Under the last government, Total Place was ‘the only game in town' for a public sector facing a severe cut in budgets, and was pursued at Cabinet level. But does the new coalition regard it in similar vein? Michael Burton reports
As the dust settles following the creation of the new coalition, local government managers have been speculating how much of Total Place, the ‘big idea' of the last administration, will survive.
One thing is certain – its name will change. Some joke it will be re-badged ‘Tory Place'. Others point out that with the CAA about to be scrapped, its website ‘OnePlace' is looking for new owners and might become the new shorthand for joined-up working, locally.
Lord Bichard, who is carrying on as head of the Total Place officers' group, also recognises that a new government will want ownership of policies, rather than inheriting those of its predecessor.
At a conference a fortnight ago, organised by the South East RIEP and Kent CC, he told council leaders: ‘The most common question I am asked is, "Will Total Place survive the change of government? This misses the point. Total Place is a way of doing things differently, and I hope this will survive. Total Place as a brand won't survive, but I'm not sure that's important.'
What is of great importance is whether the principle of Total Place will survive. Initially, the auspices were not good. No mention was made of Total Place in the coalition ‘manifesto', even though, bizarrely, it found space to promise action to block council newspapers. Neither Mr Osborne or the now-former treasury secretary, David Laws, mentioned it in their cuts announcement last week, and it made no appearance in the Queen's Speech.
Does this matter? Many in local government believe the Total Place pilots have so clearly shown the benefits of cross-boundary working that the momentum cannot be stopped. Furthermore, since transformation is generally felt to be a better option than salami-slicing when facing cuts, and Total Place is about transformation, then implementing the programme is a no-brainer.
Last, and definitely not least, is the fact that local government is set to bear the lion's share of cuts, and Total Place does enable it to draw on the resources of other, more fortunate parts of the health sector, such as health.
Certainly, the message from the insiders is to ‘get on with it'.
