Rob Whiteman, LG Group - challenges under the coalition government
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The document discusses the challenges faced by local public services under the coalition government, emphasizing the need for decentralization and citizen engagement to restore confidence in public finances and rebuild trust in politics. It outlines government commitments to give councils more powers, reduce bureaucratic oversight, and promote local budgets while enhancing transparency and accountability. The content also highlights the importance of cooperation among public sector entities to achieve long-term innovation and improve service delivery.
Rob Whiteman, LG Group - challenges under the coalition government
- 1. Challenges facing local public services under the Coalition Government Rob Whiteman Managing Director – Improvement & Development LGA Group SOCITM Annual Conference 10-12 October 2010
- 2. The Context for the new government The Government has identified 3 significant and interlocking challenges: • How to restore confidence in public finances? • How to rebuild trust in politics? • How to tackle entrenched social, economic and environmental problems? Localism and Big Society are seen as important levers to address these challenges How will SOCITM unlock a more positive, productive, open local government?
- 3. What the new government is doing • Coalition Agreement commitment to promote decentralisation and democratic engagement, giving new powers to councils • A Decentralisation and Localism Bill to be introduced • Decentralisation also means citizen choice and the Big Society, not simply handing power to councils - “Your country needs you.” • Proposals to further reduce inspection of LAs • CAA brought to an immediate end - this includes area assessment and organisational assessment • And cuts, cuts and more cuts…but more choice too?
- 4. So it’s not all bad news… • Local government has a strong track record of making efficiency savings • Councils understand what must change to innovate and transform services around local needs • Working to build the Big Society is a core part of the day job for councils’ political leadership • Greater freedoms from central control will enable local people to take greater control of their lives But …it will only be possible if the public sector works together, focused on longer term innovation, transformation, service redesign and prevention
- 5. Local Government needs to • Improve productivity - pool resources, redesign services and reinvent state activity • Become smaller and more flexible, delivering outcomes not services • Increase workforce agility • Provide more transparent information • Cut out middlemen and save millions • Do more for less through local budgets and accountability
- 6. Our response • give elected councils control over local spending through local budgets and new models of governance • proposed cuts to central bureaucracy worth £4.5bn a year • a robust new system of self- regulation for councils building on proposals in Freedom to Lead
- 7. Place-based budgets • LGA has put place-based budgets firmly at the centre of the spending review for local government • LGA made a place-based budgeting submission to the Chief Secretary and Secretary of State for CLG alongside departmental submissions to the SR • Cross-government senior official-level work is in hand to take forward pathfinders • A drive for place based productivity will assist the overall roll out - Productive Places, Productive Councils
- 8. Productive Councils, Productive Places The Place Based Productivity workstreams will: – support councils to give an assurance to government that they are able to manage larger budgets for their area, – use the best talents of the sector on specific areas that councils and partners have identified need addressing – ensure skills transfer within the sector from prototypes/early phases to councils receiving placed-based budgets in later phases, – build on other sectors’ good practice to create new skills and tools, – work with partners to create capacity to improve productivity across all public spending in local areas, – spread existing good practice to deliver productivity gains from existing efficiency techniques, – develop tools to deliver transformational change by configuring outcomes in different ways and ensuring optimal allocation of funding
- 9. The Government is dismantling the new performance framework Coalition Government has: • Abolished PSAs • Abolished the Place Survey and is dismantling the National Indicator Set • Abolished the Comprehensive Area Assessment – including the area and organisational assessment • Announced its intention to abolish the Audit Commission and Government Offices for the Regions • Announced a review of the inspection burden on councils
- 10. Principles of a new approach • Councils responsible for their own performance • Stronger accountability through greater transparency drives further improvement • The role of the LG group is to support councils e.g. providing tools • Further reductions in external inspection and assessment can be made • In a sector owned model councils have collective responsibility for performance in the sector
- 11. A new model of self-regulation In line with the LG Group’s offer to Government, we are developing radical proposals to: – design a new Central and Local Government agreement, using transparency to support local accountability and reduce costs – support local government self improvement – reduce the burden of inspection on councils and provide early warning of risk of failure – lead the debate to shape what will develop to replace CAA and other inspections
- 12. Data transparency • Transparency is vital to local democracy, but we can’t just throw open the data floodgates • Need to safeguard individual privacy and public funds, make data more useful and encourage independent application • Data presentation using common standards will help to reap the benefits of engagement, improvement and efficiency • LG Group/Local Public Data Panel guides now published for consultation • LG Group KHub – a new platform for online collaboration from April 2011
- 13. Thank you