Borough chiefs take a pan-London view

With 33 local authorities covering the capital, it is vital that their chief executives are able to discuss common issues such as Crossrail, emergency planning or the CSR through their London committee, says Ged Curran. There is no such thing as a typical London council. Before the general election, one borough was held up as a model of Conservative thinking on services, another looked to trail-blaze ideas that were attractive to the Labour Party. And Liberal Democrats pointed to others to show the party in power. And that's as it should be. Politicians ‘do politics'. The make-up and direction of councils reflects the wishes of local electorates. It's the job of officers to put politicians' policies into practice. But, despite the diversity of political choices and solutions, London councils have common problems – and opportunities. The capital has 32 boroughs, plus the City of London. We need to speak to each other regularly. Ged Curran: London councils have common problems – and opportunities. We need to speak to each other regularly And governance of London's public services involves others – the mayor and the Greater London Authority, the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, the NHS London and London's primary care trusts, to name but a few, and government departments. That's a lot of cogs which need to work smoothly together to keep London running. One of the bodies that oils those cogs is the Chief Executives' London Committee (CELC). This brings together the chief executives of all 32 boroughs and the City of London's town clerk. Let's be clear, the role of the CELC isn't to set London-wide agendas – that's the job of elected representatives. As officers, we discuss the issues facing our councils and find out what's common, even when there are political differences between councils. The group has formal and informal roles. Formally, for example, we'll discuss the 2012 Olympic Games. Although the main impact will be on the five Olympic boroughs, there are pan-London considerations. For example, the development of the Olympic Route Network – where Olympic-related traffic will get priority on some roads – requires cross-border co-operation and a clear understanding of the compromises being made for residents and businesses. Another topical issue is Crossrail, which passes through 15 boroughs. Ultimately, it will bring benefits for the whole of London but, in the short term, we need to be aware of and mitigate the impact of construction across the capital. Then there's emergency planning. The group helps us make sure the right mechanisms for dealing with emergencies are in place. Importantly, it also helps us get to know each other better, and I firmly believe that when people know each other, they work better together. And anyone in London when the snow came last year will understand why we need to discuss winter service and highlight any improvements that can be made for future years. With the Comprehensive Spending Review about to be announced, we are all looking at how to get the best from our resources. The constant search for efficiencies is high on our agenda. It's for politicians to consider what services might be cut, but we can and do share intelligence about the choices likely to be made by our elected members, and then share techniques and options for implementation. At a time when we are all exploring ways to implement our council's policies in the tighter financial climate, we can collectively swap notes. If one council is proposing a certain course of action, others can pass on their experience, which we can feed back to our political leaders and our staff. While London has a regional efficiency and improvement partnership, Capital Ambition, as chief executives, we can discuss ideas and proposals in smaller areas. For example, my authority, Merton, shares HR services with Sutton LBC, and we've recently carried out joint procurement with Sutton and Kingston upon Thames RBC. The group allows us to explore possibilities with one another, and see where smaller groupings of councils might work together. Informally, the group is an effective sounding-board for other agencies. For example, permanent secretaries from central government departments come to meetings to seek informal views on how certain policies or initiatives could affect London and Londoners – or how London's councils might implement changes. Although at borough level chief executives have regular contact with our local police commanders, the CELC is an opportunity for us, collectively, to meet the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to discuss London's policing issues. Recently, we've been looking at how we can tackle youth crime, a London issue rather than a problem to be addressed by boroughs in isolation. What's on our agenda at the moment? Finance and efficiency, obviously, but we are also looking ahead and preparing for changes we know are on the way. We've started to discuss how we can help manage the transition of local health services from primary care trusts to GPs. And we've started to look at the implications and practicalities of the transfer of public health responsibilities from the NHS to local authorities. With so many changes to public services, it's vital to have a group such as ours to share ideas and solutions for Londoners. Ged Curran is chief executive of Merton LBC

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WHITEHALL

Borough chiefs take a pan-London view

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