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Enough has already been said about Haringey and the case of Baby P. But there has been little comment on the longer-term impact within the industry, especially on the already-difficult task of recruiting social workers, on the reputation of the authority itself, and of local government, and on the likelihood that councils across all departments – not just children's services – are likely to be a lot more risk-averse and process-driven in future. The same media which hounds individual social work staff will also complain of council bureaucracy and red tape. Yet the storm created by incidents such as Baby P makes it inevitable that council managers and members will be less inclined to embark on projects which carry any risk of going wrong, and to be overly-cautious and process-driven. This, of course, is not to suggest that the Baby P case and a willingness by councils to take risk are in any way connected, but simply that the former will have an indirect impact more generally on the latter. This comes at a time when ministers are urging councils to be more innovative, and to take risks. Indeed, John Healey this week urged councils to make more use of their wellbeing power which, although eight years old, has had little take-up. The power allows councils to undertake any action to promote or improve the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of their area, unless expressly forbidden by law. The aim of the clause in the 2000 Act was to make councils more innovative, precisely because of complaints that they were hamstrung by laws, but council legal advice has continued to cast doubt over the wellbeing advice, as a report to the CLG this week showed. Private companies are in the business of risk-taking as a part of innovation, and their managers and shareholders accept that with it comes the possibility of failure. Public authorities are not by nature risk-takers, while the media and the public, furthermore, expect a nil rate of failure, as has been shown by the events of the past week. As a result, local authorities will be even more reluctant to embark on innovative projects which by their nature carry an element of risk just when they are most needed. Michael Burton, Editor, The MJ

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WHITEHALL

Innovation is under threat

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