Expert interview: Academics researching issues including the provision of local services to the public
From Future of Local Services to the Public
This is the summary of an in-depth interview conducted by Ipsos MORI with two academics 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.
Contents |
Overview
The interviewees were academics with over twenty years of expereince researching issues relating to the provision of local services, local democracy and their stakeholders.
Current challenges for local services
Currently local authorities are facing increasing financial pressures and the demands of an aging population. There is multi-agency responsibility for the delivery of services. Local residents do not think highly of local government or local councillors, and there are important policy challenges facing authorities. There are greater opportunities for partnership working across particular areas, such as flooding and emergency planning. The opportunity to vary services across local government is limited. The impact of Public Service Agreements and self-censorship has led to this. There is an orthodoxy on what local authorities should be concerned about dictated to them.
A quarter of the UK's GDP is spent in local government, and they are robust service deliverers. One aspect of change is that they are now commercially savvy organisations. There is also a mix of government mechanisms and different delivery roads. 10 or 20 years ago you would have been able to point to differences between local areas, whereas now it is differences between services. The bureaucracy in local government has remained stable. Egovernment has provided new opportunities for service delivery, some of which have been successful.
A big challenge for local government is the lack of trust in institutions. Residents find it reassuring to have contact with services offline. Local government is not marketing its online offer particularly successfully, however, the introduction of call centres has been successful. There are issues around data protection and general risk aversion. There has been a reinvention of partnership working, some quite successful. To some extent local authorities are trying to reconstitute partnerships, relationships between Housing departments and Housing Associations is a good example. However, it also signals the increasing bureaucratisation of Housing Associations as they become more like their local authority partners.
Catherine Geroes recent professionalism paper is a good article on the current state of partnerships. There has been a lot of investment from central government in local areas, which has helped service development.
Formative events that have shaped the current context
Thatcher's internal restructuring of the client/contractor split. The end of the Thatcher/Major era. There has been a time lag for the bedding down of policies, in the early years Blair's policy agenda was shaped by the earlier Major reforms. The introduction of the Poll tax and then the Council tax reduced the power of local government in the eyes of the public. In the late 1980's the introduction of the market to local government formed a 'new common sense' - e.g. Housing Associations, leisure provision. Bob Jessop's Normalisation of Thatcher.
Other future opportunities and challenges
There is an issue about the democratic nature of the regions. Perhaps there should be experimentation with citizen representatives.
Local government hasn't experienced many shocks, continuity and gradual policy implementation characterises the environment, and it is expected that this will not change.
If you could look into the future what would be most interesting to know:
Has electoral turnout increased? Are there better links between partners? Is local government decision-making dominated by politics? Do you know which council area you live in? Are you interested in the institutions of local government?
What type of events would be shocks to the status quo:
The scale of local government: if there were only 2000 Councillors and 37 local authorities. If local government was no longer democratic.
Changes that would provide satisfaction
If there were a positive postcode lottery, and local people were able to influence serious policy in their local areas. If neighbourhood governance were not dominated by party politics. If you were able to influence service provision to create a vibrant civil society. Also: Better links between the community and civil society - however elected Councillors might be threatened by this. Respected local Councillors is part of the dream. Would also like to see a change in the electoral system and a break away from the 2-party system.
