced that the best and most efficient way to achieve levelling up is to put money into the hands of local people, who know what the needs are and how best to respond to them. More needs to be done to make that case, as central government in this country is highly centralised, and in many ways has become more so in recent decades.
Nicola reflected that previous exercises in levelling up over two decades, which had not really involved communities in a sustainable way, had consistently failed, providing nil levels of relative change, so a new approach was needed.
How you do it is critical. Local communities should have greater influence and you need to build on what is there, building up from communities, not imposing it from above. New Local’s research had found that the public also think people should be given more power and communities are better placed to make positive change happen.
Nicola said that the characteristics of local authorities who are trying to shift power toward communities are:
They are intentional about the power shift, with a narrative about why and how they are doing it.
They are building a different relationship with communities - they engage, listen and are open to new ideas. This needs a cultural change that involves everyone in the local authority.
They invest in infrastructure and support for communities, ensuring they have the skills and capacity.
They practise at it, taking risks and giving space to try out different ways of doing things.
They use data, alongside community insights and use levers such as community wealth building, not just the main funding pots.
There is an imperative to work in a different way and huge potential but there is still a long way to go.Some examples of councils following this approach are Cornwall, Wigan and Warwickshire. That said, as Tony pointed out, Cornwall has its Eden project and its new university but it still has a housing crisis, low wages and poverty. Change needs to go deeper.
At Engage’s recent Reconnection Summit they’d heard that people want to contribute but feel they are not able to. Tony said it helped to understand the different forms of power and how they can manifest themselves, breaking power down into four elements:
Individual power, though often when people feel powerless through ‘learnt helplessness’ it can be misinterpreted as apathy.
Collective power, of which the Better Way network is an example.
Civil or social power, which can bring about change but can also be expressed in the form of resistance to change, for example, to specific regeneration projects because people haven’t been able to shape what is happening.
power in society, its structures and cultures, which needs to be understood and addressed. A lot of structures are built so people don’t exercise power. Tony said he’s spoken to many people in different places who say the same things: ‘We only get the crumbs from the table’.
There’s a need to build trust and relationships, which takes time, engagement and investment over the long-term. Turnover of public sector staff can be a problem, which is one reason why culture change as a whole is required.
The focus should be on delivery not ‘management’ of what communities are doing, developing an ‘adult to adult’ relationship rather than hand-holding, and letting them run with projects.
Greater ‘cultural competency’ is needed as often engagement fails to extend to non-white communities.
Investing in capacity and skills is important and that includes knowledge in how government works. In Scotland, training is offered for organisations and people engaging with the public sector on this, which has proved useful.
Too often strategy in organisations of all kinds, including the voluntary sector, is built from the top down but in reality the knowledge of communities is often greatest amongst front-line staff. We heard of one organisation that consciously built a network of front-line staff to feed into strategy.
Although some progress has been made, there’s a need to bring grass roots knowledge and practice to the wider attention of national and local politicians and to national influencers and policy makers, so as to make the case for sharing power more concrete and make it more commonplace. This is partly what the Better Way network is seeking to achieve.