Summer is sadly over. The fun of the political conferences is past – for those who enjoy such things.
Never has a government seen such a rapid fall in ratings in its first year. The Conservatives can't mock – their ratings are the worst recorded in polling going back to 1976.
Reorganisation adds to the inbox. The experience of the 1990s is that reorganisation costs more, takes longer and delivers fewer savings than expected – and recent analysis suggests poorly-designed mergers could cost £850m rather than save money.
While Reform is riding high in the polls, one would need a heart of stone not to sympathise as the reality of local government finance leads it to raise council tax like everyone else. And rising council tax while incomes remain stagnant gives us only 36% who say they get value for money from their council. Still, better than the Government itself, which has only 12% satisfied with it.
The Spending Review promises to raise councils' core spending power from £69.4bn in 2025-26 to £79.3bn by 2028-29, but sector debt already exceeds £140bn, with increasing numbers effectively bankrupt.
The question is at what point do things get bad enough to drive change. We have commissions, reviews and £3.7bn extra funding for social care, but my socks were in orbit when I realised there were 1,500 children with costs at £500,000 a year or more each and that ‘million-quid kids' were a real thing.
Reorganisation adds to the inbox. The experience of the 1990s is that reorganisation costs more, takes longer and delivers fewer savings than expected – and recent analysis suggests poorly-designed mergers could cost £850m rather than save money.
Local leaders should insist on transition funding before embarking on change and use the process to streamline back office functions and digital systems.
The wonderful thing about local government is its ever-resilient and cheerful, ‘can-do' people – but at some point, we have to stop plastering over the cracks.
Ben Page is a visiting professor at Kings College London and the former chief executive of Ipsos
