Getting on with Gershon: Innovations towards more efficient local government

Getting on with Gershon: Innovations towards more efficient local government
Publication Date: November 25th, 2005
ISBN: 1 903447 49 6
Authored by: An NLGN collection
Hardcopy Price: £20 / PDF Price: £10

When Sir Peter Gershon published his review of public sector spending, the efficiency gains being asked for were inevitably met with apprehension. With local government expected to save £6.45bn by 2008, many found the scale of the savings daunting. The past year however, has seen local authorities across the UK meet this challenge by finding new ways to deliver services more efficiently, while reaping the rewards of the saved resources.

Getting on with Gershon: innovations towards more efficient local government is an NLGN collection of essays which, far from seeing the drive for efficiency gains as a restrictive exercise, illustrates how councils can find success through leading on the changes demanded. The opportunities outlined will prove vital as councils embark on the next steps of the efficiency agenda. With contributions from key figures from within central and local government, and the private and voluntary sectors, Getting on with Gershon offers guidance on how councils can create resources for innovation through making the non-cashable gains asked of them. The authors’ unifying message is clear: Gershon is not a threat to be feared but an opportunity to be embraced.

The report is the twelfth publication in NLGN’s ‘Delivering
Change’ series, which aims to help senior officers and elected members learn from practical evidence of change to respond positively to the local government modernisation agenda.

Gershon Foreword and Introduction (PDF version)


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