Expert Interview: Expert in local government improvement
From Future of Local Services to the Public
Contents |
Overview
This is the summary of an in-depth interview conducted by Ipsos MORI with an expert in local government improvement about the future of local services as part of the LGA/HSC futures project, 2008. As all interviews and workshops for this project were conducted under Chatham House rules, the respondents' identity is not disclosed and some references have been anonymised or omitted to preserve confidentiality.
Current challenges for local services
The provision of local services is currently in a period of transition, big themes are consumerism, engagement, and more recently fear of what the future economic enviornment will be like. The fractured communities are also a big consideration - social and ethnic fractionalisation. There is also a massive difference between reality and perception.
"Most people's individual experience of the NHS, give or take, is actually pretty good but their general perception is that the place is in permanent crisis".
The debate about control of information and images is also really important at the moment.
"I don't think we've yet got a handle on how we harness technology in a way that makes people feel better about themselves" and "The complete failure of the past 10 years to sort out the financial arrangment between central and local government, however I do think that the streets are cleaner than 10 year ago".
There is a need for more than one policy tool to solve policy problems.
"If you were to talk to any of the local government people, cross party now, they would all say to you their problem is their own front benches and I think that is an interesting debate".
The current state of the civil service and the extent to which it actually reflects the country for which it is designing policy is also relevant. It has a particular problem with a lack of understanding of policy delivery. There's not enough risk taking and experimenting, practitioners need proof that a policy recommendation will make a difference before they will put it into effect. There seems to be a lack of realaisation that you need to contribute to society for it to be as good as it can be and the way that you want it to be.
Some of the particular policy delivery areas are very different now, when compared to 10 or 15 years ago. Teaching now is very different to the way it was conducted 10-15 years ago. Turnout in local election is also particularly poor now, as is the lack of trust in politicians - local and national. The internet has had a massive unpredicted impact on access to information - which means that policy-making is tough.
Formative events that shaped the current context
A windfall tax on energy companies for welfare to work, allowed for great investment in public services.
Other future opportunities and challenges
Demographic issues, around a strategic level. Constitutional settlement - what will happen to Scotland? Therefore the impact of the demands of regions in England following on from possibly Scottish independence. However, the number of people living in each of the English regions presents its own set of problems about demands for increased personalisation and user engagement and then a system that is designed to be managed from the centre.
It will be a key challenge what happens in 10-15 years time with PFI.
Pressures and themes in the future will be shaped by the geography and nature of the area, so migration in port town etc, it's the local in the international global economy that we'll need to focus on to keep communities thriving. What we really need to know is what is going to happen to the economy over the next three or so years, so are we prepared for potential increases in unemployment, and the vulnerability of particular geographical areas.
Issues such as a move to unitary status in local areas is relevant now and will continue to be so as the nature of the authority influences people's identities
Key Questions for the future?
How much of the physical structure will be different? Will the buildings being built today look tired in 20 years time? How will we be engaging with one another? Who will be the influential people in society, will it be celebrities, what will be dominant in cultural terms? Geography and politics feed into citizen's identify and their understanding of place so it will be interesting to see how that develops.
Key innovators and innovations
- The Young Foundation work with Herefordshire, Manchester and South Tyneside.
- There are a number of councils doing very interesting things:
- In Barking and Dagenham they are doing some really imaginative things with reading and looked after children.
- Some of the neighbourhood stuff, although it's work in progress they are actually experimenting.
- Birmingham has done some really interesting work with the voluntary sector and homelessness.
- Brighton and Hove's work on equality has created a city that is vastly different now compared to 20 years ago.
- The outcomes approach to policy-making, implementing ideas developed in LAA discussions are very good.
