Published Research
Education and the New Local Authority
Securing Social Justice through Regionalism and Localism
Pacing Lyons: a route map to localism
Made to Measure: understand local public service productivity
Mayors making a difference
Cutting the Wires: Mobile IT and the transformation of local services and governance
City Regions Commission
Councils embracing localism: lessons in decentralisation from Birmingham, Wakefield and West Sussex
Councillors Websites Evaluation
New Ways to Modernise
New Localism in Action
Living with Regions: making multi-level governance work
Beyond Contract: what makes a successful PPP?
Are we ready for Regions?
Education and the New Local Authority
This project attempts to identify the appropriate role for local authorities in education and early years in a post-Education and Inspections Bill world. Focusing on case studies from twelve local authorities, the report assesses the role of local authorities under the new Act and argues that due to their democratic accountability, they are well-placed to take a holistic approach to promoting better educational outcomes, ensuring that children arrive in the classroom in a fit state to learn.
• Researcher: Kiran Dhillon
• Supported by: Amey, Cambridge Education and Serco
• Publication: October 2006
Securing Social Justice through Regionalism and Localism
This Report will chart the next steps for regional policy in England, arguing that devolution needs to be inclusive, collaborative and driven by sound principles: dispersing power, prosperity and opportunity throughout all corners of the country. Following the ‘no’ vote in the North East in 2004, the pamphlet will suggest the next direction for regional decision-making over the coming decade.
• Authored by Ed Balls, John Healey and Chris Leslie
• Publication: July 2006
Pacing Lyons: a route map to localism
This project, supported by PwC, addresses the future of local governance structures, how it interacts with its citizens and advocates new and innovative ways of funding local government. It argues that the whole eco-system of governance in the English state must be reformed. It delivers a list of powerful and compelling recommendations that reform not only local government, but our entire way of functioning with our democratic structures.
• Author: Dick Sorabji
• Supported by: PwC
• Published Report: July 2006
Made to Measure: understanding local public service productivity
This project, supported by Deloitte, examined the prospect of being able to measure an individual authority’s productivity in a public-friendly way. We are currently planning a seminar for late September, which will include contributions on measuring and publicising the true cost of local government activities; measuring public value in practice; measuring productivity; and the implications for the inspection and targets regime. The confirmed contributors are Ed Mayo from the National Consumer Council and Professor Patrick Dunleavy from the LSE. Others have been invited.
• Edited by: James Hulme
• Supported by: Deloitte
• Published Report: June 2006
This project, a collection of essays from six of the mayors, examinees how mayoral governance has made a difference locally, covering a range of areas from the impact of mayors on public engagement to their ability to attract inward investment and promote economic development. It also considers the future of the model and what lessons might be applied to a system of directly elected cabinets, and also city region arrangements.
• Edited: Kiran Dhillon
• Published Report: March 2006
Cutting the Wires: Mobile IT and the transformation of local services and governance
Mobile technology and applications being developed now and in the next few years could fundamentally change the nature of local services for both service providers and service users. This study, supported by O2, identifys the current and likely innovation in mobile technology over the next few years, and considers its impact on service delivery, from users’ and providers’ perspectives.
• Author: Michael Cross amd James MacGregor
• Supported by: o2
• Published Report: February 2006
In the wake of the no-vote in the North East last year and NLGN’s subsequent research into making UK multi-level governance work, we established the City Regions Commission to examine new proposals for strategic level governance.
The Commission brought together experts from within and beyond UK local government to consider evidence and submissions. Alongside this, NLGN carried out work in-house, producing discussion papers and articles feeding into the Commission deliberations. The results, published December 2005 can be found in the FREE publications area.
NLGN contributed to the work of the Commission in the form of an in-house secretariat comprised of Mark Fuller, Chris Leslie, Ian Parker and Natalie Tarry
Councils embracing localism: lessons in decentralisation from Birmingham, Wakefield and West Sussex
This ODPM supported research, published in June 2005, examined developments in three leading councils that are at different stages of pioneering new ways to decentralise services, engage with their communities and perform the community leadership role.
The work considers the different approaches being taken in each locality and the issues for councils in working in these new ways. Questions asked were:
How are West Sussex, Wakefield and Birmingham developing new area arrangements within their localities?
- What are the drivers?
- What are the benefits (including in relation to services and public engagement)?
- What is needed to make the arrangements work?
- What are the barriers and how can the government and others help address these?
- What are the roles of councillors, officers, citizens and local partners in the new arrangements?
- What can we learn from these three councils which will help other councils in developing their own innovative ways of working?
• Author: Anna Randle
• Supported by: ODPM
• Published Report: June 2005
Councillors Websites Evaluation
NLGN undertook evaluation of the LGA’s councillor.info project, as part of the National Local E-Democracy Project.
• Researchers: Emily Robinson, Warren Hatter
• Supported by: National Local e-Democracy Project
• Published: May 2005
This research, identifies new trends and innovations in local authority service delivery and support services, and puts them in the context of the achievements of partnership working so far. The work identifies the drivers of change and innovation and highlighted good practice.
• Author: Natalie Tarry
• Supported by: Accord, Cambridge Education, 4Ps, PwC, Vertex
• Published Report: March 2005
New Localism in Action is a collection of essays based on a seminar programme in which high-level discussion attempted to pin down the implications of New Localism across a range of key services delivered locally. By considering the ‘big ticket’ service areas of Education, Housing and Sustainable Communities, Transport and Anti-Social Behaviour, NLGN asseessed what difference New Localism has made so far, how it is informing policy development, and what future policy developments might hold.
• Authors: Dan Corry, Emily Robinson, Natalie Tarry, Warren Hatter
• Supported by: Cambridge Education, Mouchel Parkman, National Express, National Housing Federation and the Home Office anti-social behaviour unit
• Published Report: February 2005
Living with Regions: making multi-level governance work
The governance of the English regions is complex. It straddles local, sub-regional, regional, supra-regional and national levels, with a plethora of bodies operating at each. A ‘Yes’ vote in the North East referendum would have led to serious consideration of the intricacies of this structure; it is even more important that this should happen now that the regional tier will not become publicly accountable.
This path-breaking report, published in December 2004, analyses how the system is working at the moment and – more importantly – how it could work better. It draws on extensive case study research in three very different English regions, as well as post-devolution Wales and London.
The report is crucial reading for anyone who is trying to make relationships work and govern in an effective, accountable way, at whatever level of the governance system. In a multilevel world, these issues have become yet more complex. How, for example, does information flow between governance tiers? Who is accountable to whom – and what does that mean for day to day working? And how does the non-elected status of the regional tier affect its work with both Whitehall and Town Hall?
• Authors: Emily Robinson
• Supported by: BT
• Published Report: December 2004
Beyond Contract: What Makes a Successful PPP?
Researchers from NLGN and the University of Brighton Business School have been investigating the world of senior practitioners in public-private partnerships. This is a world where ‘partnership’ means just that; where resorting to referring to the binding contract is a sign of failure; and where it is easy to feel isolated, as though you are solving a set of unique problems that no-one else is dealing with.
This qualitative research, published in October 2004, was carried out with senior practitioners, drawn from all sectors across a wide range of partnerships and service areas. They tell a different story from that told by policy-makers, and their analysis tells us things that we cannot learn from the type of input/output analysis usually applied to PPPs and PFI schemes.
The report will be of interest to policy-makers, practitioners, and any organisations starting down the partnership route, or considering it. It will do two things. First, it clarifies what partnerships look like from the inside, and encourages policy-makers and deal-makers to take this into account. The central point is that senior practitioners are trying to move ‘beyond contract’ to ensure that partnership means just that – partnership. Second, the report outlines – stage by stage as a partnership progresses – what they key principles are that a real partnership needs to achieve, and suggests practical ways of doing so.
• Researchers: Warren Hatter, Steve Reeve
• Supported by: KPMG
• Published Report: March 2004
Are we ready for Regions? is an NLGN report based on a survey of key individuals working in the Public Sector in the three ‘front-line’ regions of northern England. The survey results, based on a series of recent interviews, reveal the extent to which the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humberside are prepared for the ongoing transfer of powers from Whitehall.
• Authors: Kate Turney, Warren Hatter
• Published Report: August 2004
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