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As we enter 2008, I want to put forward a different analysis of the choice ahead of us in public services. In simple terms, it boils down to this– are we optimists or pessimists? I believe we have encouraged the pessimistic tendencies within local government. Take the recent finance settlement. I was very disappointed with the resources we have been given to deliver quality services to an ever-more demanding public. We know the settlement isn't enough, and we know it is unfair. But the real issue is how we respond. Too often, when faced with this situation, local government has assumed the stance of the victim, not prepared to take an optimistic view of the future. I am sure that, when we are all setting council tax levels, there will be much said about service cuts having to be made and council tax having to rise because of a lack of funding from central government. I want to offer an alternative perspective. If I was running a company and one of my key customers decided to cease trading with me, then the company would lose some of its income. I might spend a great deal of energy complaining about the decision and convince myself it wasn't fair. But the more time I did this, the more I would jeopardise the future of the company. It would be much better for me to devote my energies to seeking a new customer and hence, a new source of income. Managing a local authority is similar. I could spend the next few months telling everyone how badly treated I felt by the Government, and how this would impact on the service my authority provided. But what good would that do? I prefer to look forward. When faced with budget gaps, local government usually does one of three things: cuts services cuts costs raises council tax. Surely, with all the experience and innovative thinking within local government, we can find a better way to face our funding problems. Why don't we focus on raising more income? This is a central part of the strategy we are seeking to develop at East Hampshire. There are some risks associated with it. It has meant a very decisive culture change in the organisation. However, with strong political and officer leadership, we are beginning to see some real successes. The most decisive shift has been in the philosophy of the organisation. We have set ourselves the target of raising £1m of additional income by 2011, and we are optimistic we can achieve this. As a local authority, we have an amazing insight into the needs and desires of our local community. By trying to use this intelligence in a more focused way, we can begin to offer services to match our population. So, for instance, we are planning to launch a local lottery which will help fund part of our community development work. This is not unique. More and more local authorities are taking a greater commercial view of service delivery. My overriding message is very simple. We have a demanding population. I am one of them. I want to be able to experience quality public services because they are the foundation of our society. When the pressure is on us to continue to improve what we do, our initial reaction too often is to retreat into the ‘we haven't been given enough resources' argument. While we need to fight our corner in this debate and secure as much as we can, we shouldn't put all our eggs into this particular basket. It drives us too easily into the pessimists' corner. In the long term, this doesn't do the reputation of local government any good – every other part of the economy is in trouble too. Can we really expect our residents to sympathise with our plight when they are suffering? We know there is an enormous pool of outstanding talent within local government. What I am arguing for is the adoption of a philosophy which truly gets the best from the people to meet the challenges ahead. If we adopt a more optimistic attitude, I think we will be able to deal with these challenges much more effectively. So, let us make 2008 the year when optimism returned to local government and we resolved to overcome our challenges, rather than compete with each other to discover who is facing the worst finance settlement. Will Godfrey is chief executive of East Hampshire DC

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WHITEHALL

Half empty or half full?

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