Local Accountability Workshop

From Future of Local Services to the Public

As part of the greater LGA project four workshops were held with those working in the design and provision of local services to the public. The Local Accountability workshop met in London in July 2008 and discussed the factors that had shaped local accountability to this point in time, those that the participants are grappling with at the moment, and those that they are thinking about for the future.

 

Contents 1 Reflecting on the current context 2 Challenges for the Future 3 Change in the Future 4 Notes - in more detail

Reflecting on the current context

The participants agreed that British people do not feel that local government has a relevant part to play in their lives. However, they do care about local services and they hate turf wars.

"They care passionately about their roads, their pavements, their schools and graffiti"

If people want to volunteer or become involved in local decision-making fora they do so because they are interested in particular issues, for example; "they run their kid's football team because they want to".

Much of what is taking place in local government and the delivery of local services is not visible. Participants also felt that in the eyes of British people the accountability for the provision of local services is with the national government. They noted the dilemma of some central government departments which supported the possibility of greater devolution of responsibility to local areas, but that the lack of accountability at a local level makes them fearful of the consequences. Some participants felt that there needs to be a discussion at a national level on what government as a whole is for.

"We've got a massive accentuated focus on national accountability and a pathetically underplayed focus on local accountability"

Some participants felt that the introduction of Comprehensive Performance Assessments had damaged local accountability, with local authorities encouraged to make themselves accountable to national government for standards rather than their local residents.

The role of managerialism, encourage by performance measurement such as CPA, has had both good and bad effects on local areas. In terms of the good things it has created an environment, where for example, schools have been encouraged to improve the literacy levels of their poorest students, without being able to pin the entire blame of a child's poor performance on wider society. However the negative influences have in many cases extinguished creativity and risk-taking. Local service providers wait for central government to publish guidance on particular issues, and place an emphasis on the avoidance of postcode lotteries, rather than the provision of services that meet the needs of local neighbourhoods.

One participant indentified the creativity that is currently underway in some local areas, in particular reference to social housing developments. Rather than planning and researching potential ideas the Associations test ideas in practise. In particular boroughs in London there are a number of mixed and blind tenure housing schemes underway, as the Authorities think that they will aid community cohesion.

Local Strategic Partnerships have had a positive impact on working in local areas, although there was mixed experience of the success of LSPs throughout the group. In accountability terms checks and balances need to be created to avoid the influence of people with less honourable motives. One participant highlighted recent negative experience of some non-for-profit members of the third sector in this light. 

Challenges for the Future

"I think the big problem we've got, as local authority leaders, is many of our councillors and many of our officers are still in the old clean it and sweep it mentality, rather than actually how do we get people to do it for themselves...and that's the big challenge for us in the next 10 years." 

The current model of public service delivery was discussed, and the role that central governmetn and lcoal areas play in provision of services.

"The original Beveridge thinking about welfare was about communal support to each other in circumstances where we actually needed one another. Now what I think is that we'll actually realise we need a welfare model in relation to energy...in relation to food strategy...in terms of major transport and information...and we might decide that quite a number of these need to be addressed at the national level with quite big state intervention."

In the future the participants agreed that finanical investments would be made to personalities, roles and service providers, rather than the system of local government. Accountability would then be between the individual service provider and the user, rather than the traditional political parties and voters at elections.

The current seeming inability of those in central government  to Trust local government was seen as a massive barrier to change.

"I understand why those in central government feel nervous of local government...and that's a fundemental challenge we have, if you don't trust people, people don't change".

"We need to rediscover the concept of the local state"

One of the participants expressed a concern about the potential of an over-reliance on the third sector and the ability to hold this sector to account when it will be spending public money. They felt that it had implications for the reputation of lcoal government as a whole.

Change in the Future

"We won't be looking at Big Bang change, there'll be a more political dynamic in the next two or three years, but then it's going to be more of the same interms of managerial approach".

"If you're thinking of something dramatic that might happen in the next 10 years, as opposed to something evoluntionary, the palce to look is in the area of state action which could fundementally lose legitimacy...if I'm going to be beaten up at least four times a year and the police are going to neither stop that happening, nor get the offenders, then I'm not inside the law anymore. Now at that point there really is a crisis of legitimacy"

"Climate change, I would argue very strongly that local innovation's going to be key in relation to that, whetehr it's carbon trading schemes or its local recycling initiatives."

"The other thing is the natural changes, the Environment Agency say we don't have flood defences anymore, that is going to be very local." 

Notes - in more detail

Where are we now?

• ‘Most people don’t give a stuff about local government’
• ‘I disagree. Lots of people do, but the secretary of state doesn’t understand what local government needs’
• ‘People care a lot about local services, less about accountability’
• ‘Strong concern about local services, but devil is in the word local’
• ‘Huge amount is happening, but its not visible to the public. But the public cares about issues that only local government can fix’
• ‘What’s the mix: what people care about, and what local democracy can do’
• ‘Local government: low profile and low salience’
• ‘Local accountability issues not on most people’s horizons’
• (Leader) ‘I go out to the public and get 80 people twice a month. Their concerns are roads, schools, grafitti. They hate turf wars
• Delegated budgets would be good if there were infinite resources, but budgets are very tight’
• Fixed term leaders – this proposal came from councillor commission not CLG

Is there an accountability problem?

• ‘The entire system is idiotic. The only real accountability is at national level. Centralised and narrow. And the media has also nationalised’
• ‘Disconnect people and state, and can’t get accountability without connection’
• ‘Localities would be about people feeling able to control things’

International comparisons?

• ‘Hard as they don’t collect data in the way we do. They feel their systems work. For example, Denmark: they talk about things. If they think it’s a good idea they do it. Try things out. Find out what works’
• ‘Darzhi: ‘Zero tolerance for post code lottery’’
• ‘People will do things because they want to’.
• ‘Nothing will change until civil service think councillors are best.
• ‘Issues around regeneration, hospitals ‘
• ‘Whose interested? There are class issues. Where high proportion of working class/unemployed far less interest in being involved’
• People want to influence about things of interest to them, at times and in ways that convenient to them.

Is accountability that complex?

• ‘If people felt they could go to the Town Hall and express their view … Everything would be different. And Town Halls would have to step up to it’
• ‘Whitehall structuring, and silos reporting up to ministers. Goes deep’
• ‘Problems with CLG negotiating with other government departments. Completely different conceptions of what government is about. Need a fundamental, philosophical discussion and debate at this level’
• ‘Joining up nationally even more complicated than Local Strategic Partnerships’
• ‘Most of politics isn’t evidence base. Constant change – give things chance to work’
• ‘Evidence base for the empowerment white paper is very strong’
• In one council, CE is also CE of PCT. It works. CE can say its his problem, across health and council services.

Seismic events in the last ten to fifteen years

• ‘Its been about efficiency, rather than accountability’
• ‘Government introduced elected mayors, simply to put a rocket up local government’
• ‘CPA has been disastorous for accountability. Re-inforced local councils looking centrally for guidance’
• ‘No effective media, informing people in a way that could support debate and argument’
• ‘Confusion between political and managerial accountability: the first parallel to speed, the second to direction.’
• ‘Redbridge Eye: a really cool, interactive way of engaging with the public. Intervene once, quickly and get a result. Decision environments’
• ‘Shouldn’t construct governance arrangements around what people say they want’
• ‘Collective decisions have a lot to do with managing disappointment. And much better do that locally, can make plausible/sensible trade offs with different individuals and groups in the population’
• ‘Trend for decisions to go away from politicians and to quangos’.

Each given four post its for events over the last ten to fifteen years. Rating emerged as:

Positive

• Better local leaders
• Community engagement and an empowerment narrative
• LAAs
• LSPs (though not everywhere)
• Customer choice
• Unitary Councils
• Mayors and Cabinets

Neutral

• Noise and no change
• CPA
• Cabinet System
• More cash

'Negative

• Barberism
• CPA
• BVPI and target obsessions
• No Whitehall reform
• 8 failed opportunities
• LSPs have muddled accountability in some areas

Thinking back to the heady days of 1997, has it turned out as might have expected ?

• ‘Its been incremental improvement. If they’d been more radical, they could have done much more’
• ‘Managerialism has been dominant. Politically they haven’t delivered at. Lots of managerialists in new labour. And politics was undermined by LGA being against everything, and then it too became ultra managerial’
• ‘Being unfair on managers. What management ideas have informed politics?’
• ‘Managerial approach and extra money has made a big different, but only gets you so far, and now we’re up a gum tree’
• Previously the challenge was unemployment. Now it’s the people who’ve never worked, and ghettos of deprivation
• A 50% target of GCSE A- E grades means half won’t get, and what social stake do they have?
• ‘Politics is breaking out again’
• ‘Manifestos are the next big step, and good that a general election will be coming’
• ‘Unique period, because Tories also care about the issues. And all parties are saying don’t imagine the state can solve.’
• ‘The improvement the centre sees isn’t seen by the public. No local fora to discuss.
• ‘New focus on social fabric. Why so fractured? Why are children failing’
• Paradigm shift – new consensus on public spending.
• ‘It’s the same debate, just a coarsening of the debate, not taking account of the complexity of the issues’
• ’10 years ago, we thought ‘more operations, more homes, more jobs’ Very tangible. Now a lot of intangibles. What would a fully funded state look like’
• ‘Issues now: how influence behavioural change. Limits on what state can achieve. Nudge and adaptive behaviour.
• ‘Central state should be more about tone’

What do we think might be happening over the next decade?
What are the four big things?

• ‘Accountability and transparency’
• ‘Will it be a steady state or decline?’
• ‘All political parties will say they can’t be responsible for everyone’
• ‘Be like France in the 1980s. Mitterand said ‘we can’t carry on like this’ and the Mitterand reforms set decentralisation rolling’

What will welfare services of the future be?

• ‘Welfare services will be needed. Aspects of energy, food, transport and IT issues might need addressing nationally. But better education, social care, quality of the environment will need to be dealt with locally’.
• ‘We’re on the cusp of a massive shift. A rediscussion about what the state can and should do’
• ‘Tories are seeing the state in a framing role – things can’t be done nationally.
• ‘Cuts in services across the board’
• ‘Self organised politics’
• ‘Even greater disparity between individuals and households. Accept that huge’
• ‘End of the role of councillor. Community leaders instead’
• ‘Might just have a model of elected mayor, plus professionals such as clinicians. Would lead to a new local politics, and the possibility of a self-organising democracy rather than political parties’
• ‘Hopefully there will be a proper debate about the relationships individuals/collectives/the state’
• ‘People wouldn’t trust their local council with a whelk stall. But if they don’t trust it, how will it change’
• ‘LGA still hampered by its search for consensus – means it has an investment in the status quo’
• ‘Need to learn from the Northcote-Trevellian model (circa 1854) Need to crack the civil services. At the moment its Max Weber in a McKinsey suit’.
• ‘Will there be a greater role for the ‘not for profit’ What are the limitations of the voluntary and community sector’
• ‘Will we have compulsory voting and PR’
• ‘Local finance, with an equalisation formula’
• Chris Hume done research at LSE – Lib Dems reclaiming the state. More decentralisation with national state ensuring greater equalisation
• ‘Global pressures will be much more important. Global population pressures, with climate change meaning people heading North’
• ‘Role of cities and city regions. Energy and food markets, Knowledge economics. For these issues, governance issues at subregional level makes much more sense’
• ‘Scotland is a nation with 5 million people. Why not East Midlands. What would be the interests vie’
• ‘Cities as economic engines’
• ‘Disparities between regions and areas – Wiltshire incredible geographical extent’
• ‘Local government finance – will we see an evolutionary approach, alla Lyons? Or a radical shift – local income tax – alla Lib dems

Innovation and exciting new things

• ‘Commissioning other people to do what the state wants. National rules aren’t sophisticated enough. Need visa or e-bay type models, underpinned by direct payments’
• ‘Between political parties, its now more of a race than a boxing match’
• ‘Commissioning isn’t just about buying. Also about building capacity to enable organisations to meet needs’
• ‘State does things to you, rather than an expression of the collective’
• ‘Concept of the local state, negotiating for what collectively required’
• ‘But can be stifled by lack of finance’
• ‘Successful pepper potting in housing: works where areas gentrifying. One London councils was going to do 50 a year, but credit crash causing review.’
• ‘Worked well in another London Borough in the 70’s’
• ‘Much easier to move middle classes into poorer areas than vice versa’
• ‘Lets have right to buy annulled’
• What should we be asking about over the next ten years?
• ‘Model of change is going to change from managerial to political, but won’t be a big bang’
• ‘Crime is one big contender for a proper public debate. Grabs attention. Might start to have big protests and marches and real stimulus for search for solutions and possible shift in politicians and civil service mindsets. All kids know others who’ve been mugged.’
• ‘Recent surge of migration from E. Europe. Could eventually mean riots, like Burnley, in areas where little previous experience of international migration’
• ‘Only local agencies can deal with it, and they haven’t been up to the mark’
• ‘Climate change. Local innovation key: local carbon trading, recycling, regional energy markets.
• Tough planning decisions – such as no longer building flood defense.
• SE tipping. Pitt review.
• Unexpected incidents – like flooding in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
• Who is responsible for the drains?
• Need regional resilience forums