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This is a good time for experts on fire safety from across the country to gather in the same room and have a conversation about what we need to change.

This is a room full of experts, I am not one. I just happen to be the man who is Minister for the police and the fire service.

On day 2 of my service in that role, we all woke up to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and I think it is important to get that into perspective, that we are dealing with, in terms of loss of life, the biggest disaster that has hit this country since Hillsborough and a scale of fire that arguably we haven’t seen since the Second World War. We are talking about an individual fire, which Commissioner Cotton, as I stood alongside her on that fateful morning said, was a fire unlike any she had seen in her 29 years of service. I hope you’ll allow me just to take a few moments to reflect on that tragedy because obviously it changes everything.

I’m sure everyone in this room feels like me in terms of the way our hearts go out to the victims of that tragedy. They are victims because this should not have happened. Whether they have lost loved ones or whether they are still waiting to hear whether they’ve lost loved ones, which is the case for many, or whether they’ve lost everything which many of them have or whether they’ve been in a situation where they’ve had to see and hear things that people should never have to. That goes for the residents but also for the firefighters who arrived within minutes at that scene and took some very big decisions in terms of the risks they were prepared to take to go into that building and to save 65 people. It of course wasn’t just the firefighters on the scene, we should also remember the people that were not at the building but who were on the end of a phone line, listening to people in the hours of growing desperation and despair and the ripples of trauma from this event go very wide.

And for that reason, we as a country and as a society have got to do 3 very important things. We’ve got to make sure that we provide the support for that community of victims, relatives and residents. We’ve got to help them through the process of a public inquiry and a criminal investigation and to get to the truth of what happened that night and to make sure there is proper accountability for what happened that night.

Thirdly, that we have got to make sure that we reassure the public that we all serve about the safety of buildings they are in and increase levels of public confidence about the whole system which we manage together, to manage the risk of fire and to give the public reassurance. That system is now being scrutinised more than ever before. And actually, I’m being very frank, as events unfold and we get clearer pictures of the reality of some of the buildings we are inspecting, we have to contemplate, and I hope we have time to discuss this so I can get your views on this, that actually we are maybe looking at a system failure, built up over many years, which we now have to address urgently.

Let me just say something briefly about the Grenfell Tower response.

The first priority is to ensure that people who have been directly affected by the fire are cared for and receive all the support they need. The second, as I’ve said, is to ensure that people in similar buildings are safe and, feel safe, in their homes.

On the first point – about care and support for those directly affected by this tragedy – as I’ve said before, it is clear that the initial response of the emergency services was absolutely exemplary. However, the support on the ground, as we’ve been really frank about and put our hands up, was simply not good enough. A remarkable community effort sprang up overnight while official support was frankly found wanting.

That failure was inexcusable, and it is right that a new team, led by John Barradell – the Chief Executive of the City of London, is now coordinating the response on the ground. We have got to learn to ensure any future civil emergencies are responded to as effectively as possible.

The government has also taken steps to provide support to residents and to the local authorities. The Department for Communities and Local Government has activated the ‘Bellwin’ scheme, which you may be familiar with, which provides emergency financial assistance to local authorities. They have also established a unit dedicated to supporting the victims and which provide a single point of access into the government for those involved in the support effort.

On the ground, staff from 6 government departments including from the Home Office and Department of Work and Pensions, as well as local health services, the Red Cross and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau are present at the Westway Assistance Centre to provide advice and support to residents.

We have also set aside £5 million for the Grenfell Tower residents’ discretionary fund to cover all the immediate costs for the victims of this terrible incident, for example, replacing their clothing, their phones, their toiletries – most people lost absolutely everything they owned. Almost £2.5 million has been distributed so far, to 112 households.

We are also committed to making sure all families are re-housed locally and our priority is to ensure those who have lost their homes are offered a decent place to live, and can start rebuilding their lives. The Prime Minister made a commitment to offer families temporary housing in Kensington or a neighbouring borough within 3 weeks and we are confident we will achieve this by tomorrow.

Public inquiry

In terms of the public inquiry and as the Prime Minister has announced, there will be an independent, judge-led public inquiry, led by Sir Martin Moore-Bick.

The inquiry’s immediate priority will be to establish the facts of what happened in order to take the necessary action to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.

But beyond that immediate focus it is also important that all the wider lessons from both this catastrophe, and the checks of other buildings around the country that followed it, are identified and learnt.

We must, and I’m sure everyone in this room will agree, get to the truth about what happened, so no stone will be left unturned by this inquiry. The inquiry will also produce an interim report to ensure we identify lessons as early as possible.

Expert panel

And as I’ve already said, it’s essential that people in similar buildings to Grenfell Tower are safe and feel secure in their own homes.

Building regulations and fire safety systems have been developed over many decades.

Until the Grenfell Tower fire, it could have been said these systems worked. The numbers of fires have fallen as you know by half over the past decade and the number of fires in purpose-built high-rise flats has fallen by 43 percent since 2009/10.

But at Grenfell Tower we witnessed a catastrophic failure on a scale that many thought impossible in 21st century Britain. It is clear that this failure must be understood and rectified without delay, and the government is determined to ensure that happens.

As an initial step, DCLG has established an independent expert advisory panel to provide independent advice to my colleague the Communities Secretary on any immediate measures needed to ensure people living in high rise buildings are safe.

The panel is made up of a range of building and fire safety experts, chaired by Sir Ken Knight, and will draw in wider technical expertise as necessary to inform their advice.

In particular the panel will:

• focus on providing advice relating to fire and building safety, and in particular how to ensure the public are safe in high rise buildings

• consider whether there are any immediate additional actions that should be taken to ensure the safety of existing high rise buildings

• consider whether there are any changes or clarifications required to existing regulations, and provide advice on possible changes, including making recommendations on the use of specific materials

• consider whether the current processes for checking building safety are fit for purpose, and whether any changes are required. I’d encourage anyone in this room who has expertise or views on this to share it

Implications for fire safety

I also need to address the issue of cladding, although cladding is clearly not the whole story but it is a priority.

It is estimated that there are around 528 blocks with similar cladding to Grenfell Tower which are being tested for their combustibility by the Building Research Establishment. So far, all the samples of cladding tested have failed — that is 181 out of 181.

As the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government said in the House of Commons yesterday, it is clearly disturbing that there is such a large number of buildings with combustible cladding, and the priority now is to make those buildings safe. I know that many of you here in this room this morning will be involved in that work. I was talking briefly to colleagues in Wales about this, and I’m sure that everyone is working flat out to monitor the buildings in their area.

Where appropriate, mitigating measures cannot be implemented quickly, landlords must provide alternative accommodation while the remedial work is carried out, and that is exactly what happened with the 4 tower blocks in Camden. It is worth reminding ourselves here, that the primary issue on those tower blocks was not the cladding. It was the condition of the buildings themselves and the lack of fire doors.

The problem of unsafe cladding is not unique to social housing or residential buildings. The government has asked other owners, landlords and managers of private sector residential blocks to consider their own buildings, and we have made the testing facility freely available to them.

Our primary concern has been any buildings over 18 metres or 6 storeys in which people stay at night.

We are also considering the safety of all public sector buildings which includes hospitals and schools. These should have tailored fire safety plans in place and safety checks are being done as I speak.

We have also taken independent advice to ensure that our testing regime is correct because there have been some views raised on that. This was done by the Research Institutes of Sweden, which confirmed that they believe the process to be sound.

The safety of people living in and using these buildings is our primary concern and the government is determined to ensure that residents have as much peace of mind as possible.

Role of fire and rescue services

Clearly fire and rescue services have a vital role to play in advising property owners and their residents about fire risks and what to do to reduce them. You have a range of enforcement powers available to require landlords and others to improve fire safety measures in the common areas, or take remedial action where necessary, including in those buildings where the external cladding fails the combustibility test.

In London, over 2,500 fire safety audits were carried out in 2015/16 in purpose-built flats 4 storeys or more, compared to over 1300 in 2009/10.

The events of the last few weeks have highlighted the importance of these fire safety audits. We will, working in coordination with the sector, consider what changes, if any, are needed to the fire safety audit regime. I’d really like to hear your views on that.

This will complement other reviews already underway and the work being undertaken by the Grenfell Recovery Task force for which I sit on, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, its sub-group on building safety matters, which I also sit on, which is chaired by the Communities Secretary and DCLG’s expert advisory panel.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I wanted to try and keep my remarks short so that we can have a proper discussion as you are the experts and I am not and clearly as I have said, Grenfell changes everything.

As I said, as we get a sense of the condition of some of these buildings are and as we get a better sense of what is happening in terms of compliance with building regulation and as we get a sense of what is and isn’t happening in terms of inspection and risk assessment, we may have to confront an awkward truth. That over many years and perhaps against the backdrop of, as data shows, a reduced risk in terms of fire, in terms of number of incidents and deaths, that maybe as a system some complacency has crept in. There is no room for that and Grenfell changes everything. We have a responsibility, as partners in this process to move as quickly as we can to reassure ourselves that the system we are all part of is fit for purpose and to reassure the public that the buildings they go to sleep in are safe.

It is quite clear that the tragedy at Grenfell Tower will have enduring implications for all those involved in fire and building safety. It will cast a long shadow over all of our thinking and all of our future work together on the reform agenda. It is right that we take this opportunity to reflect on that here today.

I’m sure everyone in this room shares the single objective, which I feel very very strongly about, that we should never be in a situation where another community goes through what the Grenfell community and Kensington community went through that night and will continue to go through in the weeks and months and years ahead as they rebuild their lives. It simply cannot happen again and it is our responsibility to ensure it is never repeated.

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This is yet another reminder of the grave danger that North Korea poses to her neighbours, particularly Japan and South Korea, who are our friends and allies. Regardless of the variety of missile launched, any test of this kind breaks UN Security Coun… read more

The project team delivering the biggest road upgrade under construction in the UK have been sharing an update about ongoing work on site, within the surrounding environment and with local communities.

New aerial photographs have been published today (Tuesday 4 July) revealing how the new road is emerging. Alongside this progress, foundations and bridge columns for some of the project’s 34 new bridges have been installed and the team have been giving an update on the industry leading care for the environment that the project is delivering while building the new road.

Work on building the £1.5bn upgrade to the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon started in November last year. The project includes widening a total of seven miles of the A14 in each direction (across two sections), a major new bypass south of Huntingdon, widening a three-mile section of the A1 and demolition of a viaduct at Huntingdon, which will support improvements in the town.

A new road emerges

Barely seven months after work started on the £1.5bn upgrade scheme, the outline for the 12-mile long Huntingdon bypass has emerged through the Cambridgeshire landscape, revealing how much progress has been achieved so far.

Chris Griffin, A14 project manager at Highways England, says:

We are continuing to make good progress throughout the scheme. We have had mild and dry weather this winter and spring and have been making the most of it to move the project forward quickly and safely.

I am pleased that the outline for most of the new road’s path has now been created and it won’t be long before some of our first structures are completed.

The project’s earthworks team has been stripping top soil over more than 17 miles out of the project’s total length of 21 miles to create several sections of the future new road including: the Huntingdon bypass, the new Swavesey junction, and the five-mile long local access road, which will link local communities between Huntingdon and Cambridge without the need to use the A14.

Building a road with its environment in mind

Chris says:

From the skies, the outline of the Huntingdon bypass forms a thin brown strip running through the jigsaw of green and yellow fields between Swavesey and the east coast main line railway.

We are careful to minimise our impact on the surrounding environment while we work, and the environment keeps reminding us that it is all around us too. On a progress visit through the River Great Ouse viaduct site recently, I was joined by an unexpected companion: a heron standing in one of the lakes near the temporary bridge, seemingly surveying the piling team’s work.

An important part of the project has been the planning of environmental mitigation so that, by the time the project is completed, its footprint on the surrounding natural environment is as small as possible. A team of ecologists is working with wildlife including water voles, great crested newts, kestrels, bats and barn owls, as well as some protected plant species, to create new habitats. More information will be made available as work progresses.

In addition, the team will replant twice as many trees as have been felled throughout the project by the time it is completed. The trees will be carefully selected to fit in with the existing local environment.

Creating the new road’s building blocks

Chris continues:

With construction gathering pace, we have now started tackling some of the biggest challenges on the project and it is exciting to see our innovative plans take shape on the ground, including the foundations and some of the columns for the viaduct on both sides of the River Great Ouse.

Columns for some of the 34 bridges to be built throughout the project have now started appearing along Ermine Street (A1198), the A1 and at the site of the future, 750-metre long River Great Ouse viaduct. The foundations for the viaduct columns are as deep as 35 metres and are made up of steel-reinforced concrete.

The piling team has drilled deep under the layers of clay and silt either side of the River Great Ouse to ensure the foundations and the viaduct columns themselves are stable enough to carry the 800 concrete bridge deck panels, weighing 25 tonnes each, on which the new carriageway will be built.

View from the River Great Ouse temporary bridge with piling machinery digging the column foundations.

While the foundations and columns for some of the bridges and the viaduct are being installed, work to cast the concrete panels for the bridge decks, including the 800 needed for the viaduct alone, has also started.

Bridge deck concrete panels being cast at the on-site casting plant near the Brampton compound.

The concrete panels are being cast on the construction site, near the Brampton compound, to avoid having to transport them via the road network, further minimising disruption for road users.

Another way in which the project minimises its use of the surrounding road network is through the use of materials from several borrow pits dotted along the construction site. Instead of having to bring over the 5 million tonnes of materials needed to build the road, more than half of it is being supplied from the site itself.

Working with local communities

Another important aspect of the project is its focus on connecting local communities.

Highways England strategic engagement manager Mike Evans explains:

The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon upgrade is the biggest road project currently in construction in the UK, and we want to make sure that the communities living alongside it have access to the information they need.

The project team launched our mobile visitor centre back in March, which they use to visit towns and villages along the length of the route and further afield to share updates about the scheme including information to help people plan their journeys, possible job opportunities and other topics of interest.

Mike adds:

The centre has been a great success so far, with many visits completed at different locations along the whole route and more dates planned in the coming months. We are always open for bookings so please contact us today to enquire.

Mike continues:

Our commitment to the local community is also to give them the opportunity to respond to the changes our project brings. We launched the A14 Community Fund last year to support a range of activities with a focus on bringing communities closer together.

Groups can submit projects linked with the new road within a range of themes including the environment, art or skills and selected projects will receive a grant of up to £10,000.

The first three rounds of funding applications have been completed and more than £50,000 have been allocated to eight different projects including primary school murals, skills projects for unemployed people, projects linked to cycling and to wildlife.

Find out more information about the A14 Community fund.

To book the mobile visitor centre to attend a public event for free, call 0800 270 0114 or email A14CambridgeHuntingdon@highwaysengland.co.uk.

For the latest information about the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, visit the project page, follow @A14C2H on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

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Boat owners are being urged to make sure their vessels are registered – or face paying hefty fines.

The call comes after Environment Agency inspectors found two boats moored without their registration plates on the rivers Great Ouse and Nene.

The discovery resulted in the vessels’ owners being prosecuted and ordered to forfeit a combined total of more than £1,200.

Boats must be registered

It is a legal requirement for boaters to register any craft they keep, use or let for hire on Environment Agency waterways, and to clearly display a valid registration plate. Not doing so carries a maximum fine of £1,000, as well as a criminal record.

Mr Kevin Saggers of Lyn Road, Ely, and Mr Christopher King of Riverside Mead, Peterborough, both failed to register their vessels as required by law.

Mr Saggers, whose unregistered boat, named Lazy Lady, was found on 9 December 2016 on the Great Ouse at Littleport in Cambridgeshire, was proved guilty in absence and ordered to pay penalties totalling £734. Mr King, whose vessel, called Little Jo Larkin, was discovered on 26 July 2016 on the Nene at Stanground Marina in Peterborough, pleaded guilty and had to pay £493.

Their cases were heard at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on 14 June and 22 June, respectively.

Offenders face £1,000 fines

Nathan Arnold, partnerships and development team leader at the Environment Agency said:

Our historic and precious waterways are an important part of our nation’s heritage and are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people every year.

A significant part of caring for them, protecting them, and ensuring people continue to enjoy them is funded by boaters paying their way. Those who don’t contribute as they should are threatening the future of our waterways – and we won’t hesitate to take action against them.

Unregistered boats are hazardous

As well as not contributing to the upkeep of waterways, unregistered boats can be unsafe, hazardous to other river users, and a pollution risk to the local environment.

The Environment Agency looks after 353 miles of navigable waterways in the Anglian network, which includes the Ancholme, Black Sluice, Glen, Welland, Nene, Great Ouse and Stour, as well as associated locks and navigation facilities like moorings, showers and toilets.

More information about boating and waterways, including registering vessels, is available via www.gov.uk/ea. If you suspect a boat is illegal, please contact the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506 or email waterways.enforcementanglian@environment-agency.gov.uk.

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Good afternoon everyone.

This week we’re marking the LGA’s 20th birthday, a great achievement.

When the association was formed, back in the spring of 1997, the national political scene was very different from today

We had a Conservative Prime Minister leading a minority government and facing big questions over Europe…

A charismatic, populist leader of the opposition promising the earth to young voters…

The Liberal Democrats could fit all their MPs in a minibus…

Plus ca change, as they say…

The LGA’s 20th anniversary should be a time for celebration.

For focussing on the very best of local government, highlighting successes and raising a glass to future achievements.

But this year, I don’t think any of us are in the mood for revelry.

In the past 4 months we have seen terrorist attacks in Westminster, in Manchester, at London Bridge, and in Finsbury Park.

And of course, last month saw the tragic catastrophe at Grenfell Tower.

So much of the response has been exemplary.

Selfless men and women from our emergency services, in local government and across the public sector working all hours to keep their communities safe.

These local heroes have shown what public service really means.

They have my thanks, and those of a grateful nation.

I would also like to pay tribute to the role that you in this room have played.

The past months have not been easy.

But, again and again, I’ve seen you coming together to support each other through these testing times.

Nine London councils have been involved in the recovery at Grenfell – and I am grateful to the LGA for the work they have been doing with my department to ensure that other towers around the country are safe for the families that live in them.

But none of this changes the fact that, in Britain in 2017, the fire at Grenfell simply should not have been possible.

Nor does it change the fact that there were serious failings in the immediate aftermath; failings that created unnecessary suffering for residents who had already suffered too much.

So while I don’t want to ignore or disregard the amazing work the LGA has done over the past 20 years, you’ll forgive me if, today, I reflect on what has gone wrong in local government – and what we need to do to, together, to fix it.

Grenfell and the crisis of trust

I’ve been in politics and government for 7 years now.

And nothing I’ve seen in that time hit me harder than what happened to the people of Grenfell Tower.

It was a disaster on a scale we hadn’t seen for many years.

The television pictures were harrowing.

But what the survivors saw and experienced…

Well, I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it must be for them.

When I visited the community support centre I spoke to one family that lived about halfway up the tower.

Mum, dad and children.

When the fire broke out they followed official advice: they stayed put and waited for help.

But as the flames and smoke closed in, the father decided it was time to get his family out.

And as they headed for the exits he stayed at the back, making sure nobody was left behind.

The mother led her children to safety.

But in the smoke and confusion, she lost touch with her husband.

When I met her she was hopeful they were about to be reunited, that she would see her husband again soon.

When I met her son, he was trying to find the words to tell his mother that his father’s body had been found in the stairwell.

It’s not a conversation I’ll ever forget.

I’m not afraid to say that it shook me to my core.

Like my parents, that family had come to this country in search of opportunity, in search of a better life.

And we, as a country, failed them.

Just as we failed all the victims of that terrible tragedy.

There are many questions that need answering about the Grenfell Fire.

There may have been failures by individuals, failures by organisations and failures of public policy at all levels stretching back several decades.

The public inquiry will get to the bottom of what happened.

We must allow that inquiry, and the criminal investigation, to run their course, and be careful not to prejudge or prejudice either of them.

But, speaking to survivors, people in the local community, and people in tower blocks around the country, one thing is abundantly clear.

Local government is facing a looming crisis of trust.

A decade ago, up in Blackpool, David Cameron said that you can’t drop a fully-formed democracy out of an aeroplane at 40,000 feet.

He was talking about foreign wars and military interventions, but it’s a lesson that all of us here today would do well to remember.

Because all politics is local.

Whether you’re councillor or an MP, we are elected by our local communities to serve the people of our local communities – to ensure their interests are put first.

We see and feel the effect of our decisions on our streets, and in the services we use every day.

And when something isn’t working, when something isn’t right, it is our duty to speak up and do something about it.

I know how hard many of us work to do just that.

But if the events of the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that we have to raise our game.

The ties that bind local government to local communities have not snapped.

But if we don’t act now, such a time may one day be upon us.

Rebuilding trust

We must rebuild, refresh and reinforce the trust that local people have in local democracy.

But that won’t happen by hiding away.

Just as we can’t drop a democracy out of an aeroplane, so we can’t rebuild one from behind castle walls.

If people are going to trust their elected representatives, they have to see them working in the harsh light of the public eye, not in comforting shadows behind closed doors.

Not only must democracy exist; it must be seen to exist.

It can’t be about decisions made in private meeting rooms.

Nor can it be about experts telling people what’s best for them without ever taking the time to listen to their worries and concerns.

After all, government is about serving people – not simply telling them what to do.

And local government must show that it is FOR the people – not just OF the people.

Supporting communities

So our mission has to be local government that is truly engaged with and supportive of communities.

These aren’t communities as government-designated groups.

People carefully categorised into boxes that can be ticked on official forms.

I’m talking about the genuine communities made up of people connected by common bonds and shared values – whether built around neighbourhood, background, or beliefs.

It’s what I’ve seen at Grenfell Tower.

The council may have built the tower, but the people built the community.

A network of mutual support that government can never replicate and should never attempt to replicate.

A community where support is given not because of any entitlement, but simply out of love and compassion and basic human decency.

And while it’s been inspiring to see the community around Grenfell Tower swinging into action, it can’t help but make the loss all the more heartbreaking.

It is these kind of communities we need to be much, much better at supporting.

Above all else they must be listened to. They must be heard.

It must be an honest and open discussion across all communities.

Where consultation isn’t just treated as a legal necessity, but a genuine engagement in which all views – even ones we don’t like – are treated as if they could actually be right.

Where we value voices, dissenting or otherwise.

It will require us to tackle some deep-rooted issues which for too long we have collectively failed to deal with.

Honesty about the housing we need

Just look at housing.

It’s hard to believe now, but just a few years ago it was fashionable for people to question the need for more house building.

They’d point to obvious flaws in the housing market, or too many empty homes, or immigration.

Today, most people recognise that even if those issues were solved overnight, it would still not be enough.

There’s a serious shortage of decent, affordable housing in this country.

It’s not the fault of any one government or party – we all carry some of the blame.

Since the 1970s – under Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron and now May – we’ve supplied an average of 160,000 new homes each year.

That’s far below what’s needed

And that failure of supply to keep up with demand has led to predictable results.

Across the country the average house now costs almost 8 times average earnings – an all-time record.

Unless they can get a leg up from their parents, for many young people the dream of home ownership is just that – a dream.

And it’s in housing that that we see most starkly the problems of inequality in this country.

Between those with wealth, and those without.

Between old and young.

And between those with security, and those who live with uncertainty day-in day-out.

The simple fact is that to put this right we need to build more homes that people want to live in, in places people want to live.

Between 225,000 and 275,000 of them every year, according to independent estimates.

That may sound simple enough, but as I said it’s a goal that has proved elusive for every government since the 1970s.

So we need to rethink the entire process of development and, as ever, that starts with planning.

Years after local plans were introduced, some councils still haven’t produced one.

Others produced a plan when the policy was first introduced, but haven’t touched it since and are left with a dusty document that’s hopelessly out-of-date and irrelevant to the real needs of their communities.

And then there are those councils that have an up-to-date plan, but have failed to be honest about the level of housing they need in their area.

It’s not good enough.

The era of tolerating such poor, patchy performance is over.

Today I can confirm that this month we will launch a consultation on a new way for councils to assess their local housing requirements, as we promised in the housing white paper.

Our aim is simple: to ensure these plans begin life as they should, with an honest, objective assessment of how much housing is required.

That means a much more frank, open discussion with local residents and communities.

It also requires a new approach.

One that is straightforward, so everyone can understand the process.

One that is transparent, so decisions are not hidden behind complexity or bureaucracy.

And one that is consistent, so every community, from the biggest city to the smallest hamlet, can be confident their council is assessing housing need properly and fairly.

After all, nothing is more corrosive to trust than the idea that some areas are being treated better than others.

Where housing is particularly unaffordable, local leaders need to take a long, hard, honest look to see if they are planning for the right number of homes.

And it’s not enough that plans start honest; they need to stay that way.

So we’ll also insist they are reviewed at least every 5 years.

I’m under no illusion that these plans will require courage to both conceive and execute.

There will be tough decisions, difficult conversations.

But that is what political leadership is about.

Showing real ambition for the communities you serve and doing the right thing, not the easy thing.

Now I know you’re sitting there thinking “That’s great Saj, but I don’t need more bureaucracy.

“I want to build houses, not piles of paperwork.”

Well, let me assure you that the last thing I want to do is to add unnecessary burdens to local government.

Yes I want these plans to be more honest, and yes I want the local debates and challenges to be taken head on.

But I also want these plans to simpler, faster, and cheaper to produce.

That’s exactly what the consultation will propose.

Providing the right infrastructure

The new system will make a big difference but I’m not naïve.

I know that plans and ambitions are not enough on their own.

If there was one thing that made our housing white paper different from its predecessors, it was the recognition that there is no single magic bullet that will solve all the problems of our housing market.

It’s simply too big and too complex for one policy to fix, and that’s why action is needed on many fronts.

Look at infrastructure.

Across the country there are housing sites that never get going because the final piece of funding for infrastructure is missing.

The larger the site the bigger the problems.

Many crucial strategic housing schemes struggle to get off the drawing board because it proves impossible to co-ordinate and pay for the upfront infrastructure that’s required.

And as far as local communities are concerned, it comes back to trust.

Most people are willing to accept new housing in their areas, they know that their children and grandchildren need places to live.

But they also don’t want to see massive development being imposed on an area where schools, GP surgeries, roads, buses and trains and already under pressure.

They’ll accept the new homes, but they also want the right infrastructure put in at the right time in a joined up way.

It’s not exactly an unreasonable request.

So where there are ambitions to do that, we will help through our Housing Infrastructure Fund.

We announced plans for the fund earlier this year and I’m delighted that we’re publishing the prospectus today.

It’s an invitation to bid for a share of £2.3 billion that has been set aside to pay for the infrastructure we need alongside new homes.

Housing deals

I know infrastructure isn’t the only barrier to delivering new housing.

I know in some places you may need extra support to deliver ambitious proposals to meet your housing demand.

Well if you’re prepared to do what it takes to meet that demand and deliver genuinely additional housing, then I will consider all tools at my disposal to support you in that.

But only if you’re ambitious enough.

By ambitious I mean greater collaboration with neighbouring areas.

A more strategic approach to decisions on housing and infrastructure.

More innovation and high quality design in new homes.

And an eye for creating the right conditions for new investment.

I want to strike some housing deals with a small number of places, so if you are one of those ambitious councils, you know where to find me.

Strong political leadership

If we can tackle the injustices caused by our broken housing market we will be making a significant step towards rebuilding the trust in local politics.

But it is far from the only injustice that we need to deal with.

And as with housing, fixing any of these problems is far easier said than done.

We are talking about deep-set issues and it would be dishonest to suggest it is anything other than the work of years to address it.

That work will need strong local leadership.

In May we saw 6 new mayors elected by millions of people right across the country, including here in the West Midlands.

All 6 have wide-ranging new powers they can use to improve the lives of the communities they serve.

The driving force behind this devolution was the desire to bring decision-making to a more local level.

So my challenge to all those newly-elected mayors, whatever Party they’re from, is to make good on that purpose – by using their powers to work with communities, tackling the problems that matter most to them and the wider community.

Whitehall is listening

I’m sure many of you will have been sitting there thinking that’s all well and good but Whitehall could do a bit more listening of its own.

And you’re right.

Last month’s general election result was not the one that I wanted.

I’m sure it’s not the result anyone in this room expected.

I’ll let the pollsters and pundits argue and debate over “what it meant”.

But I know one thing for sure.

The people of the UK may have delivered a hung Parliament, but they did not deliver a demand for inaction.

32 million people made their voices heard last month and they will not forgive us if we fail to heed their call.

Things have to change, things have to get better.

The work of local government will be central to that, and I’m determined you’ll be listened to – just as we have listened in the past.

You asked for extra money for adult social care, and I made sure it was delivered in the settlement.

You asked for greater devolution of powers, and we paved the way for metro mayors across the country.

And you asked for more resources to help you plan for the homes you need, and through the Housing Infrastructure Fund and higher planning fees, we’re helping with that too.

I can’t promise you’ll always get what you want.

But whether you ask for help, identify risks, or suggest opportunities, I can promise that we will listen.

Conclusion

In the midst of all the uncertainty, I know that your cool-headed commitment to deliver for your communities will carry on.

I don’t care whether you’re on the blue team, the red team, the yellow team or any other team for that matter.

I know that you are in local government for the right reasons.

Because you want to house the homeless.

You want to maintain the roads.

You want to keep the streets clean or make our parks beautiful.

You want to see that our young people are taught properly and our elderly are cared for with the dignity they deserve.

Doing all this requires practical action, yes, but not everything can be converted into pounds and pence.

Good leadership matters too.

And ultimately, for all of us, whether we’re in local or national government, our first role is to lead.

What happened in Kensington 3 weeks ago showed just how important leadership is.

So my challenge for local government this year is not only to provide the services your communities deserve, or plan for new homes and growth they need, but also to be the leaders they can trust.

To listen to your communities.

To treat them with care and respect.

And, above all, to keep them safe.

Grenfell will forever serve as a reminder of what went wrong.

Let us rise from those ashes and promise to be better.

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