A report said that local councils should adopt a more sophisticated approach to commissioning services from profit-making providers. Without such an approach there was a risk that councils would not be able to access the 'innovative new partnerships' that they needed to manage growing demand, spending cuts, and changing social needs.
Source: Adrian Harvey, Claire Mansfield, and George McFarlane, Commissioning Dialogues, New Local Government Network and Confederation of British Industry
Links: Report | CBI press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs said that local councils could miss out on the chance to improve local services if ministers did not remove barriers to staff mutuals and co-operatives.
Source: Mutual and Cooperative Approaches to Delivering Local Services, Fifth Report (Session 2012–13), HC 112, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | ResPublica press release | BBC report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Dec
An article highlighted the risks for women of the government's reliance on service provision through the third sector and localism, in the absence of a national strategy and infrastructure funding. It used the case study of a recent evaluation of the special funds for the sexual violence third sector for the Government Equalities Office.
Source: Carol Hayden, 'What price localism? The case for government investment in specialist, community-based services by and for women', Local Economy, Volume 27 Number 8
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A think-tank report said that local authorities should evaluate potential service options on their merits, and avoid making decisions on future provision based on 'ideology'. It said that more than one-third of council leaders and chief executives thought that there were no local services that could not be delivered by a third party – whether a private or voluntary sector provider.
Source: Daniel Crowe, Steven Howell, and Alex Thomson (with Androulla Harris and Charlotte Domanski), Catalyst Councils: A new future for local public service delivery, Localis
Links: Report | Summary | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Sep
A think-tank report said that local councils in England often made decisions on their property portfolios 'without wider regard for the strategic importance of their holdings'. In the past, this had resulted in assets being sold to the highest bidder rather than being used to achieve the best possible local growth and investment. It said that councils should consider buying private buildings and land to boost local regeneration initiatives and create additional revenue; and they should also take into account any negative impact on the local economy of selling off their own properties and land.
Source: Joe Manning, More Light, More Power: Reimagining public asset management, New Local Government Network
Links: Summary | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Sep
A paper challenged the assumption that economies of scale were achieved in the running of public services. It said that local organizations could respond to local needs in a way that 'large, remote and bureaucratic' corporations could not. 'Human scale' operations delivered high-quality services as well as value for money.
Source: Public Services, Civil Society and Diseconomies of Scale, Locality
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Sep
The responses were published to consultation on proposals to make it easier for local council tenants in England to take control of their local neighbourhood and services. The 'right to transfer' would allow tenants to request that the ownership of council homes in their neighbourhood be transferred to a local housing association. The 'right to manage' would give tenants the chance to take over the day-to-day management of housing services. Respondents generally welcomed the proposals.
Source: Giving Tenants Control: Right to Transfer and Right to Manage Regulations – Summary of Consultation Responses, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Consultation responses
Notes: Consultation document
Date: 2012-Jul
A report examined what local councils could do to unlock the capacity in their communities – encouraging and support people to play a more active role in the community, including the provision of local services.
Source: Rob Francis, Unlocking Local Capacity: Why active citizens need active councils, Office of Public Management
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined the nature of partnerships in local governance in England and Scotland. There was little to suggest that English and Scottish practices were significantly at variance. Partnerships did not represent a growth of autonomous networks and governance arrangements, but rather an extension of bureaucratic controls. State actors remained pre-eminent within increasingly formalized systems of 'partnership'.
Source: John Fenwick, Karen Johnston Miller, and Duncan McTavish, 'Co-governance or meta-bureaucracy? Perspectives of local governance "partnership" in England and Scotland', Policy & Politics, Volume 40 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A report highlighted potential flaws in the government's localism agenda. Although many in the voluntary sector were keen to see more engagement between public service providers and local community organizations, the government's determination to create competitive markets for public services – and a failure to understand collective and community approaches to public service provision – could seriously undermine this relationship.
Source: Localism: Threat or Opportunity?, Trades Union Congress
Links: Report | TUC press release | NCIA press release
Date: 2012-Jul
An audit report in Wales said that local councils were good at asking the public what they thought, and carried out a great deal of public engagement exercises. But, despite this, many exercises fell short of enabling residents to help shape their local services.
Source: Public Engagement in Local Government, Wales Audit Office
Links: Report | WAO press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Jun
A report by a committee of MSPs said that a 'cultural change' was needed in order for public bodies to work together to deliver vital public services. Many community planning partnerships were working together effectively to deliver services: but there were others that were not, and that were failing to deliver the best outcomes for their communities.
Source: Public Services Reform and Local Government – Strand 1: Partnerships and Outcomes, 8th Report 2012, SP Paper 170, Scottish Parliament Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release
Date: 2012-Jun
A report examined the roles of political, managerial, community, and business leaders in promoting social inclusion and public service innovation (based on research in three cities in England and the Netherlands). Radical public service innovation required political change, not just managerial change. Civic leaders needed to foster a culture of innovation, and collaboration across boundaries. Place-based leaders who could demonstrate emotional commitment to the social inclusion agenda enabled innovation to flourish, and encouraged others to bring their own emotional energy to the task.
Source: Robin Hambleton and Joanna Howard (with Bas Denters, Pieter-Jan Klok, and Mirjan Oude Vrielink), Public Sector Innovation and Local Leadership in the UK and the Netherlands, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2012-Jun
A report examined shared management schemes between different local authorities. It looked at issues surrounding culture, internal and external perceptions of mergers, and the potential barriers to success.
Source: Crossing the Border: Research into shared chief executives, Local Government Association
Links: Report
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the extent to which local leadership and strategic vision were important in promoting higher levels of satisfaction, belonging, cohesion, and participation across single-tier local councils in England. It looked at the importance of local leadership in place-making, and the environmental and organizational factors that shaped local places.
Source: James Hunter, 'Place matters: but does local leadership?', Public Money and Management, Volume 32 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined four possible typologies of local public service delivery in England. It considered governance models and the accountability issues for leaders that arose in each one. It offered a new practical approach to assessing governance arrangements and developing a locally owned approach to accountability.
Source: Jessica Crowe, 'New challenges for leadership and accountability in local public services in England', International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Volume 7 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb