Title

In the years I have been a chief executive, I have only missed maybe three SOLACE conferences – a tribute to some deft diary management by my long-suffering PA. I have, however, never managed to get to the start. My apologies to presidents past and present. Something always comes up on Tuesdays, not least because that is very much cabinet day here. And this year the issue was the budget. Buoyed up by some very good performance across the council this year, I prepared to go through the options to decimate our services – that's what 10% means. So what is a district to do? Particularly one which professes to be the lowest-funded in Britain. We could hitch our wagon to the shared support services juggernaut. There are plenty of offers – every outsourcing contract in England seems to be based on getting business from elsewhere, and I could be part of plenty of OJEU procurements. But where are the real savings when the entry price is discounted? How will the downside risks be managed? If we can save on our handfulls of back-office staff, we will, but there is virtue in keeping things simple. Then there is management, which, by definition, deserves a good kicking at present, the Government having separated the idea of performance and reward recently. We have already taken out senior posts, and there may be more to come. All this can be presented as efficiency, but the real hit is likely to be in two areas. First, redefining the quality of statutory services. We move from supporting people to self-service, from let's help to pay the fee before we have a conversation. Or second, the discretionary services we operate. And what are those discretionary services? The ones which help the community – the outreach work, vulnerable youngsters, free programmes. The work that helps build communities. In the current jargon, we may become more economical and efficient, but our public value is reduced. That is not to say districts can't cope. These challenges must be faced across local government. Indeed, the more flexible business model we can provide has major strengths, not least in maintaining our value to the community, keeping in step with its priorities and responding to changes. There is much innovation going on in districts to tackle these huge problems – the initiatives to join up services, management teams, commissioning and outsourcing, and working more closely with our communities have been well reported in The MJ. Grass-roots initiatives. They are to be applauded and will mitigate many of the worst consequences of the public sector crisis. But not all. The message is it's going to be bad, but districts can do it better, quicker, more innovatively and flexibly than many of our larger council colleagues working closely with our local communities. Alan Goodrum is chief executive of Chiltern DC

Title

WHITEHALL

District View

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING