Assessing the impact on Salford of “ The Coalition: our programme for government”

1. Assessing the impact on Salford of “The Coalition: our programme for government” Salford Strategic Partnership Executive, 27 July 2010

2. A Healthy City • NHS • GPs as main Commissioners • Future of Strategic planning • Maintaining delivery and stability in a period of change • Reconfiguration of services – New rules • Future of Public Health and Partnership working • Mike Burrows • Salford NHS

3. A Safe City • Civil liberties • Programme to reverse the erosion of civil liberties and roll back state intrusion • Crime and policing • Make the police more accountable through oversight by a directly elected individual • Give local authorities and the police much stronger powers to remove licences from, or • refuse to grant licences to, premises that cause problems • Pay independent providers to reduce reoffending, paid for by the savings this new approach will generate within the criminal justice system • Justice • Explore alternative forms of secure, treatment-based accommodation for mentally ill • and drugs offenders • Don Brown • Community Safety Unit • Salford City Council

4. A Learning and Creative City • Universities and further education • Support apprenticeships, internships, work pairings, and college and workplace • training places • Judge Lord Browne’s report into higher education funding against need to increase • social mobility, consider the impact on student debt; properly funded universities and • better teaching • Review support for part-time students in terms of loans and fees • Culture, Olympics, media and sport • Enable partnerships between local newspapers, radio and television stations to • promote a strong and diverse local media industry • Improve identification of funding streams • Keith Barnes • University of Salford

5. A City where Children and Young People are Valued • Schools • Ensure that new providers can enter the state system in response to parental demand; • that all schools have greater freedom over the curriculum; and that all schools are held • properly to account • Improve vocational education, increasing flexibility for 14–19 year olds and creating • new Technical Academies • Families and children • Maintain the goal of ending child poverty in the UK by 2020 • Take Sure Start back to its original purpose of early intervention, increase its focus on • the neediest families, and better involve organisations with a track record of supporting • families. Investigate paying providers by results • Investigate a new approach to helping families with multiple problems • Nick Page • Children’s Services • Salford City council

6. An Inclusive City • Communities and local government • Devolve power and greater financial autonomy to local government and community • groups, including a review of local government finance • Help communities save local facilities and services threatened with closure, and give • communities the right to bid to take over local state-run services • Equalities • Promote improved community relations and opportunities for Black, Asian and Minority • Ethnic (BAME) communities, including an enterprise mentoring scheme for BAME people • Social action • Train community organisers and support the creation of neighbourhood groups, especially • in the most deprived areas • Encourage volunteering and involvement in social action, including launching a national • day to celebrate and encourage social action • Lynne Elliott • Salford CVS

7. An Economically Prosperous City • Communities & local government • Local enterprise partnerships to replace regional development agencies • “Big Society” • Support creation and expansion of mutuals, co-ops, charities and social enterprises and • involve them more in running public services • Train new generation of community organisers and support creation of neighbourhood • groups, especially in most deprived areas • “Breakthrough Britain” • Five pathways to poverty: family breakdown, economic dependency and worklessness, • educational failure, addiction and serious personal debt. Highlights the role of the • voluntary sector in reversing breakdown • Welfare reform • End all welfare to work programmes and create a single one • Reform government funding for welfare to work programmes to reflect the fact that initial • investment delivers later savings through lower benefit spending • Re-assess all Incapacity Benefit claimants for readiness to work, moving onto • Jobseeker’s Allowance those assessed as fully capable of work • Investigate how to simplify benefits to improve incentives to work – Dynamic Benefits • Chris Marsh • Salford City Council

8. A City that’s Good to Live In • Communities and local government • Abolish regional spatial strategies and return decision-making powers on housing and • planning to local councils • Reform the planning system to give neighbourhoods more ability to determine the shape • of the places • Phase out the ring-fencing of grants to local government and review the unfair Housing • Revenue Account • Energy and climate change • Encourage home energy efficiency improvements paid for by savings from energy bills. • Improve energy efficiency in businesses and public buildings • Transport • Reform the way decisions are made about which transport projects to prioritise to • recognise fully the benefits of low carbon proposals, including light rail schemes • Support sustainable travel initiatives, promoting cycling and walking, and encourage joint • working between bus operators and local authorities • Paul Walker • Sustainable Regeneration • Salford City Council

9. Overall • Deficit reduction • Deficit reduction, and ensuring economic recovery, is the most urgent issue • Protect those on low incomes from the effect of public sector pay constraint and other • spending constraints • Government transparency • Create a new ‘right to data’ so that government-held datasets can be requested and used • by the public, and then published on a regular basis • Communities and local government • Ensure that citizens know how taxpayers’ money is spent in their area and have a greater • say over how it is spent • Political reform • Give residents the power to call local referendums on any local issues • Alan Tomlinson • Salford City Council