The January Manifesto 2013
Building on the January Declaration 2012
Purpose
This paper describes the January Manifesto for 2013. This sets out proposals to combat
poverty and inequality in the North East.
This manifesto follows work on the January Declaration, which was launched in 2012. The
paper describes how the proposals have emerged from workshops with supporters of the
Declaration held over the past year.
The January Declaration
The January Declaration states that we should work together to create a North East that is
good for everyone; treat everyone in the region with dignity regardless of economic status;
and press for a fair deal from Government for the region.
The Declaration was the idea of seven citizens who met informally one evening to share
concerns about increasing levels of poverty in the North East. 1 The text was published as a
letter in The Journal on 11th January 2012. Initially signed by 25 prominent people from
different points across the political spectrum, the Declaration now has 345 supporters,
including 16 MPs and the Archbishop of Canterbury Designate.
Engaging with the constituency
To develop the Manifesto from the Declaration, the seven individuals responsible for the
initiative have held:
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Six discussion groups in different parts of the region
Five working groups to pursue particular themes
A seminar at IPPR North
A meeting with organisations concerned with poverty and inequality in the region
A meeting for all supporters of the January Declaration to review findings and make
recommendations
A total of 81 out of 345 people who signed the Declaration have taken part in face to face
discussions.
Contents of this paper
This paper is the cumulative result from the deliberations. The paper aims to answer three
main questions that framed discussions:
1. What are the main problems in the North East?
2. What would a good society in the North East look like?
3. What is to be done to obtain that good society?
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Alastair Balls, Peter Hetherington, Barry Knight, Mike Parker, Jane Streather, Sally Thomas, and Mike
Worthington.
Proposals in this paper have emerged from a clear value base. The values suggest a
framework for action based on five main themes: governance, economy, wellbeing,
solidarity and youth. Under each theme, there are a number of suggested actions. While
acknowledging the importance of these, we set out four priorities for work during 2013.
They have been selected on the basis that they are achievable from within the region and
may act as a springboard for action later on.
These proposals have emerged as a result of a process within civil society. People have
contributed as individuals rather than as representatives of organisations. The group taking
this forward is not itself an organisation, nor has it desire to become one.2 It a voluntary
initiative led by citizens whose motivation is to see a good society free from poverty in the
North East.
What are the main problems in the North East?
In consultations, people typically find it easier to say what's wrong rather than what's right.
Discussions about the January Declaration were no exception, though people said that they
did not see themselves as victims, and found much merit in the place that they lived in – its
environment, institutions, people and culture. Overall, people felt that they lived in a
wonderful place with much potential.
At the same time, there was widespread recognition that the region has serious problems.
Although stronger than commonly supposed, the main problem is a weak economy.
Unemployment is above the national average; many jobs have low pay; and new jobs are
often part-time. Most of our problems flow from this, and the main consequences are longterm hardship and too few prospects for young people.
Problems are compounded by the marked inequality in the distribution of wealth. Land
ownership is dominated by a small number of remote families, and the ratio between high
and low pay in both private companies and public institutions is increasing. While accepting
such inequality as normal, people increasingly blame the weakest in our society, a process
that is undermining the tradition of solidarity in the region. Living on social security is not a
lifestyle choice; it is a feature of a local economy with too little work.
Among English regions, the North East has the lowest proportion of people rating their
health either as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. More than a fifth of local people say that their day-today lives are affected by a long-term health problem or disability, which is above the
national average. Ill health is correlated with poverty and take up of doctors and dentists is
very low in some poor areas.
Public services are declining. All public discourse suggests that there is no alternative to
cuts, as opposed to raising taxes. As things stand, there is little prospect of improvement
because of the scrapping of the government office for the region, the regional development
agency, the integrated regional strategy, arrangements for encouraging inward investment,
and the regional skills strategy, together with ending of area based initiatives and reduction
in many sources of finance. Moreover, there is near universal agreement that the North
East suffers two kinds of leadership deficits, vertical and horizontal:
2 The Webb Memorial Trust has provided modest financial and logistical support, and has documented progress
to date at www.webbmemorialtrust.org.uk/. For further information, or to sign up to the proposals described
here, contact Allan Sked at webb@cranehouse.eu.
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Vertically (between governors and governed), there is too much distance between
those in power and ordinary people. There is little sense, for example, that our
leaders know how difficult it is for poor people to feed their children, nor that
ordinary people would recognise their leaders in the street if they saw them
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Horizontally (between governors), there is much political infighting, parochialism
and envy both between different parts of the region and between local authorities.
Areas like Sheffield and Manchester have done much better on partnerships
between public and private sectors.
This means, as The Journal frequently reports, that there is a tendency for the North to get a
poor deal (for example, according to IPPR research, capital expenditure on transport
between 2012 and 2015 will be £5 per head in the region, compared with £450 in London).
We need a voice in the North East to bring us all together and speak for us.
At the same time, we should beware going back to the time when a small number of
identified leaders had too much power. This created a ‘top down’ way of managing things,
and all parties have followed this approach. There is a need for leadership renewal and for
ordinary people to step forward to make their voices heard, and this should include people
who are or have been poor.
The capacity for self-organising – a long tradition in the North East – has been undermined
by public authorities through the tokenistic approach to community development, so that
we now have little leadership from the community.
Culture has turned everything into a commodity. When we measure poverty, indicators are
based on price. Liverpool bet the whole economy on shopping and tourism. Yet, cheek by
jowl with the shopping areas, are places that contain some of the poorest people. The old
models have failed. Central government has, in the past, poured money into areas from the
top down, but this does not work since a diversified solution from within is required. It is
vital that leaders think upstream, such as looking at connections between things like health
and wealth, rather than dealing with the symptoms of problems.
What is a good society in the North East?
A good society would first value the assets it already has, and base its actions on a
programme of enhancing them. In doing so, it would promote its traditions, culture and
identity, while developing a fairer and more equal society. Everyone in employment would
have a living wage, there would be a safety net for those not in work and we would value
paying our taxes.
We would have better health, better education, and more community spirit. We would see
less deprivation, better housing, and more wellbeing. We would value our relationships
more and see people as valuable whether they are a surgeon or a street cleaner. Our region
would build on its natural qualities of social solidarity and social justice.
We would have a self-organising and diverse economy based on our traditions. There would
be small businesses based on arts, crafts and creative industries. Such businesses do not
require high levels of cognitive skill, but use the giftedness of people. This involves
recognising a stream of creativity in everyone and using work as a way of empowering
people.
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Growth would be ‘social growth’ developing our culture and social cohesion. We would be
less competitive and less focussed on material success, while making sure that everyone had
enough. We would be a society without fear. We would develop a tolerant and caring
society that treats everyone equally regardless of gender, race, disability or other
characteristic. This would mean that we would become more connected to each other
regardless of difference. Our language would be respectful and reflect such equality by
ensuring that we do not demean anyone.
We should have more of a sense of government by people like ourselves rather than by
people who are a class apart. People are engaged politically in their own futures, building a
coherent regional identity and supporting leaders to develop the best solutions for its
people.
What is to be done?
People were asked to say how we should obtain a good society in the North East. In
response to this question, there was general agreement that we need a new way of working.
This involves finding solutions to our problems using a people-based, as opposed to an
institution-based, approach. The cuts may not be all bad if we can use them to innovate and
find mutual solutions to old problems. We need to give different kinds of people a voice and
to expand the range of solutions beyond what has currency among the political class.
People suggested that we should make our values explicit. There was a sense that the
consumerist society was leading us down the wrong path. There is something distinctive
and valuable about the North East that should be nurtured. Our attitudes, relationships and
behaviours are at least as important as what we earn and own. The crisis facing our society
is an opportunity to evaluate these matters and decide what we want.
During various consultations, a great many suggestions about the future were made. These
fell into five main categories:
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3.
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5.
Governance
Economy
Wellbeing
Solidarity
Youth
We will now take each of these in turn.
1. Governance
The vacuum in leadership in the region means that there is a need for people to take the
initiative and step forward towards producing the future we want, as opposed to the future
we get. In the past, we have expected everything to be done by the public sector and that is
our downfall. We need to recognise the agency and power that exists within the region
rather than looking to people from the outside to fix things for us. People expressed a
strong desire to reverse the decades of public retreat away from politics to form a new
people-based politics. We need to be consciously developing regional leaders who are
equally comfortable in the public and private sectors.
The process of organisational development must not reproduce the mistakes of the past
because the old top-down ways no longer work. Rather than doing everything themselves
there needs to be devolved leadership to support people in their communities to run things
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where they can. This involves changing from delivering to enabling. This entails moving out
of an élite mind-set where the ‘in-crowd’ runs things to a model of collective leadership and
community ownership to one that is open and porous to the needs and demands of its
constituents.
This implies a process of organisational development to build a new model of doing business
in the North East.
Suggested actions:
1.1
Build institutional capacity to replace organisations that have been lost. Particular
suggestions include: a legal city region authority (one covering Tyne and Wear and
one covering Teesside), a mayor for the city regions, and a select committee for
the North East.
1.2
Develop a better model of collaboration to obtain joined up governance across the
region.
1.3
Form a coherent voice to stand up for the people who live here.
2. Economy
We need to develop a new partnership organisation to drive forward the capacity to pursue
economic development. An economic strategy would have three main dimensions. It would
build on our assets, take advantage of opportunities, and build an infrastructure that would
support future development. We will take each of these in turn.
Suggested actions:
2.1
Build on assets. Our main assets are based on process industries, advanced
manufacturing, medical capability, good universities, life sciences, new and
renewable energy and digital technology.
2.2
Take advantage of opportunities. The main opportunities lie in exporting and in
SMEs. There is the potential to develop new industries based on oil and gas.
2.3
Develop infrastructure. To build our economic capability, we need to:
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Improve our connectivity with high speed transport links (High Speed 2)
starting at Newcastle
Lengthen the runway at Newcastle airport to attract larger jets to
enable direct flights from North America
Improve our connectivity with improved coverage of broadband
Encourage more foreign students to study in the region
Have a clear energy policy
Ensure that public spending is seen to encourage private investment
Obtain better access to finance for innovation
Build the two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to become marketing
organisations for the region
Encourage local authorities to develop a regional infrastructure fund
Encourage trade unions to rebrand themselves as a positive contributor
to the economy and protector of the employee
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Encourage older individuals with assets to start businesses with the
express purpose of employing people who have been marginalised by
the job market
Develop a register of apprenticeships
3. Wellbeing
Life is about more than being well off; it is also about being well. Notwithstanding the
importance of stimulating economic development as described in the previous section,
there is an important theme that suggests we should organise our affairs differently, taking a
more holistic view of development and stressing the importance of our communities and the
relationships with people in them.
This perspective yields a different approach to development altogether. People in
communities should step forward in a collaborative and co-operative model of endeavour in
starting businesses for social reasons as well as economic ones. Examples may include
development trusts, community-led credit unions, and other community-led social
enterprises. We should consider uses of land. This might mean involve a study of land
reform to consider ownership patterns and a land tax. It might also look at the use of arable
land to consider innovative ways that local communities could grow their own food.
Rather than taking a ‘deficit model of development’, we would take an ‘asset based’
approach. We would start by mapping assets in various categories, including ‘physical’,
‘social’, ‘agency’, and ‘investment’. This would lead to a process of ‘strengths based
community investment’ in which opportunities are identified and fulfilled while ensuring
that people in need play key leadership positions.
Borrowing from the environmental movement, where there is a tradition of individuals
doing things to save the environment, a list of ‘individual actions to solve poverty’ could be
promoted. We need to counter the idea that the individual is powerless.
Suggested actions:
3.1
Support public transport
3.2
Buy from local businesses located within the region
3.3
Add charities to your will
3.4
Reduce salt in diets
3.5
Encourage everyone to register with a doctor and dentist
3.6
Work with older people to manage their gardens
4. Solidarity
We need a new understanding about societal processes that foster mutual responsibility to
put right the glaring gaps in our societies that currently demonise the victims of change. We
should avoid blame and recognise that almost all poverty is the result of structural, not
personal factors. Most unemployed people want to work. For example, less than one per
cent of those receiving Employment Support Allowance have been in receipt of the benefit
for more than 10 years. It is evident that economic arrangements create problems at both
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ends of the income distribution. The voluntary and community sector has a key role in
showcasing this narrative.
Suggested actions:
4.1
Assemble key facts to explode the myths of poverty
4.2
A poverty truth commission
4.3
A campaign for a living wage
4.4
A campaign to rein in disproportionately high pay through putting workers on
remuneration committees and publishing the ratio between top three and bottom
three employees in annual reports
4.5
Campaign to get companies to pay tax
4.6
Switch bank accounts to ethical banks
5. Youth
People who have presided over the current situation are not necessarily those who are best
suited to do the necessary rethinking. We need to involve young people as active
participants in the process for it is to them that the future belongs.
This means that adults have to behave differently, to connect with them and to give them
real power. Successful schemes include poverty proofing of schools, which involves young
people in the process. Similarly, all programmes should be proofed to ensure that they
involve young people in their design and implementation.
Suggested actions:
5.1
Campaign to ensure that all young people up to age 25 receive a quality offer of a
job, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months
of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed
5.2
Mentoring scheme for children living in poverty
5.3
Forum to ensure children’s voices are heard
Next steps
This document and a press release will be published in the second week of January 2013.
We propose four immediate campaigns to follow from this document:
1. To persuade employers to pay a living wage
2. To persuade all organisations to publish the ratio of the average of the three highest
paid employees to the three lowest paid in their annual reports
3. To persuade everyone to enrol with a doctor and dentist
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4. To develop a register of apprenticeships
Alongside these campaigns, there will be the continuation of the dialogue with supporters.
This will lead to ‘North East Poverty and Inequality Forum’. The strapline might be ‘Striving
for greater fairness in the North East’. This forum would monitor bodies such as LEPs that
have the responsibility to develop the region's economy, develop campaigns on particular
issues and coordinate appropriate activities. Supporters will be invited to volunteer to help
us to shape this.
Throughout the year, we will encourage new people to sign up to this January Manifesto.
Draft written by Barry Knight on behalf of Alastair Balls, Peter Hetherington, Barry Knight, Mike Parker, Jane Streather, Sally
Thomas, and Mike Worthington based on reports from January Declaration meetings.
For further information, and to register support, email Allan Sked at the Webb Memorial Trust webb@cranehouse.eu.
Dated 19th December 2012
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