The Green-Liberal Democrat joint administration was formed on Thursday, May 28
The new Green and Liberal Democrat joint administration in Southwark has vowed to put residents at the heart of democracy and decision-making by reintroducing Community Councils.
After the new administration was formed on Thursday last week (May 28), the Greens and Lib Dems have been busy working through their shared priorities for the next four years, which include bridging the gap between the council and the borough’s diverse communities.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) sat down with Cllr James McAsh, Leader of Southwark Green Party and the first ever Green Leader of Southwark Council, and Cllr Victor Chamberlain, Leader of Southwark Liberal Democrats and Deputy Leader of the Council, to hear about their joint vision for the borough.
Cllr McAsh explains that in the days that followed the Annual Council Meeting on May 28, the Greens and Liberal Democrats began constructive conversations which focused on their priorities and what residents of the borough want.
He told the LDRS: “It was very much about how do we work together? How can we deliver change? How can we meet the needs to tackle the huge problems that we have ahead of us?
“We have an £85 million funding gap thanks to the Labour government. We have a housing department that’s been labelled as failing by both residents and the regulator and we have a climate crisis that threatens our entire species, so we’ve got some big challenges ahead of us and we were united in tackling those challenges.”
Cllr Chamberlain, who also holds the Executive Member role for Neighbourhoods, Strategic Planning and Wellbeing, says he is most excited about re-establishing Community Councils, which were last active in Southwark in 2019.
He told the LDRS: “This is something that both parties are very passionate about and making sure that we are supporting and empowering our diverse communities.
“That’s best done by bringing the council back into their neighbourhoods and making sure the council is visible and responding to different challenges.”
He added: “We have different challenges but by looking at those issues at a community level, we can create change in a more effective way and spend money more efficiently than presuming that everything is the same, which the previous administration did by being so top down and having everything run from this glass Town Hall on Tooley Street.
“But actually if we talk to communities, if we empower them again, we’ll be able to deliver better change and more long-term change for the communities.”
What are Community Councils?
Community Councils formed part of the council’s decision-making process and saw residents meet up with ward councillors to discuss local issues and concerns.
A total of eight Community Councils were introduced under Liberal Democrat control in 2003 and consisted of councillors from two or three wards. Residents involved in Community Councils had an active role to play and made decisions on spending and heard planning applications.
However they were gradually dismantled from 2012, when the Labour administration reduced the number of Community Councils to five and removed their planning function.
In 2019, they were replaced with a new scheme called ‘Empowering Communities’ which marked the start of a new system where Community Council chairs were replaced with community champions who currently oversee a cluster of wards.
One-stop shops
Cllr Chamberlain added: “We’ve also found ways around making sure the council is visible again in every community.
“One of the things we’ve talked about is one-stop shops. That’s been in our [Liberal Democrat] manifesto but is something that absolutely speaks to that ability for [the Greens] so that residents can shape and know [the council] is listening to them.
“We want to force the council to be back on the high street in every part of our borough and make sure that people can go and speak to Southwark Council when they need a bit of support.”
Another big priority for the Greens and Liberal Democrats is ensuring the borough is affordable for residents. It is an issue which resonates across many London boroughs, but Southwark residents have been hit particularly hard, and many are being priced out of the area.
According to analysis which was published by the charity Trust for London last year, Southwark featured heavily as having some of the most gentrified neighbourhoods in London. Camberwell Green sat within the top ten most gentrified areas in London and was the most gentrified area in South London over the past decade.
Cllr McAsh said: “Southwark is an incredible place to live. It’s an amazing place. We’re so, so lucky to live in a place like Southwark, but increasingly people are finding it hard to live here.
“People are moving out of the borough, people are being displaced from the borough and people who are still here often find it hard to get by. That’s something that we need to tackle.”
He added: “That’s not something the council can do [on its own]. We need to get more support from the government. We’ll be standing up to the government, but at the same time, we’ll be using every lever we have to make sure that we make things as affordable as we can.
“That’s from the big picture items, such as how do we tackle affordability in housing and how do we make sure we’re building more homes to smaller things.
“One of the things I loved about the Liberal Democrat manifesto was about having baby boxes for new families. I wish we thought of that. It’s a good idea.
“So you see to what extent can we as a council support people with the affordability crisis while at the same time standing up to government to make sure that they’re tackling those kind of really big issues.”
‘Two sets of perspectives’
Asked how the joint administration will ensure the council is run smoothly with a new Labour opposition, Cllr Chamberlain said: “I find it really encouraging that after spending 12 years as an opposition councillor, it’s really exciting to be part of an administration that’s delivering such an ambitious programme.
“I think we’re stronger by having two different sets of perspectives coming into this that will actually deliver and work for residents on the ground because we represent the majority of the people in this borough and we understand the needs of very diverse types of communities in every corner of Southwark.”
He added: “There’s real consensus and leaving our party politics at the door means that we’re actually able to put residents first, and I think we’ll be a stronger council as a result of that than perhaps what we’ve seen over the last 16 years with Labour.”
Southwark Council’s political makeup
Following the May 7 local elections, Southwark Council is made up of 22 Green councillors, 12 Liberal Democrat councillors and 29 Labour councillors.
The Greens and Liberal Democrats make up 34 councillor seats, which is a majority of the council’s 63 seats. Labour now forms the council opposition.
The following councillors, representing either the Greens or Liberal Democrats, now hold Executive Member positions and are in charge of individual portfolios:
- Executive Member for Council Homes – Cllr Reginald Popoola
- Executive Member for Community Safety and Engagement – Cllr David Watson
- Executive Member for Finance and General Purposes – Cllr Sam Foster
- Executive Member for Jobs, Equalities and Citizenship – Cllr Rachel Bentley
- Executive Member for Public Works and New Homes – Cllr Alexandra Austin
- Executive Member for Climate and Council Coordination – Cllr Eloise Waldon-Day
- Executive Member for Parks and Leisure – Cllr Vanessa Threadgold
- Executive Member for Education and Care – Cllr Rebecca Corn
- Deputy Executive Member for Tenant and Leaseholder Services – Cllr George Grime
- Deputy Executive Member for Culture – Cllr Janice White
- Deputy Executive Member for Adult Services – Cllr Suzanne Wise
- Deputy Executive Member for Community Council Delivery – Cllr Francesco Guerrieri
- Deputy Executive Member for Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector – Cllr Lina Usma
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