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Local authorities were this week urged to ‘seize the opportunity' by driving forward the next phase of Total Place. In an interview with The MJ, Lord Bichard, chair of the Total Place officers group, said: ‘I would like to see more passion from local authorities about this agenda. It is up to them to seize the opportunity lsquo;It's now taken seriously at the highest levels of government. They need to press home the advantage and maintain the momentum.' In his comments on the joint CLG/Treasury report, issued the day after the Budget last week, which outlined the next stage for Total Place Lord Bichard added: ‘In some areas, I'd like to have seen the report go further, but this is a journey and changes aren't going to happen overnight. I'm pleased that the Government is listening and that it takes this seriously.' Lord Bichard said he would continue to chair the officers group in Whitehall for at least a year, and a major summit was being held shortly to discuss the next stages. At an LGA conference this week, Leadership Centre managing director, John Atkinson, said: ‘The case for change has been made unequivocally by the pilots. There is potential to go even further and we should push for that.' But he warned the timescale was tight, with some of the report's recommendations set to feature in the 2011 Budget. Last week's report Total Place: A whole area approach to public services proposed ‘single offer' for high-performing councils from April 2011 an ‘innovative policy offer' to devolve responsibility to places within a specific policy area a new multi-agency ‘children and young people's grant' from April 2011 11 new ‘total capital and asset pathfinders' in each region to look at better aligning investment and asset management in a place pilot ‘social impact bonds' to help areas invest in long-term initiatives, especially where one organisation invests, yet another benefits, a consistent obstacle to pooling of budgets five ‘invest to save' pathfinders in which the Department for Work and Penions will contract with local providers to put more long-term incapacity benefit claimants into work, paying providers on the basis of the reduced spending on benefits. Click here for more on the report.

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WHITEHALL

Bichard calls for new drive on Total Place

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