Title

Outgoing US president, George Bush, once said, in relation to recession, ‘We are enjoying sluggish times – and not enjoying them very much'. It seems that every element of local government press is full of strategies for responding to the impact of the recession. We are dominated, fascinated, perplexed and apparently overwhelmed by the current situation. So, what is the right choice? To ‘innovate or die'?, to develop shared services and/or outsourced solutions more rapidly?, to implement greater efficiencies or pursue ambitious income-generation schemes? The answer, over the medium term is, perhaps, all of the above, but this fruit is not low-hanging, and it will take time to climb the ladder to pick. Our focus now should be on ensuring our future budgets are realistic, in light of the inevitable tsunami that will sweep through shortly. Ensuring our planning assumptions have been tested and re-tested and the inevitable tough choices presented to our members will prevent the second wave – an in-year tsunami which would further damage our slow recovery. We are already treading in the deepest of waters. We need not puncture our arm bands aswell. In preparation, Croydon LBC has developed a high-level suite of performance indicators to monitor the potential recession impact within the borough. These indicators are being used to test our financial planning assumptions and ensure we have a ‘recession overlay' to our financial forecast. The news does not make pleasant reading, and substantial additional sums have had to be planned for. The American author of best-selling tome The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, Dr Stephen Covey, once said, ‘If you're proactive, you don't have to wait for circumstances or other people to create perspective expanding experiences. You can consciously create your own'. It's time to check your overlay. Nathan Elvery is deputy chief executive at Croydon LBC

Title

WHITEHALL

Money Matters

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