Going Dutch could bring big savings

August 4, 2011

As councillors pack their bags for Summer, they could do a lot worse than taking a trip over to The Netherlands to learn about a small Dutch project called Met de Stroom Mee, set up by a pair of community-spirited citizens who, by assembling citizens into bulk purchasing groups, saved consumers 20% on dual fuel bills.

For us at NLGN, an organisation focused on how councils can improve the services they deliver to residents and keep themselves relevant and vital in a time of financial hardship, this Dutch model offers an opportunity too good to miss.

We’re looking at the moment at how councils might want to reshape to best cope with the trials and tribulations they’re going to face in a few years’ time. If we follow the Dutch lead then councils can not only place themselves at the apex of the community, but save residents a significant amount of cash as well.

Take the fuel poverty example outlined in our latest report. Councils could organise willing participants into a consortium of fuel consumers, who can approach energy companies en masse and secure a discount through council-led bulk purchasing. The costs for councils would be small; the returns for residents potentially massive.

The wider point to take away from this is that councils are not and should not be perceived by themselves or their constituents as inflexible, administrative service providers. There is a wealth of options out there for councils to be more imaginative with how they deliver value for their residents.

‘Delivering’ must not mean simply top-down provision of public services. ‘Delivery’ needs to develop into a far more elastic term, encompassing the ‘negotiate to aggregate’ example detailed above, as well as delivering through co-ordinating disparate pockets of the community, and through supporting willing and able residents to co-design and co-deliver the services that the community consumes.

Ultimately it will be up to each council how it chooses to support and provide value to residents. The example set by Met de Stroom Mee is a good place to start.

Liam Scott-Smith, The MJ


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