Insource policy - to citizens, not out-of-touch CEOs

Labour's strategy of keeping conference 'uncontroversial' may have paid off in terms of lowering the heat in media headlines - but there were still one or two WTAF? moments. One to draw to your attention today comes via deSmog when Centrica boss Chris O Shea, (annual package ￡8m+) proposes that politicians stay out of energy policy: ”I don’t know why we don’t outsource things like energy policy, things like defence policy, and things like health policy to professionals rather than politicians...” Because businesses have, of course, fully demonstrated their professional competence, strategic focus and moral compass in sectors like water and rail to the public's satisfaction...

Oh wait, perhaps not...

Many of the problems we face are precisely a result of successive examples of market failure, when businesses have prioritised their own short-term gain and fleeced the taxpayer by externalising the true cost of their business models. By financialising the foundational elements of our society, the sectors on which we all rely, and which contribute to a fair, resilient and prosperous economy, have been systematically eviscerated.

These business "leaders"(and I'm wrapping quotes very deliberately—this is not the definition of leadership we should be applauding) are emperors parading in their now very old clothes, deploying the same old narratives. They are still clinging to the hope that citizens won't say—collectively—hold on there, sunshine, you've spun us round this dancefloor before...

The really radical - and practical - proposals were coming from elsewhere in conference. And they're coming not from the old thinking of these big businesses but from grassroots organisations and communities. These are the groups who are grappling with the impacts of those business strategies, but without the resources (or the remuneration ) that could transform their everyday experiences. Often small, networked, hyper-local groups, underpinned by volunteers, they bring their deep and lived experience to serious analysis of what people need, what people value, and what works on the ground.

Take homes: the government's commitment to tackling the housing crisis is clear. We could leave housing policy to big developers, whose primary motivation seems to be cramming as many identikit houses into featureless estates as they can, leaving out considerations of community, aesthetics, or even basic energy-saving measures. All the while, they boost their own profits by loading costs onto the householder or government.

Or we could listen to the voices of the people who need and will live in those homes, voices like Eleanor Southwood MBE of Habinteg Housing Association, who made the simple plea that?all?new housing should be designed to be easily adapted for people living with disabilities or for different stages of our lives. The additional cost of the build is modest; the value to the resident and to society in the long term is huge. Dr Charlotte Carpenter of Karbon Homes points out that socially conscious landowners and developers are often priced out of sites, since procurement processes benefit the big players, whose business models only work operating at scale.

Take food: not yet a government mission but integral to the delivery of the others. We could leave food policy to the big processors and retailers. Indeed, their 'industry body', the Food and Drink Federation, set out their stall at conference—a stall dressed entirely in ultra-processed junk food (I kid you not...). The one gesture to healthy food was a fruit bowl filled with imported apples. In Britain. In September.

Or we could listen to the farmers, grassroots groups and citizens who came to FFCC's fringe event, Fix Food, Fix the Planet. Farmers like James Rebanks, Cumbrian hill farmer, Sophie Gregory, organic dairy farmer, and Andy Cato, arable farmer and founder of Wildfarmed, all of whom made a clear and articulate case for practical actions that could transform their businesses and their communities. Paying fairly for nature recovery, valuing nature alongside food production (not separate from it); supporting farmer networks and collaborations; bringing farming and communities together, by investing in local food and school programmes; and - last but very much not least - fair, transparent contracts and "simple schemes that pay on time". I was very pleased that Daniel Zeichner, the farming minister, joined us from the start and stayed until the end, chatting with speakers and guests. I was especially pleased that several guests said: best fringe of the conference - a real testament to the compelling and authentic passion of our speakers.

For the last 18 months, FFCC has been running The Food Conversation, the UK's biggest public conversation about what we really want from our food systems. The evidence is clear. Citizens want to be involved in these debates; they want to understand the issues, they want their voices heard and their priorities taken into account. And they are more thoughtful, fair, insightful and balanced than they are often given credit for.

As well as its Five Missions, Labour has set out how it wants to recalibrate the business of government: devolving power, resources, and responsibilities closer to communities; joining up governments for better policy and delivery; unleashing technology that improves public value. This welcome new way of working is also the counterweight to those technocrats and executives who—apparently—think only they have all the answers.