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How does the reputation of local government stand as the current winter takes its hold? Pessimistic commentators will claim that darker days, shrinking resources and the consequent inevitability of service reductions means that public confidence will be lost. They fear the blame culture will make meaningful engagement with citizens impossible. John Ransford is chief executive of the Local Government Group We were not necessarily in a good place before all this started, of course. Ipsos MORI evidence has shown consistently that, while specific services are typically appreciated, the councils which arrange or provide them are held in lower regard. Despite the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), other inspection outcomes, and the ability of councils to outstrip efficiency targets, little has changed in media coverage and the popular imagination. Indeed, it can be argued that the sectors' achievement as the most efficient part of the public sector simply makes performance expectations and spending restrictions even more demanding. Regular Ipsos MORI conclusions pose other dilemmas for councils. [Ipsos MORI boss] Ben Page and company have acknowledged for years that a positive reputation has a direct correlation with good-quality information circulated to local residents and the maintenance of a safe and clean environment for everyone. Ambitious councils have taken these lessons on board. Yet ability to deliver on the first is prejudiced currently by the Government's intention to restrict council communications through newspapers for residents. The street environment, although of direct benefit to everyone, is provided where the quantity and quality of delivery are largely discretionary. As resource restrictions bite, statutory services directed at specific sections of the community, for infirm older people and those with learning difficulties, for instance, must be protected to a large extent. Yet the general public soon notice that their streets are dirtier and gloomier, winter maintenance is not being undertaken quickly, and potholes become even bigger. The main problem is that most people have no idea of the role and scope of a council, the name of their councillor, or how they can directly affect what we do. We say that we have local democratic responsibility and offer community leadership, but we simply do not demonstrate it with sufficient consistency and confidence. Now is the time, above all, to redress this deficit as a major contribution to the Big Society. If local people are to really care about their communities and contribute effectively, they must be both enabled and empowered to do so. That is what community leadership is all about, and we must demonstrate it in practical terms.

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WHITEHALL

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