Ten ways councils can protect local services

Monday 1st March 2010

A new report setting out 10 decisive steps that all councils should act on to protect vital frontline services in an era of tighter public finances was introduced by Communities Secretary John Denham today.

Councils are facing tough choices in future years over how to control council tax, support economic growth and maintain high quality local services.

The ten steps, recommended by an expert taskforce, include

creating customer focused 'Total Place' councils cutting out waste and duplication

sharing back office roles like HR and IT

reducing the number of municipal buildings

having a chief executive who manages more than one public body

Mr Denham signalled a warning that the public would rightly be intolerant of any council that hadn't completed this checklist before deciding to cut back on services that matter to residents most. The Government believes frontline services can be protected or even improved if councils adopt these reforms.

The Task Force, chaired by Sir Steve Bullock, the Mayor of Lewisham, and Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, looked at the best ways

to share resources

to invest in frontline services

to make frontline innovation a reality

to restructure councils so they can deliver more efficiently.

The report concludes that councils can no longer continue with the status quo relying on tried and tested approaches to reduce budgets - they need to make a more radical and strategic shift to protect services for the customer.

It also argues that 'salami slicing' budgets in a way that damages services in the process will fail residents. Any plans councils make must start with how to improve outcomes and the experience of the customer's journey.

John Denham said: Back to top

"Councils have some tough choices in the next few years as things become tighter. But that is no reason to lower their sights on service quality people rightly value. Government is working hard to make sure councils have explored every possible option before resorting to wholesale budget cuts that will affect frontline services and jobs.

"Today my taskforce has set out ten decisive steps councils can take to protect local services. They include sharing back office roles like HR and IT; using the same chief executive at two councils; and reducing the number of buildings used by bringing services together under the same roof.

"Local people will rightly be intolerant if they are told that front line services will be cut because their council hasn't done everything suggested on this checklist. If councils adopt our radical efficiency reforms they can protect our top priority frontline services which matter most to local people."

The Government's Total Place approach has examined where all public money is spent locally and how all services in the area can work together better. The results have confirmed that big improvements and huge savings could be made through things like early prevention and targeting.

The taskforce report includes practical advice for councils telling them how to go about the process, where to find help and examples of savings that can be achieved by making changes. Regional efficiency experts will provide advice and support to councils.

The ten things councils must do to protect frontline services
1. Council services must be focused on the customer. They come first
2. Take a Total Place approach to frontline services
3. Make services more efficient - cutting out waste and unnecessary duplication. Especially in two tier areas
4. Check performance against others and learn from who is doing it better
5. Buy goods and services in groups and use that buying power to create local benefits and involve the third sector
6. Reduce the number of council buildings by locating more services together
7. Motivate staff to help to perform to the best of their ability
8. Make managers leaders of innovation to improve services
9. Streamline management. Consider splitting senior posts with other councils or PCTs
10. Share professional expertise and ensure council staff are able to be flexibly deployed

Notes to editors

1. Read full details of the report Putting the Frontline First: Meeting the Local Government Challenge

2. Putting the Front Line First: Local Government Task Force was chaired by Sir Steve Bullock - Chair of LGA HR Panel, and Mayor of LB Lewisham and Sir Richard Leese - Leader, Manchester City Council. Members included other council leaders and experts from the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA); The Local Government Association (LGA); Local Government Employers (LGE), Audit Commission, UNISON; and Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships.

3. Examples of councils already applying one or more of the principles include: a partnership of London boroughs has established a joint out of hours call service saving each council £200,000 a year.

Ten district councils and county council in Hertfordshire have identified £18m of savings by reducing duplication and overlap between the two councils.

A council in the North East has used procurement to set up an apprenticeship scheme with their supply chains targeting those young people in most need. In the Northwest a recent ICT e-Auction saved the 25 participants around £6 million on a £30 million contract.

Sharing Chief Executives could save both councils about £85,000 per year. If half of all councils did this it would save over £65m nationally a year. In Knowsley the council and PCT already do this saving £1m in learning disabilities and co-location of services.

Total Place pilots have identified a 5-6 per cent saving on better building use worth a potential £20 billion nationally.

4. Local Government sector improvement support can be found at:
Audit Commission

CIPFA - the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy

IDeA - Improvement and Development Agency

Leadership Centre

Local Partnerships

LGE - Local Government Employers

RIEPs - Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships

SOLACE - Society of Local Authority Chief Executives

Fiona Cowan
1 March 2010

Website Link: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1488787