Councils' ‘outmoded' management models must be modernised, if service delivery is to improve, a local government think-tank has warned. A new report published by the New Local Government Network (NLGN) calls on directors of services to shift away from ‘old-style Civil Service models' of management and delivery, which are ‘outmoded and incapable of meeting new challenges'. In the report, entitled Managing delivery – new public service architecture for the 21st century, NLGN director, Chris Leslie, argues there are four pillars of modern public service management not yet fully appreciated across the public sector. He said: ‘New methods must now go beyond the ‘choice' and ‘contestability' models. Equally important are citizen and political power and professional influence, for example. ‘We are entering a new era of networked governance and decision-making by partnerships, yet the skills to build productive alliances are not recognised or rewarded adequately. ‘A fresh approach to risk management is needed to encourage creativity and greater advantage needs to be taken of new commissioning approaches.' Mr Leslie added: ‘Defending closed procedures for those employed in senior positions and artificially insisting on outdated lines of vertical accountability are practices that have had their day.'