Network Journal

February 28, 2010

Anna Turley, Deputy Director, NLGN
ACEVO

There is no doubt that national politics is poised for an epic – and by the looks of it pretty unedifying – battle in the run-up to the General Election. Perceived wisdom about an outright Conservative majority has been replaced by a scramble to understand the implications of a hung parliament, as the polls narrow and the battle heats up.

Local government in the meantime watches with interest. Cynics will say that early Tory enthusiasm for the localist agenda is unlikely to translate into devolutionary action in Whitehall, although their commitment to a smaller state and the ‘post-bureaucratic age’ is likely to remain.

It is no secret that the Conservatives want to scrap RDAs and unelected quangos and many are pointing to Conservative flagship authority Barnet’s so called ‘Easyjet’ council as providing a model of what ideal local government could look like to the Tories. Opportunities for the third sector come from the possibility that we may see some local authorities moving further away from traditional delivery roles and moving more towards becoming strategic commissioning hubs. If the third sector can get a seat at this table, then there could be some really exciting prospects.

However, the biggest driver for radical reform over the next few years will be the economy. Local government, reliant on central government for 80% of its funding, faces a cliff edge in 2011 after a decade of good investment. The protecting of major budgets such as the NHS and schools could result in a disproportionate impact on other services. This may mean cuts of 20% or more for local government in the period 2011 – 2014.

Local authorities are facing tough priorities for local service provision and the most ambitious councils are hoping to avoid so called ‘salami slicing’ approaches (small cuts across the board) in order to use this opportunity to take a fundamental look at the way we deliver local public services.

Some local authorities are realising they can no longer afford to ‘do it all’. Difficult political decisions will have to be made, and many are realising the opportunities that co-production and engaging local community and voluntary organisations can provide. Lambeth for example is leading the way with its ‘co-operative’ approach to local service provision. Better outcomes for citizens are as much a driver as efficiency in this agenda.

But it’s in the Total Place initiative that the hopes of the local government family currently lie. Many see this as the key to making the efficiencies needed, while actually improving local service delivery. The pilots, which look at the entirety of spend in an area by both central and local government, and then seek to highlight duplication and inefficiency are already demonstrating potential savings. Many hope Total Place will finally provide the incentive to break down departmental silos, free agencies from restrictive top-down performance management, and remove ringfencing of budgets, allowing greater partnership working at the front line, more pooling of resources, more holistic and personalised approaches, and better preventative work.

These are all approaches that the third sector is well acquainted with, and often manages to undertake better than the state at a local level. If we do see greater pooling of budgets in areas like health and social care for example, or housing and employment, as a result of Total Place, again the community and voluntary sector could be well places to seize this opportunity.

This will not be an easy time though. As budgets shrink, partnerships can come under strain, and of course all of this is set against a backdrop of rising citizen expectation and growing demand for services as our population ages. Issues like climate change, public health and social care remain tough challenges, and local government can’t face them alone.

In this difficult and highly politically charged climate, if the third sector can show strong leadership and real, tangible solutions through efficient, demonstrable local delivery, then its time could really be about to come.


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